This small Indomalayan ecoregion covers the forested parts of Christmas Island and North Keeling Island, two remote Australian territories built on submerged seamounts in the Indian Ocean, lying southwest of Java, Indonesia. Dense moist broadleaf rainforest cloaks Christmas Island's plateau, with a tall canopy of Indo-Malayan trees such as Planchonella nitida, Syzygium nervosum, and Inocarpus fagifer above an understorey that includes screw pines (Pandanus) and the endemic Lister's palm (Arenga listeri); North Keeling's forest remains relatively intact while most other Cocos atoll forest was replaced by coconut plantations. The climate is tropical monsoon, with relatively even warm temperatures and a pronounced wet season fed by the northwest monsoon. Isolation has produced a depauperate but highly endemic biota, and the ecoregion's flagship is the Christmas Island red crab (Gecarcoidea natalis), whose vast populations shape the forest floor by clearing leaf litter during their mass migrations. Much of the native forest is safeguarded within Christmas Island National Park and Pulu Keeling National Park. For gardeners, the native flora includes ornamentally familiar tropical genera such as Pandanus and the broad-leaved coastal tree Calophyllum inophyllum.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 10.4°S, 105.7°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.7°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Indomalayan
Approximate area
52 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome
Warm, wet, highly productive forests — including tropical rainforests — with closed canopies, near year-round growing seasons, and the richest terrestrial biodiversity on Earth. Low seasonality and high rainfall sustain dense, layered vegetation from canopy to forest floor.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
No catalog plants intersect this ecoregion's zone range. As the catalog grows to cover this region's climate band, suggestions will surface here.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: