The Cordillera de la Costa montane forests occupy a string of isolated mountain enclaves running roughly 720 km along the Venezuelan Coastal Range in northern Venezuela, rising above the Caribbean Sea at elevations from about 600 to 2,675 meters. The ecoregion stacks into three forest types by altitude: evergreen transition forests with canopy trees such as Ficus and the endemic giant Gyranthera caribensis, species-rich montane cloud forests festooned with palms and abundant epiphytes, and dwarfed, mossy upper elfin forests of Clusia and Weinmannia. Its montane climate is mild and humid, with average annual temperatures around 10 to 20 degrees Celsius and rainfall between roughly 1,000 and 3,000 mm. Recognized as one of Venezuela's most important centers of endemism for both flora and fauna, it is classed as Vulnerable and protected in part by Henri Pittier National Park, home to the rediscovered Veragua stubfoot toad. For gardeners, the cloud-forest layer is rich in epiphytic orchids and bromeliads alongside flowering Clusia native to these slopes.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 10.0°N, 66.2°W.
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: +2.9°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
Neotropic
Approximate area
5,535 sq mi
Conservation tier
Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 1)
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: