The East Deccan dry-evergreen forests stretch along southeastern India's Coromandel Coast, between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, covering eastern Tamil Nadu, the union territory of Puducherry, and southeastern Andhra Pradesh from Ramanathapuram District up to Nellore District. Their defining trait sets them apart from other Deccan dry forests: the trees keep their leaves through the long dry season, drawing on water-storing roots and stems and shedding little moisture thanks to thick, waxy leaves, beneath a low closed canopy that rarely tops 10 meters. Characteristic evergreen trees include Manilkara hexandra, Mimusops elengi, Ceylon ebony (Diospyros ebenum), the strychnine tree (Strychnos nux-vomica), Drypetes sepiaria, and Flacourtia indica. The climate is hot and seasonally dry, with most rain arriving during the brief northeast monsoon from October to December and an extended, very warm dry season. This is one of the most depleted ecoregions in the region, as roughly 95 percent of the original forest has been cleared and the best surviving stands persist mainly in sacred groves protected by local religious tradition, where the Indian gazelle (chinkara) is a flagship species.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 11.9°N, 79.7°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13a-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.0°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 Dry Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Indomalayan
Approximate area
9,858 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Imperiled (Dinerstein NNH 4)
About the tropical & subtropical dry broadleaf forests biome
Tropical forests that pass through a pronounced dry season, when many trees drop their leaves to conserve water. They hold high biodiversity but are among the most threatened tropical habitats, sensitive to fire and to clearing for agriculture.
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 dry broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: