The Fernando de Noronha-Atol das Rocas moist forests cover a small Brazilian volcanic archipelago in the equatorial Atlantic, set roughly 360 and 144 kilometers off Brazil's eastern coast on a chain of submerged east-west volcanic mountains. Once cloaked in large trees that were felled in the 19th century when the main island served as a prison and a source of firewood, the islands today carry secondary moist forest, vines, and shrubs, with about fifteen probable endemic plant species still surviving in small numbers, among them a native fig (Ficus noronhae) and a columnar cactus (Cereus insularis). The climate is tropical wet and dry, with a rainy season from February to July, little rain through the remaining months, mean temperatures around 26.5 degrees Celsius, and annual rainfall near 1,418 millimeters. The archipelago hosts the largest seabird breeding colonies in the Tropical South Atlantic and is highly protected, anchored by the Fernando de Noronha Marine National Park established in 1988. For gardeners, the islands' endemic small fig trees are notable as the preferred habitat of the flagship Noronha vireo.

Climate snapshot for this ecoregion

At a glance

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