The Isthmian-Atlantic moist forests blanket the lowland Caribbean slopes below 500 meters in southern Nicaragua, northern Costa Rica, and across most of Panama, where moist air off the Caribbean Sea meets the mountains. These are tall, lush tropical evergreen forests whose buttressed canopy trees reach about 40 meters, with palms including the walking palm and species such as Welfia georgii and Iriartea, plus slow-growing timber trees like the almendro (Andira inermis) and the cream-nut or monkey pot (Lecythis pisonis); coastal mangroves and seasonal swamp forests fill the wettest ground. The climate is consistently hot and very wet, averaging around 24 degrees Celsius with annual rainfall from roughly 2,500 millimeters in central Panama to over 5,000 millimeters in southern Nicaragua, sustaining abundant epiphytes. The Atlantic lowlands hold some of the world's highest butterfly species richness. Now rated Vulnerable, the ecoregion is anchored by reserves such as Tortuguero, Indio Maiz, and La Amistad amid pressure from banana farming and cattle pasture.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 10.8°N, 84.4°W.
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: +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
22,624 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: