The Kinabalu montane alpine meadows form Southeast Asia's only true alpine ecoregion, crowning Mount Kinabalu and the Crocker Range in the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. Above the surrounding rainforest, a subalpine zone of stunted, wind-shaped shrubs and low trees gives way to open meadows, dominated by Rhododendron, Leptospermum, Tristaniopsis, and Gymnostoma alongside the conifer Dacrydium, with grasses, sedges, and dwarf shrubs taking over the highest, sparsest ground. The climate is cool and harsh for the tropics, swept by strong winds and marked by persistent ground frost near the summit. The flora is among the richest in the world and famously includes Nepenthes pitcher plants, with about half of Borneo's species found here and several, such as Nepenthes rajah, found nowhere else; much of this fragile habitat is protected within Kinabalu Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For gardeners, the mountain is also celebrated for its orchids, counted in the hundreds of species across genera such as Bulbophyllum, Dendrobium, and Coelogyne.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 6.1°N, 116.6°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12b-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
12b-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.1°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
Montane Grasslands & Shrublands
Realm
Indomalayan
Approximate area
231 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Recover (Dinerstein NNH 3)
About the montane grasslands & shrublands biome
High-elevation grasslands, meadows, and shrublands above the treeline or in mountain basins, including alpine and páramo systems. Cool temperatures, intense sunlight, and specialized, often endemic flora characterize them.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 4
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
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 montane grasslands & shrublands ecoregions to explore: