The Madagascar subhumid forests blanket the Central Highlands that run the length of Madagascar, sitting at roughly 600 to 1,800 metres between the wetter eastern escarpment forests and the dry deciduous woodlands to the west. Characteristic vegetation includes moist montane forest with genera such as Tambourissa, Symphonia, Dombeya, Dalbergia and Diospyros and the native conifer Podocarpus madagascariensis, alongside open tapia woodland dominated by Uapaca bojeri and rocky-outcrop communities of Aloe, Kalanchoe, Euphorbia and Pachypodium. Tempered by the altitude, higher elevations sit between about 15 and 25 degrees Celsius, with a cool dry season from July to September, a warm wet season through the rest of the year, and rainfall averaging around 1,500 millimetres. Most of the original forest has been cleared, leaving fragmented patches within a sea of secondary grassland and farmland that still shelter highly endemic wildlife such as the Alaotran gentle lemur. For gardeners, this is the native home range of widely grown succulents including Pachypodium, Aloe and Kalanchoe.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 19.1°S, 47.2°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
11b-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
11b-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 Moist Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Afrotropic
Approximate area
77,125 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Imperiled (Dinerstein NNH 4)
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
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 · 52
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 tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: