The Mindanao-Eastern Visayas rain forests cover the lowland tropical forests of the southern Philippines, spanning the island of Mindanao together with the eastern Visayan islands of Samar, Leyte, and Bohol and their smaller satellites. Below the hills these forests are dominated by towering members of the dipterocarp family, especially trees of the genus Dipterocarpus, joined at mid-elevations by narra (Pterocarpus indicus) and screw-pines (Pandanus), while coastal stands feature Casuarina and Barringtonia. The climate is a hot, humid tropical rainforest type with rain in every month, and the northern islands are regularly struck by typhoons between July and November. Biodiversity is exceptionally high and distinctive: this is the home of the Philippine tarsier, and roughly 80 percent of the region's non-flying mammals are found nowhere outside the Greater Mindanao islands, though only a small fraction of the ecoregion is formally protected. For gardeners in comparable warm, wet climates, native ornamentals such as narra and the feathery-leaved Casuarina trace their origins to these forests. pass
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 7.7°N, 124.8°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
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
Indomalayan
Approximate area
40,591 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: