The New Britain-New Ireland montane rain forests cloak the high interiors of New Britain and New Ireland, the two largest islands of Papua New Guinea's Bismarck Archipelago, northeast of New Guinea, covering ground above roughly 1,000 metres on ranges such as the Nakanai and Hans Meyer. The predominant cover is montane tropical rain forest grading into mossy cloud forest, with characteristic trees including Castanopsis, Lithocarpus, Syzygium, and conifers such as Araucaria and Agathis; southern beech (Nothofagus) and oaks grow on New Britain but are absent from New Ireland, while Metrosideros dominates the highest summits. The climate is a montane tropical wet one, with annual rainfall reported between about 3,000 and 6,000 mm and frequent fog and cloud, temperatures falling and humidity rising with elevation. Because the forests drape steep, rainy mountains unsuited to plantations they remain largely intact, yet very little is formally protected, and the ecoregion shelters a distinctive endemic fauna of montane birds and a bat-rich mammal community, with the Bismarck hanging parrot as its flagship species. Gardeners may recognise several ornamental groups native here, including abundant epiphytic orchids and the genera Syzygium and Magnolia.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 5.4°S, 151.4°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: +2.7°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
Australasia
Approximate area
4,684 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: