The North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests stretch along the northern reaches of India's Western Ghats (Sahyadri) range, spanning Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka. Occupying the eastern and western slopes between roughly 250 and 1,000 meters in elevation, these tropical moist broadleaf forests are dominated by teak mixed with genera such as Grewia, Lagerstroemia, Dillenia, Dalbergia, and Pterocarpus, along with stands of Indian thorny bamboo. The climate is hot and humid, shaped by the southwest monsoon from June to September, with western slopes receiving up to around 3,000 mm of rain annually while drier eastern areas may get as little as about 1,000 mm. The ecoregion supports notable wildlife including tigers, leopards, Asian elephants, and gaur, and its southern forests hold important populations of the lion-tailed macaque, an endangered primate endemic to the Western Ghats; only a small share of the ecoregion lies within protected areas. For gardeners, several of its native trees, including Lagerstroemia and Dillenia, are grown ornamentally for their showy flowers and foliage.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 20.5°N, 73.4°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)
13a-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.8°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
18,628 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.
Currently suited · 4
These plants fit the ecoregion as it is today, but the mid-century projection moves them outside their stated zone range — plan for them to struggle by 2070.
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: