Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests
Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests
RESOLVE 148
This tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion blankets the northern lowlands of New Guinea, stretching from the eastern shore of Cenderawasih Bay in Indonesia's Papua Province east to Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea, drained by great rivers including the Mamberamo, Sepik, and Ramu. Its lowlands form a maze of freshwater and peat swamps that interlace tall rainforest and tall-grass savanna, with canopy trees such as Pometia pinnata, Octomeles sumatrana, Ficus, Alstonia scholaris, and Terminalia, plus localized stands of the ancient conifers Araucaria and Agathis. The swamps themselves carry distinctive Melaleuca swamp forests, sago palm (Metroxylon sagu) stands, and Pandanus woodlands. The climate is hot, humid, and swampy throughout. The region corresponds to the Northern Papuan lowlands Endemic Bird Area, and its forest understory is foraged by northern and dwarf cassowaries and the flagship Victoria crowned pigeon. For gardeners, several genera native here, among them Pandanus, Melaleuca, and Alstonia, are also grown widely in warm climates.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 3.5°S, 141.1°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
Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Australasia
Approximate area
52,211 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
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 tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: