The Santa Marta montane forests cloak the slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, an isolated massif rising from the Caribbean coast of northern Colombia that functions as a biogeographic island cut off from the main Andes. Vegetation shifts by elevation, from tall lowland tropical rainforest into cooler, mist-bathed cloud forests where conifers such as Podocarpus mingle with palms including the wax palm Ceroxylon, Dictyocaryum, and Euterpe, alongside Weinmannia and abundant epiphytes. The climate spans a steep gradient, from warm conditions near sea level around 27 degrees Celsius to as little as 6 degrees Celsius near the highest peaks, with the northern slopes receiving heavy rainfall reaching roughly 3,000 millimetres a year. Sharp isolation has driven exceptional endemism, with thousands of vascular plant species, distinctive endemic genera such as Castanedia and Kirkbridea, and a wildlife roster headlined by the critically endangered red-crested tree rat and endemic birds like the Santa Marta parakeet. Much of the lower forest has been transformed by settlement and agriculture, making it a conservation priority. For gardeners in suitable highland or frost-free climates, native ornamentals from this range include the stately wax palms of the genus Ceroxylon and the evergreen conifer Podocarpus.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 10.5°N, 73.6°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
10b-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
10b-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.3°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
Neotropic
Approximate area
1,847 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 · 79
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: