The Society Islands tropical moist forests cover the Society Islands of French Polynesia in the South Pacific, a chain that includes the high volcanic islands of Tahiti, Moorea, Bora-Bora, Huahine, and Raiatea alongside lower coral islands. Vegetation grades with elevation from lowland rain forest, with native trees such as Inocarpus fagifer, Cananga odorata, and Hibiscus tiliaceus and the bamboo Schizostachyum glaucifolium, up through montane rain forest dominated by Alphitonia zizyphoides, Metrosideros collina, and Hernandia moerenhoutiana, into cloud forest with Alstonia costata and tree ferns at the highest, mist-bathed summits. The climate is humid and tropical, with warm rainy summers and a cooler, drier season, and rainfall increasing sharply on windward mountain slopes. The islands' great age and isolation produced hundreds of endemic plants and animals, including 53 Partula land snail species descended from a single colonization and the endemic Tahiti monarch; only about 30 percent of natural vegetation remains relatively intact, with the invasive tree Miconia calvescens among the gravest threats. Gardeners may recognize ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata) and beach hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus), both native here, as familiar tropical ornamentals.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 17.7°S, 149.4°W.
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: +2.2°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
Oceania
Approximate area
628 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: