The South China Sea Islands ecoregion is a scattering of more than 250 small islands, atolls, and shoals across the South China Sea, grouped into three archipelagos: the Pratas (Dongsha), the Paracels (Xisha), and the heavily disputed Spratlys (Nansha), with sovereignty contested among China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei. Despite their tiny combined land area, the larger islands carry coral island evergreen forest, scrub forest, and coastal scrub and grasses, with characteristic genera including Pisonia, Guettarda, Scaevola, Cordia, and the beach almond Terminalia catappa. The climate is fully tropical and monsoon-driven, averaging around 27 degrees Celsius on the Spratlys, where a five-month rainy season and a seven-month dry season together deliver roughly 1,800 to 2,200 millimeters of rain a year. The islands are globally important seabird grounds whose flagship species is the red-footed booby, and green and hawksbill sea turtles nest on the beaches, yet the ecoregion is classed as critical/endangered with effectively no protected area and pressure from dredging, construction, and reef destruction.

At a glance

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