The South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests blanket the lower southern Western Ghats of India, spanning the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, and wrapping around the Nilgiri Hills below the montane rainforests at roughly 250 to 1,000 meters elevation. These tropical, humid forests are characterized by deciduous tree genera such as Albizia, Lagerstroemia, Terminalia, Adina, and Pterocarpus, with the red silk-cotton tree (Bombax ceiba) standing out as an imposingly tall, bright-flowered species. The climate is monsoon-driven: the western slopes intercept the June-to-September southwest monsoon and receive the bulk of the rain, while the eastern slopes lie in a drier rain shadow, and December through May forms the dry season. Ecologically the region is renowned for harboring some of the world's most important populations of Asian elephants and tigers, with the Nilgiri langur as its flagship species. For gardeners, the ornamental crape myrtle genus Lagerstroemia, including the showy queen's crape myrtle Lagerstroemia speciosa, is native to these forests.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 10.8°N, 76.8°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13a-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: +3.3°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
Indomalayan
Approximate area
9,178 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Recover (Dinerstein NNH 3)
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: