Southeast Indochina dry evergreen forests
RESOLVE 299
The Southeast Indochina dry evergreen forests stretch across the lower Mekong Basin, sprawling over Cambodia and southern Vietnam with parts reaching into Thailand and Laos, where they intertwine with the surrounding dry deciduous forests. Their tall, multi-layered canopy rises 30 to 40 meters and is dominated by dipterocarp trees such as Dipterocarpus alatus, Hopea odorata, Shorea, and Anisoptera costata, with emergent figs (Ficus), Tetrameles nudiflora, and Heritiera javanica, lianas draping the crowns, common bamboos colonizing gaps, and palms following the watercourses. The climate is humid to subhumid, with average annual rainfall of roughly 1,200 to 2,000 millimeters and a pronounced dry season of three to six months, during which a significant share of the canopy sheds its leaves despite the forest's evergreen character. The ecoregion harbors over 160 mammal species, with the red-shanked douc langur as a flagship, plus more than 455 birds including the endangered giant ibis; although over 20 percent lies within protected areas, effective on-the-ground management remains limited. For gardeners in comparable tropical climates, its native palette of dipterocarp shade trees, streamside palms, and clumping bamboos reflects the genera suited to a strongly seasonal wet-and-dry tropical setting.
About the tropical & subtropical dry broadleaf forests biome
Tropical forests that pass through a pronounced dry season, when many trees drop their leaves to conserve water. They hold high biodiversity but are among the most threatened tropical habitats, sensitive to fire and to clearing for agriculture.
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.