The Sumatran peat swamp forests stretch in a long, narrow band along the eastern coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, running roughly 1,000 km and averaging about 75 km wide, set between coastal mangroves and the freshwater swamps and lowland rainforest of better-drained soils inland. These waterlogged, acidic peatlands support two characteristic forest types, a mixed peat swamp forest with canopy trees such as Koompassia malaccensis, Gonystylus bancanus, and species of Shorea, Palaquium, and Swintonia, and a bintangur forest dominated by Calophyllum lowii. The climate is a tropical rainforest regime, hot and humid with rain in every month, while the specialized, nutrient-poor peat soils keep overall plant diversity relatively low. The ecoregion has no endemic mammals and comparatively few birds, yet it remains important habitat for the white-handed gibbon, siamang, and Sumatran tiger, with Storm's stork serving as its flagship species; roughly half of the forest has been degraded by burning and clearance.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 0.9°S, 103.3°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: +3.0°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
33,799 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: