The Sumatran tropical pine forests form one of the few tropical conifer ecoregions in the world, occupying high slopes of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia along the Bukit Barisan Mountains, including the highlands near Lake Toba. The habitat is defined by forests dominated by the Sumatran pine (Pinus merkusii), which establishes on ground disturbed by landslides, recurrent fire, and human clearing, scattered as discrete patches embedded within the surrounding montane broadleaf forest. The climate is broadly tropical with roughly 2,500 mm of annual rainfall, though these pines occupy the drier eastern aspects of the range and a thick litter of pine needles keeps the understory sparse. The flora and fauna are less diverse than the neighboring rainforests, but the ecoregion is protected in part by reserves such as Kerinci Seblat, and Pinus merkusii is regarded as the flagship species while facing pressure from logging and increased fire. Among the understory plants noted here are shrubs in the honeysuckle genus Lonicera and the barberry genus Berberis, both familiar to gardeners as ornamentals.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 4.4°N, 96.9°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12b-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
12b-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.8°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 Coniferous Forests
Realm
Indomalayan
Approximate area
1,067 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the tropical & subtropical coniferous forests biome
Subtropical and tropical forests dominated by conifers such as pines, typically in semi-arid climates with seasonal rainfall. They often occupy higher elevations and carry fire-adapted understories.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 4
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
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 coniferous forests ecoregions to explore: