The Sunda Shelf mangroves fringe the coasts of Borneo and eastern Sumatra, spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei in the Indomalayan realm. These tidal forests hold around 28 species of mangrove trees, organized into bands that shift with salinity: Avicennia and Sonneratia colonize the seaward sediments, Rhizophora and Bruguiera take the inland muds, and stands of the Nypa fruticans palm occupy fresher soils farther upstream. The coastline sits along the geologically active Ring of Fire, where earthquakes and volcanic activity are frequent and the mangroves serve as a first line of defense against erosion and wave surges. The forests are also notable habitat for the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus), which is endemic to the Bornean mangroves and adjacent lowlands and absent from Sumatra. About half of the original mangroves remain, most of it degraded, with logging, shrimp farming, and clearance for agriculture the leading threats. For gardeners drawn to tropical waterside planting, the nipa palm (Nypa fruticans) is among the genera native to this region.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 0.0°S, 103.4°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.9°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
Mangroves
Realm
Indomalayan
Approximate area
14,474 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the mangroves biome
Coastal tidal forests of salt-tolerant trees rooted in sheltered estuaries and shorelines of the tropics and subtropics. Mangroves buffer coasts from storms, store large amounts of carbon, and serve as nurseries for fish and shellfish.
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.