The Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests straddle the border between Bangladesh and India's state of West Bengal, occupying the Ganges delta inland of the famous Sundarbans mangroves, in the transitional zone where river freshwater pushes back the saline tide. These seasonally flooded forests are characterized by tree genera such as Heritiera, Xylocarpus, Bruguiera, Sonneratia, and Avicennia, along with Nipa palms. The climate is shaped by the southwest monsoon, which delivers over 3,500 mm of rain during the five months from May to September, while frequent, devastating cyclones sweep in from the Bay of Bengal. This is one of the world's most imperiled ecoregions: it is now nearly extinct, ploughed under by rice fields and settlement to support one of the densest human populations on Earth. Its flagship species is the fishing cat, which survives along the remaining waterways.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 22.7°N, 89.2°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12b-13a
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
12b-13a
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.8°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 Moist Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Indomalayan
Approximate area
5,621 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Imperiled (Dinerstein NNH 4)
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
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 moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: