The Sundarbans mangroves form the world's largest contiguous mangrove forest, spanning the lower Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta across southern Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. The forest is dominated by the sundri tree (Heritiera fomes), from which it takes its name, alongside other salt-tolerant genera including Avicennia, Sonneratia, Xylocarpus, Bruguiera, Ceriops, and Rhizophora, with the nipa palm (Nypa fruticans) lining its tidal creeks. Its climate is governed by strong monsoons off the Bay of Bengal that deliver heavy rainfall and intense daytime heat, punctuated by destructive cyclones. The ecoregion is the only mangrove system that sustains a viable population of the Bengal tiger, which swims among its islands, and its protected areas are inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Gardeners drawn to its flora will recognize coastal genera such as Sonneratia and the architectural nipa palm, both native to these intertidal forests.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 22.2°N, 89.6°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: +3.6°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
7,889 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Recover (Dinerstein NNH 3)
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
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.