Taiwan subtropical evergreen forests
RESOLVE 283
The Taiwan subtropical evergreen forests cover most of the island of Taiwan, excluding its southernmost tip below the Tropic of Cancer, which belongs to the separate South Taiwan monsoon rain forests. A steep north-south mountain range runs the length of the island, with around 200 peaks above 3,000 meters topped by Mount Yushan (Jade Mountain) at 3,952 meters, producing forests that shift with elevation: laurel and chinkapin broadleaf forests dominated by Machilus, Castanopsis, and Cryptocarya at lower levels, oak forests of Cyclobalanopsis and Quercus higher up, and conifer stands of Chinese hemlock, Taiwan spruce, and Taiwan fir near the peaks. The climate is shaped by summer monsoons from May to October, and rainfall increases with elevation, from roughly 1,800 to 2,500 millimeters in the lowlands to as much as 2,900 millimeters above 2,500 meters. The region is exceptionally rich, supporting over 500 bird species, about 60 mammals, and some 400 butterflies, with the Formosan ferret badger as a flagship species, though most lowland forest has been cleared for agriculture and only about a fifth of the ecoregion lies within protected areas. Gardeners may recognize ornamental genera native here, including maples (Acer) and Formosan alder that mix into the higher mixed-broadleaf zones.
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.
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.