The Timor and Wetar deciduous forests cover the islands of Timor and Wetar, along with Rote, Savu, and adjacent smaller islands in the Lesser Sunda chain, spanning Indonesia and East Timor. The islands sit within Wallacea, never connected to either the Asian or Australian mainland, so they hold a distinctive blend of species from both realms. The lower country supports dry deciduous, dry evergreen, and thorn forests, with lowland monsoon forest featuring Pterocarpus indicus and open savannas of Eucalyptus alba and the palm Borassus flabellifer; natural stands of Eucalyptus urophylla and sandalwood (Santalum album) also occur. The climate is a tropical monsoon one that lies in Australia's rain shadow, making this among the driest parts of Indonesia with a long, pronounced dry season. The ecoregion has the greatest number of bird species (229) of any tropical dry forest ecoregion in the Indo-Pacific, with many endemics, though its prized sandalwood has been left scarce by generations of overharvesting. Gardeners may recognize several native genera grown ornamentally elsewhere, including eucalypts and fragrant sandalwood.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 9.2°S, 125.1°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13a-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
Tropical & Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Australasia
Approximate area
12,941 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Recover (Dinerstein NNH 3)
About the tropical & subtropical dry broadleaf forests biome
Tropical forests that pass through a pronounced dry season, when many trees drop their leaves to conserve water. They hold high biodiversity but are among the most threatened tropical habitats, sensitive to fire and to clearing for agriculture.
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.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: