This tiny, isolated ecoregion covers the Brazilian archipelago of Trindade and Martim Vaz, a cluster of volcanic islands in the state of Espirito Santo lying over 1,100 kilometers east of the mainland in the South Atlantic Ocean. Until the mid-1700s a forest dominated by the glandular nakedwood tree (Colubrina glandulosa) cloaked roughly 85 percent of rugged, mountainous Trindade, but introduced goats, pigs, and sheep stripped that cover, leaving today's slopes mostly grasses, shrubs, herbs, and the endemic tree fern Cyathea. The climate is tropical oceanic, with a mean annual temperature near 25 degrees Celsius and brief daily rain showers locally called piraja. The islands are a stronghold for breeding seabirds, are the only Atlantic nesting site for the Trindade petrel, and form Brazil's main nesting ground for the green sea turtle, though many native species have declined sharply under pressure from invasive animals.

Climate snapshot for this ecoregion

At a glance

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

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