The Ucayali moist forests lie entirely within Peru, spreading across the sub-Andean basin west of the Ucayali River and south of the Marañón, where the lowland Amazon meets the foothills of the eastern Andes. Tall, moist evergreen rainforest dominates, with high tree diversity drawn from families such as Meliaceae, Arecaceae, and Leguminosae, and with prized hardwoods including mahogany, tropical cedar, and the towering kapok; the forests grade from wet lowland rainforest in the east to premontane moist forest higher on the slopes. The climate is equatorially humid and warm year-round, sustaining a notably rich palm flora. Biologically this is a hotspot, holding 188 recorded mammal species and more than 600 birds, and it serves as one of the last refuges of the critically endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey, with Cordillera Azul National Park safeguarding part of the region. For gardeners in warm, humid climates, native palms such as Iriartea deltoidea and the dramatic kapok tree are notable ornamentals rooted in this landscape.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 6.9°S, 76.3°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
10b-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
11a-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +4.2°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
Neotropic
Approximate area
44,384 sq mi
Conservation tier
Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 1)
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 · 52
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.
These plants fit the ecoregion as it is today, but the mid-century projection moves them outside their stated zone range — plan for them to struggle by 2070.
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: