The Windward Islands moist forests cover the rugged volcanic interiors of the eastern Caribbean's Windward chain, spanning Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and French Martinique. These uplands hold closed, broadleaf evergreen tropical forest, with mature stands dominated by gommier (Dacryodes excelsa) alongside Sloanea species and Amanoa caribaea, while disturbed and secondary areas fill in with Miconia mirabilis and Cecropia schreberiana. The climate is a hot, humid tropical rainforest type (Koppen Af) that receives rain in every month, with annual totals climbing from around 3,750 mm in Grenada's lower mountains to as much as 10,000 mm in the high interior of Dominica. Species diversity is very high: the ecoregion supports roughly 13 endemic bird species and 12 endemic amphibians and reptiles, and its flagship animal is the critically endangered giant ditch frog, or mountain chicken. Despite the protection that steep terrain affords, the forests remain pressured by agricultural encroachment, hunting, and limited enforcement of wildlife and environmental laws.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 14.7°N, 61.0°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.4°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
780 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
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
Other tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: