Maldives-Lakshadweep-Chagos Archipelago tropical moist forests

This Indomalayan ecoregion strings across the open Indian Ocean over three coralline island groups: Lakshadweep, a union territory of India; the independent Maldives; and the Chagos Archipelago within the British Indian Ocean Territory, which together form the largest atoll system in the world. Because the low islands are built from coral sand, the native vegetation is salt- and drought-tolerant coastal forest and scrub rather than tall rainforest, with pioneers such as beach naupaka (Scaevola taccada), Tournefortia argentea and Suriana maritima giving way to interior stands of Alexandrian laurel (Calophyllum inophyllum), Pisonia grandis, Cordia subcordata and Barringtonia asiatica, while Bruguiera mangroves fringe sheltered shores and coconut palms dominate cultivated ground. The climate is uniformly warm and humid, ranging roughly 24 to 30 degrees Celsius, with a southwest monsoon from April to October delivering about 1,600 mm of rain a year in the drier northern Lakshadweep and rising to over 3,800 mm in the southern Maldives. Classed as critical/endangered, the ecoregion is prized chiefly for its extensive coral reefs, which supply the very sand the islands are made of and shelter nesting sea turtles; its flagship species is the green turtle. For warm-climate gardeners, several of its hardy salt-tolerant natives, including beach naupaka and the broad-canopied Alexandrian laurel, are familiar coastal ornamentals.

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