›

Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

›

Cocos Island moist forests

Biome

Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

·

Biogeographic realm

Neotropic

Cocos Island as a low forested silhouette across open Pacific swell, Costa Rica.

Region photo - J RAWLS / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 2.0; attribution required.

Cocos Island moist forests

The Cocos Island moist forests cover the single oceanic island of Cocos (Isla del Coco), a Costa Rican territory rising from the eastern Pacific roughly 523 km southwest of the mainland's Cabo Blanco. Vegetation sorts into three elevation bands: a coastal forest of purple coral tree (Erythrina fusca), coconut palm (Cocos nucifera), and pond-apple (Annona glabra); an inland forest where Sacoglottis holdridgei, Ocotea insularis, and the endemic Cecropia pittieri form the canopy, heavily draped with epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, and mosses; and a summit cloud forest dominated by Melastoma. The climate is warm and wet year-round, a tropical rainforest regime kept under near-constant cloud and heavy rainfall, with annual totals well over 6,000 mm. Around 235 plant species grow here with roughly 30% found nowhere else, and the island's high endemism among plants, insects, reptiles, and birds led Costa Rica to protect it as a national park in 1978 and UNESCO to inscribe it as a World Heritage Site in 1997. For gardeners, several of its natives are familiar ornamentals, including the showy coral tree (Erythrina) and the orchids and bromeliads that festoon its mid-elevation forests.

RESOLVE 455

Neotropic

10 sq mi

Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

Landscape type

Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

Plant region

Neotropic

Region footprint

10 sq mi

Habitat pressure

Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 1)

Source & care

Plants that can handle this region

Plotwright does not have climate-fit plant matches for this region yet. As the catalog grows into this climate band, suggestions will appear here.

Similar planting regions

Browse other regions in the same biome. Their plant lists can suggest species and combinations worth comparing.

Atlantic forest canopy in Misiones Province, Argentina.

RESOLVE 439 - Neotropic

Alto Paraná Atlantic forests

The Alto Paraná Atlantic forests form the interior wing of South America's Atlantic Forest, sweeping inland from southern Brazil across eastern Paraguay and into Argentina's Misiones province, covering seven Brazilian states from Minas Gerais and São Paulo down to Rio Grande do Sul. The dominant habitat is Atlantic semi-deciduous forest, where emergent trees can reach about 35 meters and the canopy is built largely from the families Lauraceae, Apocynaceae, and Leguminosae, with many trees shedding leaves through the winter dry season. The climate is subtropical, receiving roughly 1,200 to 1,600 millimeters of rain per year, and the dry season from April through September brings frequent frosts. The region is a biodiversity stronghold, home to the endemic black lion tamarin, but it has been one of the most heavily cleared forests in the Neotropics, reduced by more than 90 percent of its original extent. For gardeners in mild subtropical climates, this is the native home of laurel- and legume-family trees adapted to a pronounced wet summer and dry, frost-prone winter.

Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

RESOLVE 440 - Neotropic

Araucaria moist forests

The Araucaria moist forests stretch across the highlands of southern Brazil, spanning the states of São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, and reaching into Misiones Province in northeastern Argentina. Their signature is the Brazilian araucaria (Araucaria angustifolia), a monkey puzzle conifer that rises in a tall emergent layer above a broadleaf canopy of laurel (Ocotea), myrtle, and legume trees such as Mimosa scabrella. Lying above roughly 500 metres on mountains and plateaus, the ecoregion has an oceanic, subtropical to temperate climate with no dry season, frequent winter frosts, and high annual rainfall. It shelters threatened and endemic wildlife including the brown howler monkey and the red-spectacled (red-spectacled amazon) parrot, yet much of the original forest has been cleared and only a small fraction is protected. For gardeners in suitably cool, frost-touched climates, the emblematic Araucaria angustifolia is itself a striking ornamental conifer native to this region.

Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

RESOLVE 441 - Neotropic

Atlantic Coast restingas

The Atlantic Coast restingas form a chain of coastal sand forests strung in well-defined enclaves along Brazil's Atlantic coast, running from the country's northeast to its southeast and from the tropics into the subtropics. These restingas grow on low-elevation plains of sandy, acidic, and nutrient-poor soils, supporting a five-to-fifteen-meter Atlantic forest of medium-sized trees and shrubs rich in the myrtle, legume, and spurge families, with vegetation ranging from low scrub to taller stands. Because the ecoregion stretches across a long latitudinal gradient, its climate shifts from tropical in the north to subtropical in the south. It shelters notable wildlife including the flagship red-tailed Amazon and the endemic Santa Cruz dwarf frog, yet the habitat has been reduced by more than 90 percent, with urban expansion the chief threat; surviving fragments are safeguarded in protected areas such as Jurubatiba Sandbank National Park.

Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

RESOLVE 442 - Neotropic

Bahia coastal forests

The Bahia coastal forests stretch along a roughly 150-kilometer-wide belt of eastern Brazil's Atlantic coast, spanning the states of Bahia and Espírito Santo from near the Itapicuru River south to the Itapemirim. They form part of the larger Atlantic Forest, with Atlantic evergreen moist and semi-deciduous broadleaf forests as the predominant vegetation, including several species of Inga, bambusoid grasses, and the Paissava palm growing on nutrient-poor yellow-red soils. The climate is hot and humid, with rainfall of about 1,200 to 1,800 millimeters spread fairly evenly through the year, though the southern reaches see a drier stretch from May through September. The ecoregion is extraordinarily rich in endemic plants, birds, primates, and butterflies and shelters threatened wildlife such as the maned three-toed sloth and the golden-headed lion tamarin, yet it has been reduced by roughly 95 percent of its original cover, making it one of the most endangered habitats in Brazil.

Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

RESOLVE 443 - Neotropic

Bahia interior forests

The Bahia interior forests stretch across eastern Brazil, spanning the states of Sergipe, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, and Rio de Janeiro as the inland wing of the Atlantic Forest, set between the coastal forests and Brazil's drier interior. Their dominant cover is seasonal moist to semi-deciduous forest, with characteristic trees including Cavanillesia, mahogany, and many legumes, alongside lower-canopy vine forests known locally as mata de cipo. The climate is tropical and semi-humid, with average annual rainfall between roughly 1,000 and 1,750 mm, mean annual temperatures of about 18 to 22 degrees Celsius, and a marked dry season of three to five months. The region shelters notable endemics such as the Coimbra-Filho's titi monkey and the northern muriqui, and the Mata do Passarinho Reserve here harbors the Stresemann's bristlefront, described as the rarest bird on the planet. It is among the most fragmented ecoregions of the Atlantic Forest, with few remnants larger than 10 square kilometers and only a small fraction under formal protection. Gardeners may recognize the prized Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra), a threatened timber tree native to these forests.

Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

RESOLVE 444 - Neotropic

Bolivian Yungas

The Bolivian Yungas blanket the eastern Andean slopes of west-central Bolivia, reaching into a small portion of extreme southeastern Peru, where they form a transition zone between the Southwest Amazon moist forests below and the high Andean puna above. Spanning elevations from roughly 400 to over 3,500 metres, the ecoregion is a mosaic of montane cloud forest and other evergreen forest, with Chusquea bamboo characteristic of areas disturbed by landslides. Epiphytes are abundant, including bromeliads, orchids, and tree-ferns (Cyathea) draped across the canopy. Fog and rain carried in on the northern trade winds keep humidity and precipitation high, sustaining these cloud forests. This Neotropical moist broadleaf forest holds notably high endemism, sheltering range-restricted vertebrates alongside the spectacled bear, jaguar, and lowland tapir, and nearly half of it now lies within protected areas such as Madidi and Carrasco national parks.

Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

Educator packet

Region packet

Cocos Island moist forests educator packet

The Cocos Island moist forests cover the single oceanic island of Cocos (Isla del Coco), a Costa Rican territory rising from the eastern Pacific roughly 523 km southwest of the mainland's Cabo Blanco. Vegetation sorts into three elevation bands: a coastal forest of purple coral tree (Erythrina fusca), coconut palm (Cocos nucifera), and pond-apple (Annona glabra); an inland forest where Sacoglottis holdridgei, Ocotea insularis, and the endemic Cecropia pittieri form the canopy, heavily draped with epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, and mosses; and a summit cloud forest dominated by Melastoma. The climate is warm and wet year-round, a tropical rainforest regime kept under near-constant cloud and heavy rainfall, with annual totals well over 6,000 mm. Around 235 plant species grow here with roughly 30% found nowhere else, and the island's high endemism among plants, insects, reptiles, and birds led Costa Rica to protect it as a national park in 1978 and UNESCO to inscribe it as a World Heritage Site in 1997. For gardeners, several of its natives are familiar ornamentals, including the showy coral tree (Erythrina) and the orchids and bromeliads that festoon its mid-elevation forests.

Realm

Neotropic

Dominant biome

Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

Approximate area

10 square miles

States / provinces

Not recorded

Climate descriptor

Not recorded

Classroom prompts

- Which climate and biome facts explain why this region supports its characteristic plants?

- How do native-plant and wildlife-support claims differ from a species-presence claim?

- Which source-backed facts would you cite before using this region in a classroom map activity?

Use the Sources & citations section below for page citation styles and region source links.

Sources & citations

Cite this page

For lesson plans, articles, or regional planting notes that use this Plotwright page. To cite the underlying ecoregion framework or a specific editorial profile, use the source cards below.

Plotwright. (n.d.). Cocos Island moist forests (Cocos Island moist forests). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/regions/resolve-455

Sources for this region

This page cites Plotwright first for the compiled view, then lists the upstream framework, climate, and editorial source pages so readers can cite the original material directly.

RESOLVE 2017 Terrestrial Ecoregions (Dinerstein et al.)

Primary ecoregion framework

One Earth

Wikipedia

Wikimedia Foundation

Open source

Source guide