Hawaii tropical moist forests

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The Hawaiian Tropical Moist Forests ecoregion home to a high diversity of endemic species. For 70 million years, the Hawaiian Islands have been isolated from the rest of the world by vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean, and this isolation has resulted in the evolution of an incredible diversity of fungi, mosses, snail, birds, and other wildlife. In the lush, moist forests high in the mountains, Koa and ‘Ohi‘a lehua trees are draped with vines, orchids, ferns, and mosses. This diversity of habitats and richness of life make Hawaii's moist forests some of the most spectacular places on Earth.

From lush rain forests to bogs, a surprisingly diverse mixture of habitats makes up the Hawaii Tropical Moist Forests ecoregion. This diversity includes one of the world's wettest rain forest on Mount Waialeale, which averages 450 inches (11,400 mm) of rainfall per year. While we often associate Hawaii with beautiful rain forests, which occur on the mountaintops of the smaller islands and on the windward sides of the larger islands, the islands' moist forest regions are also home to wet shrublands and bogs in swampy areas.