The Aldabra Island xeric scrub covers the coral atoll of Aldabra in the Seychelles, an isolated landform in the western Indian Ocean lying roughly 400 km northwest of Madagascar. Its xeric vegetation falls into two main types: dense thickets of Pemphis acidula on the saline, low-lying ground, and a mixed scrub of low trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses spread across most of the atoll. The climate is tropical, with an average annual temperature near 27 degrees Celsius and about 1,200 mm of rainfall, split into a wetter season from November to April and a drier stretch from May to October. The terrestrial flora includes roughly nine fern species and 178 flowering plants, of which about 38 percent are thought to be endemic. Aldabra is best known for hosting the world's largest population of giant tortoises and the flightless Aldabra white-throated rail, and the atoll has been protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 9.4°S, 46.5°E.
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: +2.7°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
Deserts & Xeric Shrublands
Realm
Afrotropic
Approximate area
62 sq mi
Conservation tier
Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 1)
About the deserts & xeric shrublands biome
Arid and semi-arid lands where low, erratic rainfall and high evaporation limit vegetation to drought-adapted shrubs, succulents, and sparse grasses. Day-to-night temperature swings are large, and life is finely tuned to water scarcity.
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 deserts & xeric shrublands ecoregions to explore: