The Deccan thorn scrub forests stretch across the semi-arid heart of India's Deccan Plateau, spanning the states of Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, and reaching south to the Northern Province and Jaffna Peninsula of Sri Lanka. The vegetation is open, low-canopied thorn woodland in which spiny Acacia species dominate, giving way to Euphorbia scrub on the driest, rockiest ground, interspersed with patches of dry deciduous forest and grassland. The climate is hot and seasonally arid, with annual rainfall under 750 mm concentrated between roughly May and October, little to no rain from November through April, and summer temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius. Though classified as a critically endangered habitat with only a sliver of its area protected, the region remains the last refuge of the rediscovered Jerdon's courser and supports the great Indian bustard and blackbuck. For gardeners in similar hot, dry climates, this ecoregion is the native home of ornamental genera such as Cordia, Capparis, and the wild date palm Phoenix sylvestris, as well as the rare endemic cycad Cycas beddomei of the Tirupati hills.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 16.0°N, 76.8°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12b-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13a-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.6°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
Indomalayan
Approximate area
131,493 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Imperiled (Dinerstein NNH 4)
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
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Currently suited · 4
These plants fit the ecoregion as it is today, but the mid-century projection moves them outside their stated zone range — plan for them to struggle by 2070.
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: