The Dry Chaco is a vast semi-arid lowland in the heart of South America, spanning northwestern Argentina, western Paraguay, and southeastern Bolivia (extending into a small part of Brazil), east of the Andes. Its landscape is a mosaic of savanna and thorn forest, signatured by quebracho hardwoods—red quebracho (Schinopsis lorentzii) and white quebracho (Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco)—alongside the slow-growing palo santo (Bulnesia sarmientoi), prickly-pear and giant columnar cacti, and an understory of bromeliads. Lying in the rain shadow of the central Andes, it endures intense sun, a long dry season, and some of the highest temperatures on the continent, with rainfall roughly around 865 mm a year. The ecoregion is a stronghold of arid-land endemism—home to the once-thought-extinct Chacoan peccary and numerous armadillo species—but it is under heavy pressure, having lost an estimated 20.2% of its forest cover between 2000 and 2019 to ranching and cropland. For gardeners in hot, dry climates, the native algarrobo (Prosopis alba) is a prized shade tree well suited to such conditions.

At a glance

About the tropical & subtropical grasslands, savannas & shrublands biome

Warm grasslands and savannas where grasses dominate and trees are scattered, maintained by seasonal rainfall, grazing, and fire. They support large herbivore communities and respond sharply to wet–dry cycles.

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.

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Related ecoregions