The Ecuadorian dry forests stretch along the Pacific coast of Ecuador, running south from southern Esmeraldas province through Guayas to the Gulf of Guayaquil, on land that slopes down from the western Andean foothills to lowlands mostly below 300 meters. Vegetation grades from scrub and thorn woodland to deciduous and semi-evergreen forest, with characteristic drought-adapted trees including mesquite (Prosopis juliflora), kapok and other Ceiba species, palo santo, acacia, fig, jacaranda, and cacti. The climate is equatorial with a pronounced dry season (Köppen "Aw"), shaped by the cold Humboldt current alongside warm El Nino and Panama currents, and rainfall that swings widely from year to year. The ecoregion forms part of the Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena biodiversity hotspot and supports high endemism, including the endangered pale-headed brush-finch found only in Ecuador, yet agricultural expansion, logging, and overgrazing have destroyed the great majority of the original forest, leaving it ranked critical and endangered.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 1.0°S, 80.3°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
12a-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.2°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
Tropical & Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Neotropic
Approximate area
8,216 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Recover (Dinerstein NNH 3)
About the tropical & subtropical dry broadleaf forests biome
Tropical forests that pass through a pronounced dry season, when many trees drop their leaves to conserve water. They hold high biodiversity but are among the most threatened tropical habitats, sensitive to fire and to clearing for agriculture.
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.
Climate-resilient picks · 4
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
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 tropical & subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: