The Indus Valley desert occupies the heart of Pakistan's Indus Valley, stretching across northwestern Punjab Province between the Chenab and Indus rivers and flanked to the west by mountains. Its sparse vegetation is dominated by drought-hardy xerophytic trees and shrubs, with Prosopis (the khejri) and Tamarix being the characteristic genera, their small waxy leaves adapted to the heat. The climate is one of harsh extremes, swinging from near-freezing winters to summer temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius, with low annual rainfall. Despite these conditions it ranks among the most densely settled deserts on Earth, yet because farming and grazing remain limited its natural habitats are largely intact, sheltering large mammals such as the Indian wolf, striped hyena, caracal, Indian leopard, and Punjab urial alongside roughly 190 bird species, with the red-necked falcon as its flagship. For gardeners drawn to arid-adapted natives, the khejri (Prosopis) is a signature tree of this landscape.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 31.3°N, 71.5°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
11a-11b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
11b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +4.5°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
7,526 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
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 · 52
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 deserts & xeric shrublands ecoregions to explore: