Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests
RESOLVE 295
The Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests cover a broad, mostly arid swath of northwestern India, stretching across the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh and taking in the Aravalli Range (crowned by Mount Abu), the Kathiawar Peninsula, and the Gir Hills. The vegetation is dry deciduous woodland: teak (Tectona grandis) along with bael (Aegle marmelos), silk-cotton, Boswellia, and Diospyros in the less arid zones, giving way to hardy Anogeissus pendula and khair (Acacia catechu) on drier, rocky ground. The climate is hot and arid, with most of the 550 to 700 mm of annual rain falling during the June-to-September southwest monsoon, summer temperatures soaring above 45 degrees Celsius and winter nights dropping near freezing. This is the only ecoregion in Asia that still shelters wild lions, the endangered Asiatic lion of Gir, and it also supports around 80 mammal species and over 300 birds. Much of the original forest has been fragmented, and the WWF classifies the ecoregion as critical or endangered with only a small fraction protected. For gardeners in similarly hot, seasonally dry climates, native trees such as bael (Aegle marmelos) point toward drought-tolerant, monsoon-adapted plantings.
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.
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.