Lesser Antillean dry forests
RESOLVE 537
The Lesser Antillean dry forests are a discontinuous Neotropical ecoregion scattered across the eastern Caribbean's Lesser Antilles, occupying the lower-lying, drier coastal lands of islands including Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada, as well as Leeward Islands such as Saint Eustatius, Barbuda, Montserrat, Anguilla, and Antigua. The original vegetation grades from littoral and thorn woodland into deciduous and semi-evergreen woodland, with characteristic plants including Tabebuia pallida, Begonia retusa, Acacia, and members of the Orchidaceae, alongside tree genera such as Didymopanax and Miconia. The climate is hot and humid with moderate relief and rainfall, the dry forests typically forming a coastal band around the wetter interior forests of higher elevations. These flat, accessible lands have faced heavy pressure from settlement and agriculture, and the ecoregion's flagship species, the critically endangered Lesser Antillean iguana, is threatened by habitat loss and competition from introduced green iguanas. For gardeners, the region is the native home of ornamental genera like the trumpet-flowered Tabebuia and Begonia.
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
No catalog plants intersect this ecoregion's zone range. As the catalog grows to cover this region's climate band, suggestions will surface here.
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.