The Mato Grosso tropical dry forests stretch across central Brazil, centered on Mato Grosso state and reaching into southern Pará and neighboring states around the Alto-Xingu headwaters of the Xingu River. The ecoregion is a transitional band between the Amazon rainforest to the north and the cerrado savanna to the south, so its dominant dry forest is interwoven with savannas, gallery forests, and dense thickets; characteristic semi-evergreen trees include Hymenaea, Machaerium, and Bowdichia, alongside cerrado plants such as Curatella americana, Qualea, and Kielmeyera coriacea. The climate is markedly seasonal, with a long wet season that brings extensive December-to-May flooding and a pronounced dry spell around June and July, totaling roughly 2,100 millimetres of rain a year. This mosaic supports notably rich fauna, including the white-cheeked spider monkey as its flagship species, but the World Wildlife Fund rates it Vulnerable, pressured by highway-driven deforestation, gold mining, and cattle ranching. Gardeners may recognize Hymenaea, the genus of the ornamental and timber tree jatoba, among its native flora.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 10.9°S, 54.9°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +4.4°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 Moist Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Neotropic
Approximate area
159,896 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome
Warm, wet, highly productive forests — including tropical rainforests — with closed canopies, near year-round growing seasons, and the richest terrestrial biodiversity on Earth. Low seasonality and high rainfall sustain dense, layered vegetation from canopy to forest floor.
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.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: