The Saharan Atlantic Coastal Desert is a narrow strip of arid coastline running along most of Western Sahara's Atlantic shore and roughly two-thirds of Mauritania's, including the area around the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott. Its sparse desert plateaus support lichens, succulents, and drought-resistant shrubs, with characteristic species such as King Juba's Euphorbia and Acacia tortilis, while shallow tidal flats hold underwater meadows of dwarf eelgrass and Cymodocea seagrasses. The climate is hot and hyper-arid, receiving very little rainfall, but fog and haze generated offshore by the cool Canary Current keep humidity high and sustain the vegetation. The ecoregion is exceptionally important for wildlife: more than 30% of the waders using the East Atlantic Flyway winter in its marshlands, and its sea caves shelter the world's largest population of the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal. For gardeners in dry, mild coastal climates, its native sculptural genera such as Euphorbia and Acacia are familiar drought-tolerant ornamentals.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 21.7°N, 16.7°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: +2.9°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
Palearctic
Approximate area
15,425 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
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 · 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 deserts & xeric shrublands ecoregions to explore: