Sechura desert
RESOLVE 608
The Sechura Desert stretches along the western coast of Peru, running south of the Piura Region across the Piura and Lambayeque areas and reaching 20 to 100 km inland from the Pacific to the foothills of the Andes; it sits in the Neotropic realm and forms one of two arid ecoregions in One Earth's South American Coastal Deserts bioregion alongside the Atacama. Plant cover is generally sparse, but northern areas hold carob trees and mesquite, while willows, Tessaria species, evergreens, and beach grasses persist where water allows, and cacti occupy the arid rocky scrublands. The climate is one of the most arid on Earth, driven by the upwelling of cold coastal waters and subtropical atmospheric subsidence, with coastal fog supplying moisture and occasional El Niño years bringing heavy flooding. Despite low overall diversity the desert shelters distinctive wildlife, including the Sechuran fox, the endemic Peru Pacific iguana and coastal desert iguana, and endangered birds such as the white-winged guan and russet-bellied spinetail, though only a small fraction of the region is currently protected. For gardeners in hot, dry climates, the desert's native carob and mesquite (Prosopis) trees point to drought-hardy genera adapted to these conditions.
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.
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.