The Sinaloan dry forests stretch across the Pacific coastal plain and foothills of northwestern Mexico, lying between the ocean and the Sierra Madre Occidental and covering most of Sinaloa and Nayarit while reaching into Sonora, Chihuahua, and Jalisco. This is the northernmost dry forest of the Neotropic realm, holding thorn forests of spiny legumes such as Acacia in the lowlands and taller dry deciduous forests of Bursera, Handroanthus, and Lysiloma in the foothills, alongside the kapok tree. Its climate is semi-arid to semi-humid and strongly seasonal, with a long dry season running roughly October to June and more humidity gathering toward the inland slopes. The region is recognized as an Endemic Bird Area and shelters jaguar, ocelot, and the Mexico-endemic Smith's pygmy robber frog, yet little original vegetation survives and only about a tenth of the ecoregion is protected. For gardeners, native ornamental genera here include the trumpet trees (Handroanthus) and the aromatic bursera (copal) trees.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 24.3°N, 106.6°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
10a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
10b-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.7°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 Dry Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Neotropic
Approximate area
29,948 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Recover (Dinerstein NNH 3)
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
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 · 79
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 tropical & subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: