The Somali montane xeric woodlands cover the rugged northern rim of Somalia, running through the regions of Somaliland and Puntland along the Karkaar and Golis mountains that parallel the Gulf of Aden coast, from the highlands east of Hargeysa out to the tip of the Horn of Africa at Cape Guardafui. Across the lower foothills and subcoastal slopes the woody vegetation is dominated by Acacia, Commiphora, and Boswellia, while the highest escarpments hold remnant evergreen woodland of African juniper (Juniperus procera) and wild olive (Olea europaea). The climate is hot and arid to semi-arid, with the low-lying areas receiving less than 200 millimeters of rain a year, though the mountain escarpments near Maydh capture far more, falling mainly in winter. The ecoregion's flagship is the endemic frankincense tree Boswellia frereana, and its high juniper forests shelter endemic birds such as the Somali thrush and Warsangli linnet, yet most of the area has had little formal protection since the collapse of Somalia's central government in 1991. For gardeners in hot, dry climates, the region is home to drought-adapted succulents in genera familiar from horticulture, including Aloe and Euphorbia.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 11.3°N, 50.7°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12b-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13a-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +4.1°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
Afrotropic
Approximate area
24,655 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Imperiled (Dinerstein NNH 4)
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.
Currently suited · 4
These plants fit the ecoregion as it is today, but the mid-century projection moves them outside their stated zone range — plan for them to struggle by 2070.
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: