The Tamaulipan matorral is a desert shrubland ecoregion of northeastern Mexico, spanning the states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental, in low valleys and plateaus between those mountains and the Gulf Coastal Plain. Its vegetation is dominated by woody shrubs, small trees, cacti, and succulents such as mesquite, prickly pear, Spanish dagger, and cenizo, with oaks and madrone at higher elevations. The climate is arid to semiarid subtropical, with piedmont scrub receiving roughly 450-900 mm of annual rainfall. Sitting in a transition between the Nearctic and Neotropic realms, it is a global priority for succulent conservation and a hotspot of mint-family evolution, yet is critically endangered with only about 6% protected.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 25.0°N, 99.7°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
10b-12b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
10b-13a
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.6°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
Nearctic
Approximate area
6,281 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.
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 deserts & xeric shrublands ecoregions to explore: