Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests

The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a

droughts

have great impact on all living things in the forest.

underbrush. Trees on moister sites and those with access to ground water tend to be evergreen. Infertile sites also tend to support evergreen trees. Three tropical dry forest ecoregions, the East Deccan dry evergreen forests, the Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests, and the Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests, are characterized by evergreen trees.^[1]

Though less biologically diverse than rainforests, tropical dry forests are home to a wide variety of wildlife including monkeys, deer, large cats, parrots, various rodents, and ground dwelling birds. Mammalian biomass tends to be higher in dry forests than in rain forests, especially in Asian and African dry forests. Many of these species display extraordinary adaptations to the difficult climate.^[1]

This biome is alternately known as the tropical and subtropical dry forest biome or the tropical and subtropical deciduous forest biome.

Geographical variation

Dry forests tend to exist in the drier areas north and south of the

relictual taxa) for a wide range of taxa and at higher taxonomic levels.^[1]

Trees use underground water during the dry seasons.

Biodiversity patterns and requirements

Species tend to have wider ranges than

moist forest species, although in some regions many species do display highly restricted ranges; most dry forest species are restricted to tropical dry forests, particularly in plants; beta diversity and alpha diversity high but typically lower than adjacent moist forests.^[1]

Effective conservation of dry broadleaf forests requires the preservation of large and continuous areas of forest. Large natural areas are required to maintain larger

intact forest are required to allow species to recover from occasional large events, like forest fires.^[1]

Dry forests are highly sensitive to excessive burning and deforestation; overgrazing and exotic species can also quickly alter natural communities; restoration is possible but challenging, particularly if degradation has been intense and persistent.^[1]

Ecoregions

Afrotropical realm

Australasian realm

Indomalayan realm

Nearctic realm

Sonoran-Sinaloan transition subtropical dry forest

Neotropical realm

Oceanian realm

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g This article incorporates text available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license. World Wide Fund for Nature. "Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forest Ecoregions". Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
^ Gentry, A (1993). "Diversity and floristic composition of Neotropical dry forests". In Mooney, H; Bullock, S; Medina, E (eds.). Tropical deciduous forest ecosystems. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 146–194.

"Deep-rooted Plants Have Much Greater Impact On Climate Than Experts Thought". Science Daily. 2006-01-13.

External links

Media related to Tropical & Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests Biome at Wikimedia Commons
The Tropical Dry Forest of Costa Rica

[wwf-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g This article incorporates text available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license. World Wide Fund for Nature. "Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forest Ecoregions". Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2012-09-25.

[2] Gentry, A (1993). "Diversity and floristic composition of Neotropical dry forests". In Mooney, H; Bullock, S; Medina, E (eds.). Tropical deciduous forest ecosystems. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 146–194.

[1]