The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters or rain per year, they deal with long dry seasons which last several months and vary with geographic location. These seasonal droughts have great impact on all living things in the forest. Deciduous trees predominate in most of these forests, and during the drought a leafless period occurs, which varies with species type. Because trees lose moisture though their leaves, the shedding of leaves allows trees such as teak and mountain ebony to conserve water during dry periods. The newly bare trees open up the canopy layer, enabling sunlight to reach ground level and facilitate the growth of thick 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 broadleaf 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. In ecology, a biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant and animal communities best adapted to the regions physical environment. ... The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. ... A drought is an extended period where water availability falls below the statistical requirements for a region. ... Deciduous means temporary or tending to fall off (deriving from the Latin word decidere, to fall off). ... Species Tectona grandis Tectona hamiltoniana Tectona philippinensis Teak (Tectona), also called jati is a genus of tropical hardwood trees in the family Verbenaceae, native to the south and southeast of Asia, and is commonly found as a component of monsoon forest vegetation. ... The canopy of a tree A canopy is an overhead roof or structure that provides shade or other shelter. ... Prism splitting light Sunlight in the broad sense is the total spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. ... Underbrush is a term used to describe the low shrubs and young trees that grow on the floor of a forest. ... A Silver Fir shoot showing three successive years of retained leaves In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant which retains its leaves year-round, with each leaf persisting for more than 12 months. ... The East Deccan dry evergreen forests are an ecoregion of southeastern India. ...

Though less biologically diverse than rainforests, tropical dry forests are home to a wide variety of wildlife including monkeys, 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. The Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia. ... For the TV show Monkey see Monkey (TV series) Cynomolgus Monkey at Batu Caves, Malaysia A monkey is any member of two of the three groupings of simian primates. ... CATS The Musical is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber (ALW) in 1981 based on Old Possums Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. ... For the runtime engine for Perl 6, see Parrot virtual machine. ... Families Many, see text The order Rodentia is the most numerous of all the branches on the mammal family tree. ... For other meanings of bird, see bird (disambiguation). ... Biomass is organic non-fossil material, collectively. ... In biology, a species is the basic unit of biodiversity. ...

This biome is alternately known as the tropical and subtropical dry forest biome or the tropical and subtropical deciduous forest biome. Locally some of these forests are also called monsoon forests, and they tend to merge into savannas. Savanna is a grassland dotted with trees, and occurs in several types of biomes. ...

Geographical Variation

Dry forests tend to exist north and south of the equatorial rainforest belt, south of the subtropical deserts, generally in two bands, one between 10° and 20°N latitude and the other between 10° and 20°S latitude. The most diverse dry forests in the world occur in southern Mexico and in the Bolivian lowlands. The dry forests of the Pacific Coast of northwestern South America support a wealth of unique species due to their isolation. The subtropical forests of Maputoland-Pondoland in southeastern Africa are diverse and support many endemics). The dry forests of central India and Indochina are notable for their diverse large vertebrate faunas). Dry forests of Madagascar and New Caledonia are also highly distinctive (pronounced endemism and a large number of relictual taxa) for a wide range of taxa and at higher taxonomic levels. This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia. ... Latitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter φ, gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator. ... Latitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter φ, gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator. ... The Pacific Coast is any coast fronting the Pacific Ocean. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Africa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... In biology and ecology endemic means exclusively native to a place or biota, in contrast to cosmopolitan or one of various ways of being not native (e. ... Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a large peninsula in Southeast Asia. ... Groups Conodonta Hyperoartia Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Thelodonti Anaspida Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Galeaspida Pituriaspida Osteostraci Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) Placodermi Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii Osteichthyes (bony fish) Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) Tetrapoda Amphibia Amniota Sauropsida/(Reptiles) Aves (Birds) Synapsida Mammalia... Fauna is a collective term for animal life. ... Endemic, in a broad sense, can mean belonging or native to, characteristic of, or prevalent in a particular geography, race, field, area, or environment; Native to an area or scope. ... Taxonomy (from Greek verb tassein = to classify and nomos = law, science, cf economy) may refer to: the science of classification (see alpha taxonomy) a classification Initially taxonomy was only the science of classifying living organisms, but later the word was applied in a wider sense, and may also refer to...

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.

Effective conservation of dry broadleaf forests requires the preservation of large and continuous areas of forest. Large natural areas are required to maintain larger predators and other vertebrates, and to buffer sensitive species from hunting pressure. The persistence of riparian forests and water sources is critical for many dry forest species. Large swathes of intact forest are required to allow species to recover from occasional large events, like forest fires. This snapping turtle is trying to make a meal of a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. ... Typical classes Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Placodermi - extinct Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii - extinct Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) Amphibia (amphibians) Reptilia (reptiles) Aves (birds) Mammalia (mammals) Vertebrata is a subphylum of chordates, specifically, those with backbones or spinal columns. ... This article is about the hunting of prey by human society. ... A Riparian forest is a forested area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, lake, pond, sea, marsh, etc. ...

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. Degrading dry broadleaf forests often leaves thorny shrublands, thickets, or dry grasslands in their place. Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest. ...

Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregions

In ecology, a biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant and animal communities best adapted to the regions physical environment. ... Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as tropical rain forests, are a tropical and subtropical biome. ... Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests are a biome located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. ... Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests are a temperate and humid biome. ... Temperate coniferous forests are a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. ... Taiga Taiga (IPA pronunciation: , from the Russian тайга́) is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. ... Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands are a grassland biome located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and tropical latitudes. ... Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a group of biomes in which the climate is temperate to semi-arid. ... Flooded grasslands and savannas are a biome, generally located at subtropical and tropical latitudes, where flooding is very frequent. ... Montane grasslands and shrublands is biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. ... In physical geography, tundra is an area where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. ... Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub is a temperate biome, characterized by hot-dry summers and mild and rainy winters. ... Deserts and xeric shrublands is a biome characterized by a dry climate. ... Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal Mangrove are woody trees or shrubs that grow in coastal habitats or mangal (Hogarth, 1999), for which the term mangrove swamp also would apply. ... Ecozone is a classification system of the world first proposed by Miklos Udvardy under the name biogeographical realms for conservation purposes. ... The Afrotropic Ecozone is Africa south of the Sahara Desert. ... Antarctica is one of eight terrestrial ecozones. ... The Australasian ecozone includes Australia, the island of New Guinea (including Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of Papua), and the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago, including the island of Sulawesi, the Moluccan islands (the Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku) and islands of Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba... The Indomalaya Ecozone was previously called the Oriental region. ... The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones dividing the Earths land surface. ... The Neotropic ecozone is a terrestrial ecoregion which includes South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. ... Oceania is the smallest of the worlds terrestrial ecozones, and unique in not including any continental land mass. ... The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth surface (see map). ...

External link

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Much material in this article has been reworked from Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests, byWWF with their permission.