The Gulf of California xeric scrub ( es, Matorral xerófilo del Golfo de California) is a

xeric shrubland Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

's Baja California Peninsula.

Geography

The Gulf of California xeric scrub covers an area of , lying on the eastern side of the peninsula along the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

. The Peninsular Ranges, including the

Sierra de San Francisco The Sierra de San Francisco is a mountain range in Mulegé Municipality of the northern region of Baja California Sur state, in northwestern Mexico. Geography The Sierra de San Francisco are on the eastern side of the Baja California Peninsula, ...

and

Sierra de la Giganta The Sierra de la Giganta is a mountain range of eastern Baja California Sur state, located on the southern Baja California Peninsula in northwestern Mexico. It is a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges System, which extends from Southern Cal ...

, run the length of the peninsula, separate the Gulf of California xeric scrub from the

Baja California Desert The Baja California Desert ( es, Desierto de Baja California) is a desert ecoregion of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. This ecoregion occupies the western portion of the Baja California peninsula, and occupies most of the Mexican states of B ...

on Baja California's Pacific slope. The ecoregion extends from the gulf shore to the crest of the mountains, and includes several of the islands in the gulf, the largest of which are

Isla Ángel de la Guarda Isla Ángel de la Guarda, (Guardian Angel Island) also called Archangel Island, is a large island in the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) east of Bahía de los Ángeles in northwestern Mexico, separated from the Baja California Peninsula by the ...

, Isla del Carmen, and Isla San José. To the north, the Gulf of California xeric scrub transitions to the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...

. At the southern end of the peninsula, the Gulf of California xeric scrub transitions to the

San Lucan xeric scrub The San Lucan xeric scrub is a xeric shrubland ecoregion of the southernmost Baja California Peninsula, in Los Cabos Municipality and eastern La Paz Municipality of southern Baja California Sur state, Mexico. Geography The San Lucan xeric scr ...

Flora

Most of the ecoregion is covered in dry shrubland. The principal shrubs are creosote (''

Larrea tridentata ''Larrea tridentata'', called creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and ''gobernadora'' (Spanish for "governess") in Mexico, due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants. In S ...

'') and desert burr sage (''

Ambrosia dumosa ''Ambrosia dumosa'', the burro-weed or white bursage, a North American species of plants in the family Asteraceae. It is a common constituent of the creosote-bush scrub community throughout the Mojave desert of California, Nevada, and Utah and ...

''), with ''

Jatropha cinerea ''Jatropha'' is a genus of flowering plants in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words ἰατρός (''iatros''), meaning "physician", and τροφή (''trophe''), meaning "nutrition", hence the common name ...

'', palo fierro (''

Olneya tesota ''Olneya tesota'' is a perennial flowering tree of the family Fabaceae, legumes (peas, beans, etc.), which is commonly known as ironwood, desert ironwood, or palo fierro in Spanish. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Olneya''. This t ...

''), ''

Acacia brandegeana ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus nam ...

Cercidium floridum ''Parkinsonia florida'', the blue palo verde ( syn. ''Cercidium floridum''), is a species of palo verde native to the Sonoran Deserts in the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico.

'', and ''

Pithecellobium undulatum ''Pithecellobium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek words πίθηκος (''pithêkos''), meaning "ape" or "monkey," and ἐλλόβιον (''ellobion''), meaning "earring," which r ...

''. Palm oases are found in stream valleys, and sustain a plant community that thrives with year-round moisture. The native palm ''

Washingtonia robusta ''Washingtonia robusta'', known by common name as the Mexican fan palm, Mexican washingtonia, or skyduster is a palm tree native to the Baja California peninsula and a small part of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. Despite its limited native dist ...

'' and introduced date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') are characteristic trees, along with the reeds ''

Typha domingensis ''Typha domingensis'', known commonly as southern cattail or cumbungi, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus '' Typha''. Distribution and habitat It is found throughout temperate and tropical regions worldwide. It is sometimes found as a ...

'' and ''

Phragmites communis ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of plant. It is a broadly distributed wetland grass that can grow up to tall. Description ''Phragmites australis'' commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may ...

''. The ecoregion is home to 238 species of plants. 20 to 25% of the plant species are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the ecoregion, and there are 20 endemic plant genera.

Fauna

Large mammals include the desert bighorn (''Ovis canadensis''),

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...

(''Odocoileus hemionus''), and puma (''Puma concolor''). Threatened birds of the ecoregion include the masked bobwhite quail (''Colinus virginianus ridewayi'') and peninsular yellowthroat (''Geothlypis beldingii''). There are nine endemic reptile species.

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 11,386 km², or 50%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Valle de los Cirios Flora and Fauna Protection Area and

El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve The El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, created in 1988, is located in Mulegé Municipality in northern Baja California Sur, at the center of the Baja California Peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. With an area of over ), ...

protect much of the northern and central portion of the ecoregion. The islands are protected by Gulf of California Islands Flora and Fauna Protection Area and Bahía de Loreto National Park. Two of the oases - Oasis Sierra de La Giganta in the center, and Oasis de la Sierra El Pilar in the south - are Ramsar sites.

External links

* *

References