The Sierra de la Laguna dry forests are a

subtropical dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

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 l ...

of the southern Baja California Peninsula in

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 ...

Geography

The dry forests cover the lower elevations of the

Sierra de la Laguna The Sierra de la Laguna is a mountain range at the southern end of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico, and is the southernmost range of the Peninsular Ranges System. It is located in La Paz Municipality and Los Cabos Municipality of sout ...

, from elevation. They are surrounded at lower elevations by 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 ...

, which lies between sea level and elevation. Above 800 meters elevation, the dry forests transition to the subhumid and temperate Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests.

Climate

The ecoregion has a warm and dry subtropical climate. Annual precipitation is generally less than 500 mm. The highest-rainfall months are late summer, from August to October with peak annual precipitation in September.

Flora

The characteristic vegetation is dry forest, composed of low trees and shrubs with an herbaceous understory. Many of the trees are deciduous, dropping their leaves during the dry season. The predominant

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of the dry forests are the mauto (''

Lysiloma divaricatum ''Lysiloma divaricatum'' is a flowering tree native to Mexico and Central America. Common names include mauto, quitaz, and tepemesquite in Mexico, quebracho in Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua, and quebracho negro, tepemisque, and yaje in El Salv ...

''), palo blanco ('' L. candidum''), cajalosucho (''

Bursera microphylla ''Bursera microphylla'', known by the common name elephant tree in English or 'torote' in Spanish, is a tree in genus ''Bursera''. It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is found in ...

'') and palo zorrillo ('' Hesperalbizia occidentalis''). Herbaceous plants are less prominent and include caribe (''

Cnidoscolus angustidens ''Cnidoscolus angustidens'', with the common name mala mujer, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). It is native to the Sonoran Desert mountains of southeastern Arizona and Northwestern Mexico, and further south ...

''), buena mujer (''

Chloracantha spinosa ''Chloracantha'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the aster family, containing the single species ''Chloracantha spinosa''. It is distributed in the southwestern and south-central United States ( CA NV AZ UT NM TX OK LA), most ...

''), ''

Solanum ''Solanum'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solanaceae ...

'' spp., and biznaga (''

Ferocactus ''Ferocactus'' is a genus of large barrel-shaped cacti, mostly with large spines and small flowers. There are about 30 species included in the genus. They are found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Description The y ...

'' spp). The

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 elsew ...

palm here is ''

Brahea ''Brahea'' is a genus of palms in the family Arecaceae. They are commonly referred to as hesper palms and are endemic to Mexico and Central America.Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of t ...

brandegeei'', that occurs in washes and along streams.

Fauna

Bats in the ecoregion include the peninsular myotis (''Myotis peninsularis''), found only in the southern Baja Peninsula, and the

Mexican long-tongued bat The Mexican long-tongued bat (''Choeronycteris mexicana'') is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is the only species within the genus ''Choeronycteris''. The species is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and th ...

(''Choeronycteris mexicana'') and lesser long-nosed bat (''Leptonycteris yerbabuenae''), which are important

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s for some desert plants.C. Michael Hogan & World Wildlife Fund. 2013."San Lucan xeric scrub". Encyclopedia of Earth, National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington DC ed.Mark McGinley. Other native animals include the peninsular mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus peninsulae''),

white-tailed antelope squirrel The white-tailed antelope squirrel (''Ammospermophilus leucurus'') is a diurnal species of ground squirrel, scientifically classified in the order Rodentia and family Sciuridae, found in arid regions of the southwestern United States and the B ...

(''Ammospermophilus leucurus''),

acorn woodpecker The acorn woodpecker (''Melanerpes formicivorus'') is a medium-sized woodpecker, long, with an average weight of . Taxonomy The acorn woodpecker was formally described in 1827 by the English naturalist William John Swainson under the binom ...

(''Melanerpes formicivorus''), red-spotted toad (''Anaxyrus punctatus''), and Baja California chorus frog (''Pseudacris hypochondriaca'').

Dalquest's pocket mouse Dalquest's pocket mouse (''Chaetodipus dalquesti'') is a species of rodent in the family Heteromyidae, sometimes viewed as a subspecies of '' Chaetodipus ammophilus''. It is endemic to Mexico. The pocket mouse is named after Walter W. Dalquest (1 ...

(''Chaetodipus dalquesti''), the

Baja California slider Baja or Bája may refer to: Places and jurisdictions In the Americas * Baja California Peninsula, in northwestern Mexico * Baja California state in the northern part of the above peninsula * Baja California Sur state in the southern part of t ...

(''Trachemys nebulosa''), and the Cape arboreal spiny lizard (''Sceloporus licki'') are restricted to the southern Baja California Peninsula. The San Lucan gecko (''Phyllodactylus unctus'') is restricted to the southern peninsula and adjacent islands in the gulf.

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 839 km², or 21%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas in the ecoregion include the Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve.

External links

*
Tropical Dry Forest of the Sierra de la Laguna (Los Cabos Guide)

References

{{reflist Ecoregions of Mexico Forests of Mexico Natural history of Baja California Sur La Paz Municipality (Baja California Sur) Los Cabos Municipality (Baja California Sur) * * Neotropical dry broadleaf forests