The Sonoran–Sinaloan transition subtropical dry forest is a

tropical dry broadleaf forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat (ecology), 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-roun ...

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 ...

in northwestern

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

This ecoregion forms a transition belt between 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 Arizona ...

to the north and the

Sinaloan dry forests The Sinaloan dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in western Mexico. It is the northernmost ecoregion of the Neotropical realm. Geography The ecoregion covers an area of approximately The dry forests lie in the coastal pla ...

to the south, running south from the foothills of the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...

highlands of the state of

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

coasts of Sonora and

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...

. This region is also part of the transition zone between the

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...

and

Neotropical realm The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

s and as such habitats of the region range from sparse semi-desert in the north to dry forest in the south. It covers an area of from sea level to .

Climate

The climate is subtropical and semi-arid. Annual rainfall is , and comes mostly in the summer months.

Flora

The characteristic vegetation is deciduous thorn forest and woodland ("selva espinosa"), with areas of thorn scrub. Characteristic trees include the boat-thorn acacia ('' Acacia cochliacantha''), tree catclaw ('' Acacia occidentalis''), torote prieto ('' Bursera fragilis''), and palo santo ('' Ipomoea arborescens''). Cacti are common, including organ pipe cactus (''

Stenocereus thurberi ''Stenocereus thurberi'', the organ pipe cactus, is a species of cactus native to Mexico and the United States. The species is found in rocky desert. Two subspecies are recognized based on their distribution and height. The Organ Pipe Cactus Nati ...

''), jumping cholla ('' Cylindropuntia fulgida'') and barrel cactus (''

Ferocactus wislizeni ''Ferocactus wislizeni'', the fishhook barrel cactus, also called Arizona barrel cactus, candy barrel cactus, and Southwestern barrel cactus, is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family Cactaceae, native to northern Mexico and the southe ...

'').

Fauna

Large mammals include

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

(''Odocoileus virginianus''),

javelina A peccary (also javelina or skunk pig) is a medium-sized, pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North A ...

(''Dicotyles tajacu''),

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

(''Panthera onca''), and

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

(''Canis latrans''). As in the Sonoran Desert, nectar-feeding long-tongued bats like the

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

(''Choeronycteris mexicana'') and

Pallas's long-tongued bat Pallas's long-tongued bat (''Glossophaga soricina'') is a South and Central American bat with a fast metabolism that feeds on nectar. Metabolism It has the fastest metabolism ever recorded in a mammal, similar to those of hummingbirds. Althou ...

(''Glossophaga soricina'') are important pollinators. The ecoregion has over 90 species of butterflies. Birds of the ecoregion include the

black-throated magpie-jay The black-throated magpie-jay (''Calocitta colliei'') is a strikingly long-tailed magpie-jay of northwestern Mexico. Taxonomy The black-throated magpie-jay was formally described in 1829 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors from a sp ...

(''Calocitta colliei'').

Threats and preservation

This woodland is vulnerable to logging and clearance for livestock grazing, particularly around the cities of

Navojoa Navojoa is the fifth-largest city in the northern Mexican state of Sonora and is situated in the southern part of the state. The city is the administrative seat of Navojoa Municipality, located in the Mayo River Valley. History The city name de ...

Álamos Álamos () is a town in Álamos Municipality in the Mexican state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. Historically an important center of silver mining, the town's economy is now dominated by the tourist sector. Designated a ''pueblo mágico ...

, and

Sinaloa de Leyva Sinaloa de Leyva () is a town in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Its geographical location is . The town was founded on 30 April 1583 as Villa de San Felipe y Santiago de Sinaloa by Don Pedro de Montoya. In 1585 the second foundation of the town ...

. While the wildlife is vulnerable to hunting. Areas of particular conservation importance include the

Yaqui River The Yaqui River (Río Yaqui in Spanish) (Hiak Vatwe in the Yaqui or Yoreme language) is a river in the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. It was formerly known as the Rio del Norte. Being the largest river system in the state of Sonora, the ...

basin.Benitez, H., C. Arizmendi, y L. Marquez, L. 1999. Base de datos de las AICAS. CIPAMEX, CONABIO, FMCN, y CCA. México A 2017 assessment found that 2,029 km², or 4%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. 13% of the unprotected area is relatively-intact habitat.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonoran-Sinaloan transition subtropical dry forest Ecoregions of Mexico Forests of Mexico Natural history of Sinaloa Natural history of Sonora Sierra Madre Occidental Nearctic ecoregions Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests Sclerophyll forests