The Guajira–Barranquilla xeric scrub is a

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

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, and the

ABC Islands (Leeward Antilles) The ABC islands is the physical group of Aruba, Aruba, Bonaire, Bonaire, and Curaçao, Curaçao, the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. These islands have a shared political history and a status of Dutch unde ...

, covering an estimated area of . Rainfall varies from , and the median temperature is .

Location

The ecoregion occupies the

Guajira Peninsula The Guajira Peninsula (, also spelled ''Goajira'', mainly in colonial period texts, ) is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of exte ...

, the valley of the Rancheria river and

Guajira Department La Guajira () is a departments of Colombia, department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The ca ...

, covering parts of the northeastern coast of

to the

. The valleys lie in the

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

of the surrounding

Serranía de Macuira Serranía de Macuira is a mountain range in northern Colombia located in the municipalities of Colombia, municipality of Uribia, Guajira, Uribia, La Guajira. The Serrania de Macuira stands in the middle of the La Guajira Desert at isolated from ...

, which reaches an elevation of over sea level. These mountains trap some of the trade winds, causing

mist Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in the cold air, usually by condensation. Physically, it is an example of a Dispersion (chemistry), dispersion. It is most commonly seen where water vapor in warm, moist air meets ...

. An important tourist destination in the area is

Cabo de la Vela Cabo de la Vela (Spanish for "cape of sail") is a headland in the Guajira Peninsula in Colombia with an adjacent small fishing village. It is a popular ecotourism destination of the Caribbean region of Colombia. History Spanish explorer Juan ...

, and Klein Curaçao.

Ecology

Flora

The ecoregion is dominated by thorny trees and

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

s. Common species include ''

Acacia glomerosa ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Australa ...

'', ''

Bourreria cumanensis ''Bourreria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as strongbark or strongback. The generic name was chosen by Patrick Browne to honour German pharmacist Johann Ambrosius Beur ...

'', ''

Bulnesia arborea ''Bulnesia arborea'' is a species of flowering plant in the creosote subfamily (Larreoideae) of family Zygophyllaceae. It is native to Colombia and Venezuela. Related to the true ''lignum vitae'' trees (''Guaiacum''), it is known as Maracaibo ''l ...

'', ''

Caesalpinia coriaria ''Libidibia coriaria'', synonym ''Caesalpinia coriaria'', is a leguminous tree or large shrub native to the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and northern and western South America. Common names include divi-divi, cascalote, guaracabuya, guata ...

'', ''

Copaifera venezolana ''Copaifera'' is a genus of tropical plants in the legume family Fabaceae. It includes 40 species native to the tropical Americas (Nicaragua to northeastern Argentina), west and central tropical Africa, and Borneo.Croton'' sp., ''

Gyrocarpus americanus ''Gyrocarpus americanus'' is a flowering plant in the ''Hernandiaceae'' family, with a wide pantropical distribution. Its common names include the helicopter tree, propeller tree, whirly whirly tree, stinkwood or shitwood. Description ''Gyroca ...

'', ''

Hyptis ''Hyptis'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in al ...

'' sp., ''

Jacquinia pungens ''Jacquinia pungens'' (syn. ''Jacquinia macrocarpa'' subsp. ''pungens'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to southern Mexico. It is a shrub growing to 4 m tall, with lanceolate to oblong evergreen leaves 4–7&nbs ...

'', '' Malpighia glabra'', '' Myrospermum frutescens'', '' Opuntia caribaea'', ''

Pereskia guamacho ''Pereskia'' is a small genus of about four species of cactus, cacti that do not look much like other types of cacti, having substantial Leaf, leaves and non-succulent Plant stem, stems. The genus is named after Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, a ...

'', '' Piptadenia flava'', ''

Prosopis juliflora ''Neltuma juliflora '' (, ''Cuji'' in Venezuela, ''Trupillo'' in Colombia, ''Aippia'' in the Wayuunaiki language and long-thorn kiawe in Hawaii), formerly ''Prosopis juliflora'', is a shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae, a kind of mesquit ...

'', and ''

Stenocereus griseus ''Stenocereus griseus'', also known as the Mexican organ pipe, dagger cactus, pitaya, and pitayo de mayo, is a species of cactus. Description ''Stenocereus griseus'' is a tree-shaped cactus that grows to 6-9 meters tall with a clear trunk and u ...

''.

Forests dominated by '' Lonchocarpus punctatus'' are often accompanied by '' Bunchosia odorata'' and '' Ayenia magna''. Other forests exist in which ''Prosopis juliflora'', '' Erythrina velutina'' and '' Clerodendron ternifolium'' are dominant. A variety of plant communities occur where two plant species are dominant. Examples include ''

Astronium graveolens ''Astronium graveolens'' is a species of flowering tree in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae, that is native to Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Bolivia. Common names include glassywood, ronrón (Spanish), and aroeira ( P ...

'' – ''

Handroanthus billbergii ''Handroanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Family (biology), family Bignoniaceae.David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. It consists of 30 species of trees, known i ...

'', '' Haematoxylum brasiletto'' – '' Melochia tomentosa'', ''Caesalpinia coriaria'' – '' Cordia curassavica'', '' Bursera glabra'' – '' Castela erecta'', '' Vitex cymosa'' – '' Libidibia coraria'', '' Mimosa cabrera'' – ''Cordia curassavica'', '' Bursera tomentosa'' – ''

Bursera graveolens ''Bursera graveolens'', known in Spanish as palo santo ('sacred wood'), is a wild tree native to the Yucatán Peninsula and also found in Peru and Venezuela. ''Bursera'' ''graveolens'' is found in the seasonally dry tropical forests of Peru, Ve ...

'' and '' Castela erecta'' – '' Parkinsonia praecox''.

Fauna

The ecoregion is notable for being the habitat of a large community of

Caribbean flamingo The American flamingo (''Phoenicopterus ruber'') is a large species of flamingo native to the West Indies, northern South America (including the Galápagos Islands) and the Yucatán Peninsula. It is closely related to the greater flamingo and Chi ...

(''Phoenicopterus ruber''), besides a diversity of birds and bats.

Conservation

Most of the

lies within National Natural Park of Macuira. Nearby is the Los Flamencos Sanctuary, which is a center of plant diversity for species of ''

Hechtia ''Hechtia'' is a genus of plants in the family Bromeliaceae, and is the sole genus of the subfamily Hechtioideae, containing 75 species. Its species are native to Mexico, Central America, and the United States (Texas). The genus is named for Ju ...

'', ''

Salvia ''Salvia'' () is the largest genus of plants in the sage family Lamiaceae, with just under 1,000 species of shrubs, Herbaceous plant, herbaceous Perennial plant, perennials, and Annual plant, annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part o ...

'', and

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

. Of the 2700 species found within, approximately 30% are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub Deserts and xeric shrublands Ecoregions of Colombia Ecoregions of Venezuela Deserts of Colombia Deserts of Venezuela * * Natural history of Colombia Natural history of Venezuela Ecoregions of South America Neotropical ecoregions

Location

Ecology

Flora

Fauna

Conservation

References

Further reading

External links