The La Costa xeric shrublands (NT1309) is an ecoregion in Venezuela that stretches along the Caribbean coast. The dry scrub and savanna has been subject to modification since the 16th century by European colonists who replaced it by a patchwork of farm fields and pasturage. Little of the original habitat remains.

Geography

Location

The La Costa xeric shrublands ecoregion extends along Venezuela's Caribbean coast, covering plains, hills and isolated mountains. Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, lies partly in this ecoregion. It reaches from Sucre state in the east to

Yaracuy Yaracuy State ( es, link=no, Estado Yaracuy, ;) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is bordered by Falcón in the north, in the west by Lara, in the south by Portuguesa and Cojedes and in the east by Cojedes and Carabobo. Its geograp ...

state in the west. The ecoregion includes areas of savanna, dry forest, moist forest, swamp and scrub. It has an area of . In the west the shrubland transitions into the Lara-Falcón dry forests ecoregion. The extreme west of the La Costa xeric shrublands merges into the Paraguana xeric scrub just east of

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; guc, Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center of the country, recognized as the f ...

. To the south the La Costa xeric shrublands transitions into the Llanos. There are regions of

Cordillera de la Costa montane forests The Cordillera de la Costa montane forests is a montane ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, in the Venezuelan Coastal Range (''Cordillera de la Costa'') on the Caribbean Sea in northern Venezuela. Location The ...

along the Caribbean coastline. The coastal area in the east of the region is covered by

Araya and Paria xeric scrub The Araya and Paria xeric scrub (NT1301) is an ecoregion in Venezuela that stretches along the Caribbean coast to the west of Trinidad, and that includes Margarita Island and some smaller islands. The ecoregion includes dune herbs, dry thorn scrub ...

. In the extreme east the ecoregion transitions into

Orinoco Delta swamp forests The Orinoco Delta swamp forests (NT0147) is an ecoregion of eastern Venezuela and northern Guyana covering the large and shifting Orinoco Delta. The vegetation is mostly permanently flooded rainforest. The ecoregion is relatively intact apart fro ...

Terrain

The xeric shrublands are in the Coastal Cordillera geographical region. The shrublands, which blend into the Llanos grasslands to the south, surround the mountains of the

Venezuelan Coastal Range The Venezuelan Coastal Range ( es, Cordillera de la Costa or ), also known as Venezuelan Caribbean Mountain System ( es, Sistema Montañoso Caribe) is a mountain range system and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, that runs along the c ...

. Elevations rise from sea level to in the upper foothills of the mountains. Along the coast there are sandy beaches, mangroves, lagoons and hilly patches of moist forest.

Climate

Average annual temperature is around . Annual rainfall is . At a sample location at coordinates the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

is "Aw": equatorial, winter dry. At this location the mean temperature varies from in July to in April. Total yearly rainfall is about . Monthly rainfall varies from in March to in July.

Ecology

The ecoregion is in the

neotropical 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 ...

realm, in the

deserts and xeric shrublands 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 h ...

biome.

Flora

The lowest regions from above sea level are semi-arid and hold dense xerophytic scrub vegetation include thorny plants high, mostly from the

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

, '' Fabaceae'' and ''

Capparaceae The Capparaceae (or Capparidaceae), commonly known as the caper family, are a family of plants in the order Brassicales. As currently circumscribed, the family contains 33 genera and about 700 species. The largest genera are ''Capparis'' (about ...

'' families. Species in the dense thorn forest include ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Caesalpinia vesicaria ''Caesalpinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. Historically, membership within the genus has been highly variable, with different publications including anywhere from 70 to 165 species, depending largely on the inclusion ...

'', ''

Cereus hexagonus ''Cereus hexagonus'' or lady of the night cactus is a species of columnar cactus found in Ecuador and Venezuela. References External links * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1055079 hexagonus Taxa named by Philip Miller ...

'', '' Chloroleucon mangense'', '' Coccoloba ramosissima'', '' Cynophalla hastata'', '' Parkinsonia praecox'', ''

Pereskia guamacho ''Pereskia'' is a small genus of about four species of cacti that do not look much like other types of cacti, having substantial leaves and non-succulent stems. The genus is named after Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, a 16th-century French bota ...

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

Prosopis juliflora ''Prosopis juliflora'' ( es, bayahonda blanca, Cuji Venezuela, Trupillo Colombia, Aippia Wayuunaiki and long-thorn kiawe in Hawaii) is a shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae, a kind of mesquite. It is native to Mexico, South America and th ...

'', '' Vachellia macracantha'', '' Vachellia tortuosa'', '' Xylosoma benthamii'' and species from the ''

Erythroxylum ''Erythroxylum'' (''Erythroxylon'') is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Erythroxylaceae. Many of the approximately 200 species contain the substance cocaine,Bieri S, Brachet A, Veuthey J, Christen P. Cocaine distribution in wil ...

'', ''

Jacquinia ''Jacquinia'' is a genus of evergreen shrubs and trees in the family Primulaceae, native to Central America and the Caribbean. The genus was established by Linnaeus in 1760 and named by him in honor of Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin Nikolaus J ...

'' and ''

Mimosa ''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 590 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word (''mimos''), an "actor" or "mime", and the feminine suffix -''osa'', "resemb ...

'' genera. There are savannas with tall grasses, shrubs and palms throughout the region, with plants such as '' Axonopus aureus'', ''

Borreria aristeguietana ''Spermacoce'' or false buttonweed is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It comprises about 275 species found throughout the tropics and subtropics. Its highest diversity is found in the Americas, followed by Africa, Australia a ...

'', ''

Bowdichia virgilioides ''Bowdichia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the s ...

'', ''

Byrsonima crassifolia ''Byrsonima crassifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Malpighiaceae, native to tropical America. Common names used in English include nance, maricao cimun, craboo, and golden spoon. In Jamaica it is called hogberry. It's val ...

'', '' Casearia sylvestris'', ''

Cochlospermum vitifolium ''Cochlospermum vitifolium'' is a tree in the family Bixaceae. It is native to the Americas: from Mexico to Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South ...

'', ''

Copaifera officinalis ''Copaifera officinalis'', the copaiba balsam, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela. It has been introduced to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Sierra Leone, India, and ...

'', ''

Curatella americana ''Curatella americana'', commonly known as the wild cashew tree, sambaı́ba, and the sandpaper tree, is a species of tree in the family Dilleniaceae. It is the sole accepted species in genus ''Curatella''. Description ''Curatella americana'' is ...

'', ''

Godmania aesculifolia ''Godmania aesculifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Bignoniaceae, native to the New World tropics. A tree, it contains 7,8-dihydroxyflavone Tropoflavin, also known as 7,8-dihydroxyflavone, is a naturally occurring flavone f ...

'', '' Leptocoryphium lanatum'', ''

Polycarpaea corymbosa ''Polycarpaea'' is a genus of plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. The genus was named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1792. Molecular phylogenetic analysis showed that the genus is polyphyletic and needs to be redefined. It falls into three dis ...

'', '' Stilpnopappus pittieri'', '' Trachypogon plumosus'', '' Vochysia venezolana'' and species of the '' Andropogon'', ''

Bulbostylis ''Bulbostylis'' is a genus of plants in the sedge family. They are sometimes called hairsedges. There are over 200 species of these clump-forming plants of dry grasslands and warm and tropical savannas worldwide. They have solid, rounded, groov ...

'', ''

Panicum ''Panicum'' (panicgrass) is a large genus of about 450 species of grasses native throughout the tropical regions of the world, with a few species extending into the northern temperate zone. They are often large, annual or perennial grasses, growi ...

'' and '' Rhynchospora'' genera. The west of the region has herbaceous savannas that include '' Axonopus canescens'', ''

'', ''

'', '' Leptocoryphium lanatum'', '' Trachypogon plumus'' and ''

Paspalum ''Paspalum'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The group is widespread across much of Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Commonly known as paspalum, bahiagrasses, crowngrasses or dallis grasses, many of the species are tall pere ...

'' species. ''

'' and '' Stilpnopappus pittieri'' are endemic to the ecoregion.

Fauna

Endemic mammals found in this and other dry forest ecoregions in Colombia and Venezuela include the Guajira mouse opossum (''Marmosa xerophila'') and Hummelinck's vesper mouse (''Calomys hummelincki''). Endemic birds include the

yellow-shouldered amazon The yellow-shouldered amazon (''Amazona barbadensis''), also known as the yellow-shouldered parrot, is a parrot of the genus ''amazon parrot, Amazona'' that is found in the arid areas of northern Venezuela, the Venezuelan islands of Isla Margarit ...

(''Amazona barbadensis''), Maracaibo tody-flycatcher (''Todirostrum viridanum''), pygmy palm swift (''Tachornis furcata''), buffy hummingbird (''Leucippus fallax''), chestnut piculet (''Picumnus cinnamomeus''),

white-whiskered spinetail The white-whiskered spinetail (''Synallaxis candei'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland ...

(''Synallaxis candei''),

black-backed antshrike The black-backed antshrike (''Thamnophilus melanonotus'') is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. The black-backed antshrike wa ...

(''Thamnophilus melanonotus''), slender-billed inezia (''Inezia tenuirostris''),

Tocuyo sparrow The Tocuyo sparrow (''Arremonops tocuyensis'') is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae that is found in Colombia and cities like Tocuyo and Lara of Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical ...

(''Arremonops tocuyensis'') and

vermilion cardinal The vermilion cardinal (''Cardinalis phoeniceus'') is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics The vermilion cardinal is monotypic. It ...

(''Cardinalis phoeniceus''). Endangered birds include the

rusty-flanked crake The rusty-flanked crake (''Laterallus levraudi'') is a Vulnerable species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is endemic to Venezuela.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds ...

(''Laterallus levraudi''),

plain-flanked rail The plain-flanked rail (''Rallus wetmorei'') is an Endangered species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is endemic to Venezuela.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of ...

(''Rallus wetmorei'') and red siskin (''Spinus cucullatus'').

Status

The

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

gives the ecoregion the status of "Critical/Endangered". There is a large human population that dates back to 16th century colonists from Europe. Most of the natural habitat has been destroyed, particularly in the lower areas, replaced by a patchwork of towns, farm fields and pastures. A few areas of natural savanna and thorn forest remain. The

El Ávila National Park The Ávila National Park, officially known as Waraira Repano National Park for its name indigenous Cariban name, protects part of the Cordillera de la Costa Central mountain range, in the coastal region of central-northern Venezuela. The area's ...

and San Esteban National Park hold small areas of xeric shrubland. Other protected areas include the

Mochima National Park Mochima National Park ( ) is located in the States of Anzoátegui and Sucre (state), on the northeastern coast of Venezuela. The park covers 94,935 hectares and is made up of an exclusively marine area in its western sector (Anzoátegui State), ...

and the

Henri Pittier National Park Henri Pittier National Park is the oldest national park in Venezuela, originally created in 1937 under the name of ''Rancho Grande'' by decree of President Eleazar López Contreras. In 1953 the park was renamed in honor of Henri Pittier, a distin ...

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:La Costa xeric shrublands Neotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Venezuela Deserts and xeric shrublands