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Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

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Galápagos Islands xeric scrub

Bioma

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

·

Reino biogeográfico

Neotropic

Matorral xérico de Galápagos y terreno costero volcánico seco en San Cristóbal.

Foto de la región - Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 4.0; attribution required.

Galápagos Islands xeric scrub

El matorral xerófilo de las islas Galápagos cubre el archipiélago ecuatoriano de las Galápagos, unas 128 islas volcánicas dispersas por el Pacífico a unos 960 km al oeste del continente sudamericano. En la zona árida de tierras bajas la vegetación es matorral y bosque seco tolerantes a la sequía, caracterizados por el palo santo (Bursera graveolens), el endémico guayabillo (Psidium galapageium), el monte salado costero (Cryptocarpus pyriformis) y Maytenus, y varios géneros de cactus endémicos, incluidas las tunas arborescentes (Opuntia), Jasminocereus y Brachycereus. El clima es semiárido y oceánico, con dos estaciones: una estación cálida y húmeda de aproximadamente diciembre a mayo y una estación de garúa más fresca y seca, mientras que las lluvias aumentan bruscamente con la altitud, de modo que las laderas más altas sostienen bosques de Scalesia más húmedos. Las islas albergan alrededor de 500 especies de plantas vasculares nativas, cerca de 180 de ellas endémicas, y la ecorregión es el célebre hogar de la tortuga gigante de Galápagos y un emblema del endemismo evolutivo. Su flora nativa está hoy críticamente amenazada por especies introducidas e invasoras, entre ellas las cabras y numerosas plantas exóticas, aunque casi toda la ecorregión se encuentra dentro del Parque Nacional Galápagos.

RESOLVE 601

Neotropic

3,094 sq mi

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

Tipo de paisaje

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

Región vegetal

Neotropic

Huella de la región

3,094 sq mi

Presión sobre el hábitat

Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 1)

Origen y cuidado

Patrocinado

Plantas nativas

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Suministros de jardinería

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Usa esto como el patrón general de plantación para la región: Tierras áridas y semiáridas donde las lluvias escasas y erráticas y la alta evaporación limitan la vegetación a arbustos, suculentas y gramíneas dispersas adaptados a la sequía. Las oscilaciones de temperatura entre el día y la noche son grandes, y la vida está finamente ajustada a la escasez de agua. Para las decisiones de jardín, acota según las restricciones de luz, agua, suelo y tamaño maduro de tu sitio.

Plantas que pueden con esta región

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Regiones de plantación similares

Explora otras regiones del mismo bioma. Sus listas de plantas pueden sugerir especies y combinaciones que vale la pena comparar.

Cactus columnares y matorral xérico en la península de Macanao, Venezuela.

RESOLVE 597 - Neotropic

Araya and Paria xeric scrub

The Araya and Paria xeric scrub stretches along Venezuela's northeastern Caribbean coast, covering the Araya and Paria peninsulas, the area around Cumaná, and the offshore islands of Margarita, Coche, and Cubagua. Its vegetation is a mosaic of salt-tolerant dune herbs, dry thorn scrub studded with columnar and prickly-pear cacti such as Stenocereus and Opuntia, and low deciduous woodland with trees including Bursera, Prosopis, and Parkinsonia, grading into semi-deciduous and evergreen forest on the higher hills. The climate is hot and markedly arid, with average temperatures around 24 to 27 degrees Celsius and rainfall that is very sparse on the Araya Peninsula but much higher on the wetter Paria slopes. The ecoregion harbors notable wildlife, most famously the threatened yellow-shouldered amazon parrot, alongside breeding sea turtles and a number of endemic plants, yet it is considered critically threatened by overgrazing, deforestation, sand extraction, and coastal urbanization. For gardeners in hot, dry climates, several drought-hardy genera native here, including the cacti Stenocereus and Opuntia and the flowering tree Parkinsonia, are widely grown as ornamentals.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

RESOLVE 598 - Neotropic

Atacama desert

The Atacama Desert ecoregion runs as a continuous strip for nearly 1,000 kilometers along the narrow coast of the northern third of Chile, extending toward southern Peru, within the Neotropic realm. Its interior is one of the driest places on Earth and almost without vegetation, while life concentrates on coastal slopes and ravines where Pacific fog and winter drizzle sustain isolated oases known as lomas. Characteristic plants include columnar and cushion cacti such as Eulychnia, Copiapoa, Browningia, and Leucostele, alongside bromeliads on sandy ground and the endemic tamarugo tree, with around 550 species of ferns, gymnosperms, and flowering plants recorded. Endemism here can exceed 60 percent, and the desert is the largest fog desert on the planet, supporting a sparse but highly adapted fauna whose flagship is Darwin's leaf-eared mouse. For gardeners, several of its hardy succulents, notably Copiapoa cacti, are prized ornamentals well suited to arid, low-water plantings.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

RESOLVE 599 - Neotropic

Caribbean shrublands

The Caribbean Shrublands ecoregion is a Neotropic strip of xeric scrub scattered across the low, dry islands of the Caribbean, including the Cayman Islands, all of Barbados, the coastal Windward Islands (parts of Grenada, St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, and Trinidad), and much of the Leeward Islands, from Guadeloupe's Grande-Terre and Marie-Galante to Antigua, Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Barthélemy, and the eastern Virgin Islands. Its vegetation is seral in character, grading from herbaceous coastal strand through scrublands and savannas to littoral woodland, and it sits within a broader island setting of tropical dry forests and mangroves. The climate is warm and tropical, with the Cayman Islands experiencing a humid regime, a distinct wet season from May to November, and persistent trade winds. The ecoregion holds notable island endemism: the Cayman Islands alone support 26 herpetofauna species, about three-quarters of them endemic, while the critically endangered Grenada dove, Grenada's national bird, persists in mature dry scrub lowlands and hillsides. Habitat loss and introduced species are the leading threats to these naturally limited coastal scrub habitats.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

RESOLVE 600 - Neotropic

Cuban cactus scrub

The Cuban cactus scrub is a xeric shrubland ecoregion strung along the leeward, southeastern coast of Cuba, concentrated in the provinces of Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba and covering roughly 3,300 square kilometers. Its vegetation is dominated by columnar cacti and other succulents alongside palms, organized into coastal scrubland zones rooted in shallow rendzina soils derived from coralline limestone; characteristic woody genera include Bursera, Croton, Acacia, and Cordia. The climate is semidesert, receiving less than 800 mm of rainfall a year with a prolonged dry period and average temperatures near 26 degrees Celsius. The ecoregion is an important center of plant diversity and endemism, sheltering endemic reptiles such as the Cuban rock iguana along with the flagship Cuban flower bat, a key pollinator of its native flora. For gardeners working hot, dry coastal sites, the region is home to drought-hardy ornamental cactus genera native here, including Opuntia, Harrisia, Pilosocereus, Melocactus, and Leptocereus.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

RESOLVE 602 - Neotropic

Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub

The Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub is an arid shrubland ecoregion strung along the Caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela, occupying the Guajira Peninsula and the Ranchería river valley and reaching out to the ABC Islands of the Leeward Antilles. Its dry lowlands are dominated by thorny trees and succulents, with characteristic genera including Acacia, Prosopis (mesquite), and a wealth of cacti such as Opuntia. The climate is hot and dry, with low and highly variable annual rainfall and warm temperatures year-round, a pocket of true xerophytic vegetation within the otherwise wet Neotropics. The region is notable as habitat for a large community of Caribbean flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) alongside a diversity of birds and bats, and much of the Serranía de Macuira is protected within Macuira National Park. For gardeners drawn to drought-tolerant plantings, the Los Flamencos Sanctuary here is recognized as a center of plant diversity for Salvia, the bromeliad Hechtia, and native cacti.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

RESOLVE 603 - Neotropic

La Costa xeric shrublands

The La Costa xeric shrublands stretch along northern Venezuela's Caribbean coast, running from Sucre state in the east to Yaracuy state in the west and taking in plains, hills, and isolated mountains that rise from sea level to about 1,000 meters. The vegetation is dense, drought-adapted thorn scrub, savanna, and dry forest, dominated by cacti and by legume and caper families, with characteristic genera such as Prosopis, Cereus, Caesalpinia, Erythroxylum, Jacquinia, and Mimosa alongside coastal mangroves and lagoons. The climate is semi-arid, with annual rainfall ranging from roughly 300 to 1,000 millimeters. Despite heavy modification since 16th-century colonization replaced much of the original scrub with farms and pasture, the ecoregion still shelters notable endemics, including the yellow-shouldered amazon parrot and the vermilion cardinal, the latter treated as its flagship species. For dry-climate gardeners, its native drought-hardy genera like Prosopis, Caesalpinia, and columnar Cereus cacti are well suited to low-water, xeriscape plantings.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

Hasta dónde llega esta ecorregión

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Países

Ecuador

Educator packet

Region packet

Galápagos Islands xeric scrub educator packet

El matorral xerófilo de las islas Galápagos cubre el archipiélago ecuatoriano de las Galápagos, unas 128 islas volcánicas dispersas por el Pacífico a unos 960 km al oeste del continente sudamericano. En la zona árida de tierras bajas la vegetación es matorral y bosque seco tolerantes a la sequía, caracterizados por el palo santo (Bursera graveolens), el endémico guayabillo (Psidium galapageium), el monte salado costero (Cryptocarpus pyriformis) y Maytenus, y varios géneros de cactus endémicos, incluidas las tunas arborescentes (Opuntia), Jasminocereus y Brachycereus. El clima es semiárido y oceánico, con dos estaciones: una estación cálida y húmeda de aproximadamente diciembre a mayo y una estación de garúa más fresca y seca, mientras que las lluvias aumentan bruscamente con la altitud, de modo que las laderas más altas sostienen bosques de Scalesia más húmedos. Las islas albergan alrededor de 500 especies de plantas vasculares nativas, cerca de 180 de ellas endémicas, y la ecorregión es el célebre hogar de la tortuga gigante de Galápagos y un emblema del endemismo evolutivo. Su flora nativa está hoy críticamente amenazada por especies introducidas e invasoras, entre ellas las cabras y numerosas plantas exóticas, aunque casi toda la ecorregión se encuentra dentro del Parque Nacional Galápagos.

Realm

Neotropic

Dominant biome

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

Approximate area

3,094 square miles

States / provinces

Not recorded

Climate descriptor

Not recorded

Classroom prompts

- Which climate and biome facts explain why this region supports its characteristic plants?

- How do native-plant and wildlife-support claims differ from a species-presence claim?

- Which source-backed facts would you cite before using this region in a classroom map activity?

Use the Sources & citations section below for page citation styles and region source links.

Fuentes y citas

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Plotwright. (n.d.). Galápagos Islands xeric scrub (Galápagos Islands xeric scrub). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/regions/resolve-601

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