Country

Guam: one ecoregion. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

One ecoregion defines Guam: the Marianas tropical dry forests, the tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion of the Mariana chain, assessed as able to reach half protected. The biome name carries the essential surprise - despite a warm oceanic setting, the natural forest here is built for a pronounced dry season, with limestone terrain adding sharp drainage. The result is a growing climate that is hot and humid by temperate standards but seasonal by tropical ones. Plants that thrive are those comfortable with alternating wet and dry months, salt-bearing wind, and thin limestone soils; true everwet-rainforest species need supplemental water. Typhoon exposure, a fact of the island's geography, further favors deep-rooted, wind-firm trees over tall brittle ones.