Country

Iran: 16 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Deserts and xeric shrublands account for nine of Iran's sixteen ecoregions, from the Central Persian desert basins and Registan-North Pakistan sandy desert to the South Iran Nubo-Sindian desert and semi-desert, so drought tolerance is the default requirement across most of the country. The exceptions are telling: the Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests along the northern coast are genuinely temperate and humid, while the Zagros Mountains forest steppe and Elburz Range forest steppe carry open woodland up the great ranges. The Kuh Rud and Eastern Iran montane woodlands and the Kopet Dag woodlands and forest steppe add cold, dry high country. For planting, that means a Mediterranean-to-steppe palette of hardy, summer-dry trees and shrubs nearly everywhere, with the Caspian strip the one place broadleaf forest species feel at home.