Country

Nicaragua: 9 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Nine ecoregions converge on Nicaragua, arranged by rainfall and coast. The Caribbean side is wet: Central American Atlantic and Isthmian-Atlantic moist forests, the Miskito pine forests on sandy lowlands, and Mesoamerican Gulf-Caribbean mangroves along the shore. The Pacific side is seasonally dry, held by the Central American dry forests and fringed by Southern Mesoamerican Pacific mangroves, while the interior highlands carry Central American pine-oak forests and pockets of Central American montane forests. Tropical warmth is a constant, so the working variables are the length of the dry season and elevation. Pacific-slope plantings need genuine drought tolerance through the dry months; Atlantic-slope gardens assume near-continuous moisture; the pine-oak uplands offer the coolest, most temperate-feeling conditions in the country.