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Northern Mariana Islands: one ecoregion. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

The Northern Mariana Islands correspond to a single, compact ecoregion: the Marianas tropical dry forests, an Oceanian unit of about 400 square miles spread across the archipelago's limestone and volcanic islands. Despite the tropical Pacific setting, the natural forest here is of the dry broadleaf type, shaped by porous limestone ground, salt wind, and typhoons as much as by rainfall. Conditions are warm and maritime year-round with a wetter half-year and a drier season, and the recurring typhoon threat favors wind-firm, deep-rooted, salt-tolerant plants. Gardeners on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota work with fast drainage and coral-derived alkaline soils, so drought-tolerant tropical species outperform moisture-lovers. The ecoregion rates Nature Could Reach Half Protected, and its remaining native limestone forest is a distinctive Pacific asset.