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Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

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Godavari-Krishna mangroves

Biome

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

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Biogeographic realm

Indomalayan

A low mangrove fringe along open tidal water in Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh.

Region photo - J.M.Garg / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 4.0; attribution required.

Godavari-Krishna mangroves

The Godavari-Krishna mangroves form a coastal mangrove ecoregion along the eastern seaboard of India, occurring in discontinuous enclaves across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, with the largest stands concentrated in the deltas of the Godavari and Krishna rivers in Andhra Pradesh. The forests are dominated by salt-tolerant mangrove genera including Avicennia (notably Avicennia marina), Rhizophora, Bruguiera, and the succulent Suaeda, forming a dense canopy over an undergrowth of climbing plants and shrubs. The climate is tropical and strongly monsoonal, shaped by the southwest and northeast monsoons and moderated by the adjacent ocean, with the coast regularly battered by cyclones and tidal surges that the mangroves help buffer. These wetlands are an important refuge for wildlife such as the water monitor lizard and saltwater crocodile and host well over a hundred bird species, among them painted storks, spot-billed pelicans, and flamingos. Much of the original mangrove has been cleared, and only a small share of the ecoregion lies within protected areas such as Point Calimere, Pulicat Lake, and Bhitarkanika, with prawn farming, freshwater diversion, and coastal development the leading ongoing threats.

RESOLVE 316

Indomalayan

2,707 sq mi

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

Landscape type

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

Plant region

Indomalayan

Region footprint

2,707 sq mi

Habitat pressure

Nature Imperiled (Dinerstein NNH 4)

Source & care

Plants that can handle this region

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Similar planting regions

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Mugger crocodile basking below thorny scrub at a waterhole in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan.

RESOLVE 314 - Indomalayan

Aravalli west thorn scrub forests

The Aravalli West Thorn Scrub Forests stretch across the northwestern Indian subcontinent, running along the ancient Aravalli Range through the Indian states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir before crossing into Pakistan's Punjab and Sindh provinces. This is xeric thorn scrub: a stunted, open canopy dominated by Acacia species rarely taller than six meters, mixed with Prosopis cineraria, Salvadora, Grewia, Ziziphus, Anogeissus, Capparis, Gardenia, and Carissa. The climate is hot semi-arid to arid, with summer daytime temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius and winter nights that can drop below freezing. Despite heavy clearance for agriculture and grazing, the ecoregion supports a notably rich carnivore community, with the Indian desert cat as its flagship species alongside leopard, caracal, striped hyena, and grey wolf, plus more than 400 bird species including the great Indian bustard and lesser florican. Only about four percent of this vast landscape is protected.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

RESOLVE 315 - Indomalayan

Deccan thorn scrub forests

The Deccan thorn scrub forests stretch across the semi-arid heart of India's Deccan Plateau, spanning the states of Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, and reaching south to the Northern Province and Jaffna Peninsula of Sri Lanka. The vegetation is open, low-canopied thorn woodland in which spiny Acacia species dominate, giving way to Euphorbia scrub on the driest, rockiest ground, interspersed with patches of dry deciduous forest and grassland. The climate is hot and seasonally arid, with annual rainfall under 750 mm concentrated between roughly May and October, little to no rain from November through April, and summer temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius. Though classified as a critically endangered habitat with only a sliver of its area protected, the region remains the last refuge of the rediscovered Jerdon's courser and supports the great Indian bustard and blackbuck. For gardeners in similar hot, dry climates, this ecoregion is the native home of ornamental genera such as Cordia, Capparis, and the wild date palm Phoenix sylvestris, as well as the rare endemic cycad Cycas beddomei of the Tirupati hills.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

RESOLVE 317 - Indomalayan

Indus Valley desert

The Indus Valley desert occupies the heart of Pakistan's Indus Valley, stretching across northwestern Punjab Province between the Chenab and Indus rivers and flanked to the west by mountains. Its sparse vegetation is dominated by drought-hardy xerophytic trees and shrubs, with Prosopis (the khejri) and Tamarix being the characteristic genera, their small waxy leaves adapted to the heat. The climate is one of harsh extremes, swinging from near-freezing winters to summer temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius, with low annual rainfall. Despite these conditions it ranks among the most densely settled deserts on Earth, yet because farming and grazing remain limited its natural habitats are largely intact, sheltering large mammals such as the Indian wolf, striped hyena, caracal, Indian leopard, and Punjab urial alongside roughly 190 bird species, with the red-necked falcon as its flagship. For gardeners drawn to arid-adapted natives, the khejri (Prosopis) is a signature tree of this landscape.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

RESOLVE 318 - Indomalayan

Thar desert

The Thar Desert is an Indomalayan xeric ecoregion straddling the India-Pakistan border, reaching west from the Aravalli Range across the northwestern Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat into the Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan. Its sparse, sandy landscape is dominated by xerophilous grasses and thorn scrub interspersed with hardy tree genera such as Acacia, Prosopis, Tamarix, and Zizyphus, with the khejri (Prosopis cineraria) a characteristic native tree. The climate is one of extremes, with winter temperatures near freezing, summer highs exceeding 50 degrees Celsius, and limited, erratic monsoon rainfall falling mainly from July to September. Despite this harshness it sustains notable wildlife, including blackbuck, Indian gazelle (chinkara), the caracal as its flagship species, and the critically endangered great Indian bustard. It is also the most densely populated desert in the world, where intensive livestock grazing remains a leading pressure on the fragile native vegetation. Gardeners in arid climates may recognize drought-tolerant ornamentals among its native flora, such as Tamarix and Zizyphus.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

RESOLVE 807 - Palearctic

Afghan Mountains semi-desert

The Afghan Mountains semi-desert covers three disconnected interior valleys on the northern slope of Afghanistan's central mountains, the Koh-i-Baba range and the wider Hindu Kush, reaching from the Hari River valley near Chaghcharan through the Bamyan Valley to Badakhshan Province in the east. These high, dry valleys carry an open cover of thorny shrubs and small trees generally under 1.5 metres tall, with wild almond and pistachio among the characteristic woody plants. The climate is arid and strongly continental, with large seasonal temperature swings and warm summers, and the ground is roughly two-thirds herbaceous cover and one-third bare. Several threatened animals persist here, including the endangered Kashmir musk deer, which serves as the region's flagship species, and the Persian leopard, though overgrazing by livestock presses on the vegetation and the wildlife that depends on it. The ecoregion overlaps Band-e Amir National Park, Afghanistan's first national park and an IUCN-recognized protected area. For gardeners in dry continental climates, the region's native wild almond (Prunus) and pistachio (Pistacia) are familiar drought-adapted genera.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

RESOLVE 808 - Palearctic

Alashan Plateau semi-desert

The Alashan Plateau semi-desert straddles the China–Mongolia border, sitting between the Tibetan Plateau to the south and the more arid regions of the Gobi Desert to the north and east, of which it intercepts a large portion. Its basin-and-range landscape carries sparse, drought-adapted vegetation, where salt-tolerant halophytes and xerophytes such as saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron) and Reaumuria soongorica stabilize the soil, alongside wormwoods (Artemisia) and bean caper (Zygophyllum), with desert poplar (Populus euphratica) and Tamarix along watercourses like the Yellow River. The climate is cold and very arid, with frost and snow on the dunes and very low annual precipitation (around 95 mm/year). The region shelters notable wildlife including the wild Bactrian camel, snow leopard, and Saker falcon, and the black stork serves as its flagship species, though protection remains limited amid threats from illegal mining and overgrazing. For gardeners in cold dry climates, its hardy native genera such as saxaul, Reaumuria, and Artemisia point to plants tolerant of harsh, low-water conditions.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

Where this ecoregion reaches

The countries, US states, and Canadian provinces this ecoregion touches, from a spatial join of its RESOLVE polygon against Natural Earth boundaries.

Countries

India

Educator packet

Region packet

Godavari-Krishna mangroves educator packet

The Godavari-Krishna mangroves form a coastal mangrove ecoregion along the eastern seaboard of India, occurring in discontinuous enclaves across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, with the largest stands concentrated in the deltas of the Godavari and Krishna rivers in Andhra Pradesh. The forests are dominated by salt-tolerant mangrove genera including Avicennia (notably Avicennia marina), Rhizophora, Bruguiera, and the succulent Suaeda, forming a dense canopy over an undergrowth of climbing plants and shrubs. The climate is tropical and strongly monsoonal, shaped by the southwest and northeast monsoons and moderated by the adjacent ocean, with the coast regularly battered by cyclones and tidal surges that the mangroves help buffer. These wetlands are an important refuge for wildlife such as the water monitor lizard and saltwater crocodile and host well over a hundred bird species, among them painted storks, spot-billed pelicans, and flamingos. Much of the original mangrove has been cleared, and only a small share of the ecoregion lies within protected areas such as Point Calimere, Pulicat Lake, and Bhitarkanika, with prawn farming, freshwater diversion, and coastal development the leading ongoing threats.

Realm

Indomalayan

Dominant biome

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

Approximate area

2,707 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.

Sources & citations

Cite this page

For lesson plans, articles, or regional planting notes that use this Plotwright page. To cite the underlying ecoregion framework or a specific editorial profile, use the source cards below.

Plotwright. (n.d.). Godavari-Krishna mangroves (Godavari-Krishna mangroves). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/regions/resolve-316

Sources for this region

This page cites Plotwright first for the compiled view, then lists the upstream framework, climate, and editorial source pages so readers can cite the original material directly.

RESOLVE 2017 Terrestrial Ecoregions (Dinerstein et al.)

Primary ecoregion framework

One Earth

Wikipedia

Wikimedia Foundation

Open source

Source guide