Sinaloan dry forests
The Sinaloan dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in western Mexico. It is the northernmost ecoregion of the Neotropical realm.
Geography
The ecoregion covers an area of approximatelyThe dry forests lie in the coastal plain and foothills between the Pacific Ocean and the pine-oak forests of the Sierra Madre Occidental, covering most of Sinaloa and Nayarit states and extending into portions of adjacent Sonora, Chihuahua, and Jalisco states.
To the north, the Sonoran–Sinaloan transition subtropical dry forest is a transition between the Sinaloan dry forests and the Sonoran Desert. On the south, the dry forests transition to the coastal Jalisco dry forests southwest of the Río Grande de Santiago, and the interior Bajío dry forests to the southeast.
A number of rivers cross the ecoregion from origins in the Sierra Madre Occidental to empty into the Pacific. These include, from north to south, the Fuerte, Sinaloa, Culiacán, San Lorenzo, Elota, Piaxtla, Presidio, Baluarte, Acaponeta, San Pedro Mezquital, and Grande de Santiago rivers. In the mountains the dry forests extend into the river canyons, and in the lowlands the rivers support riparian forests. Extensive lagoon and estuary systems along the coast are home to wetlands and mangroves.
Climate
The climate is semi-arid to semi-humid, generally drier near the coast and becoming more humid in the foothills. Rainfall is highly seasonal, with an October to June dry season.Flora
Plant communities include thorn forests in the coastal lowlands, and dry deciduous forests in foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental.Thorn forests are characterized by dense growth of scrubby trees and shrubs. Spiny leguminous trees, particularly Acacia, are predominant. High stands of trees, including species of Brosimum, Ficus, and Enterolobium, are found along stream bottoms.
The predominant plant community of the foothills is short-statured, seasonally deciduous forest. Common plants include Handroanthus impetiginosus, tree morning-glory, cuajilote, Bursera laxiflora, and Conzattia sericia, along with species of Montanoa, Bursera, Acacia, Cassia, and Lysiloma. In the mountain canyons higher up are taller-statured forests, with Ceiba acuminata, Bursera simaruba, Lysiloma divaricatum, and Psidium sartorianum as the dominant trees, covered in abundant lianas and epiphytes.
Fauna
Large mammals include white-tailed deer, javelina, jaguar, coyote, ocelot, jaguarundi, gray fox, raccoon, and white-nosed coati.Native birds characteristic of the dry forests include the rufous-bellied chachalaca, Orange-fronted parakeet, Citreoline trogon, russet-crowned motmot, streak-backed oriole, Mexican cacique, thick-billed kingbird, Sinaloa wren, Mexican woodnymph, Mexican parrotlet, Sinaloa crow, San Blas jay, purplish-backed jay, black-throated magpie-jay, rufous-backed thrush, and elegant quail.
Native reptiles include the Rio Fuerte beaded lizard, clouded anole, Sinaloan milk snake, filetail ground snake, indigo snake or babatuco, Mexican short-tailed snake, blunthead tree snake, Mexican moccasin, pichecuate or cantíl, and Mexican west coast rattlesnake.
Native amphibians include Smith's pygmy robber frog.