Thorn forest
A thorn forest is a dense scrubland with vegetation characteristic of dry subtropical and warm temperate areas with monsoonal rainfall averaging. The trees are often, widely spaced, and have thick bark, small leaves, or spines to reduce water loss and protect themselves from grazing animals. Common plants include acacias, euphorbias, date palms and cacti. Thorn forests are generally transition zones between deserts and more fertile tropical/subtropical deciduous forests.
Regions
Africa
present in the southwest of Africa with smaller areas in other places of Africa.- Thornveld often referred to as "acacia thornveld"
- Madagascar spiny forests
- Madagascar succulent woodlands
North America
Thorn forests cover a large part of southwestern North America.- Pinyon–juniper woodland in Utah and the Canyonlands region.
- Gulf of California xeric scrub
- Tamaulipan mezquital
- San Lucan xeric scrub
South America
In South America, the thorn forest is called Caatinga in northeastern Brazil, and consists primarily of small, thorny trees that shed their leaves seasonally. Trees typically do not exceed in height, usually averaging between tall.Caatinga is considered a xeric shrubland and thorn forest, but contains the ecoregion Caatinga Enclaves moist forests that is considered Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests.
There is also the Gran Chaco, which is a low-lying semi-arid thorn forest towards the south-central region of this continent spanning southeastern Bolivia, northwestern Paraguay, and northern Argentina.
Asia
- Deccan thorn scrub forests in India and Sri Lanka. Deccan is included in the Indomalayan biorealm, on the deserts and xeric shrublands biome.
- Northwestern thorn scrub forests in Northwest India and Pakistan, containing the fertile Punjab region.
- Baluchistan xeric woodlands