The Sinú Valley dry forests (NT0229) is an ecoregion in the north of
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
.
Geography
Location
The Sinú Valley is an area of . located within the zone of parallel, north-northeast trending hills that lies between the low-point Magdalena and the Gulf of Urabá in Northwestern Colombia.
In the north, the ecoregion surrounds the
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the
Santa Marta montane forests
The Santa Marta montane forests (NT0159) is an ecoregion in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a massif on the Caribbean coast of northern Colombia.
The ecoregion covers altitudes from near sea level up to around , where it gives way to Santa Mart ...
ecoregion.
To the north it transitions into patches of the
Guajira–Barranquilla xeric scrub
The Guajira–Barranquilla xeric scrub is a xeric shrubland ecoregion in Colombia, Venezuela, and the ABC Islands (Leeward Antilles), covering an estimated area of . Rainfall varies from , and the median temperature is .
Location
The ecoregio ...
ecoregion, and into a section of
Amazon–Orinoco–Southern Caribbean mangroves along the coast.
To the southeast it transitions into the
Cordillera Oriental montane forests
The Cordillera Oriental montane forests (NT0118) is an ecoregion in Venezuela and Colombia along the east slopes of the eastern cordillera of the Andes.
The extensive region of submontane and montane forests includes distinctive flora and fauna in ...
ecoregion and in the south meets the
Magdalena Valley montane forests ecoregion.
To the southwest it transitions into the
Magdalena–Urabá moist forests
The Magdalena–Urabá moist forests (NT0137) is an ecoregion in the north of Colombia. The terrain is largely flat or undulating, but includes mountainous areas in the south.
It contains moist forests and large wetlands that are important to resi ...
ecoregion.
Climate
At a sample location at coordinates the
Köppen climate classification is "Tropical wet and dry or savanna (Aw)".
Mean temperatures range from in October to in March and April.
Total annual rainfall is about .
There is a dry season with little rainfall from December to March. The rest of months lack a strict pattern of rainfall, except for the peak of October which has a rainfall mean that is very high compared to the rest of the year. Monthly rainfall ranges from in December to in October.
Ecology
The ecoregion is in the
neotropical realm, in the
tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests biome.
Fauna
Endangered mammals include
black-headed spider monkey (''Ateles fusciceps''),
Geoffroy's spider monkey (''Ateles geoffroyi'') and
red-crested tree-rat (''Santamartamys rufodorsalis'').
Endangered amphibians include yellowbelly mushroomtongue salamander (''
Bolitoglossa flaviventris
''Bolitoglossa flaviventris'' ( es, Salamandra De Panza Amarilla) is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.
It is found in Guatemala and Mexico.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, arable land, p ...
''),
Franklin's climbing salamander
Franklin's climbing salamander (''Bolitoglossa franklini'') is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.
It is found in Guatemala and Mexico.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
It is threatened by ha ...
(''Bolitoglossa franklini''),
Sierra Juarez brook frog (''Duellmanohyla ignicolor''), greater spikethumb frog (''
Plectrohyla avia
''Plectrohyla avia'', also known as the greater spikethumb frog, is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It occurs in Guatemala and Mexico and is found on the Pacific slopes of the Sierra Madre between southeastern Chiapas (Mexico) and southw ...
''), Guatemala spikethumb frog (''
Plectrohyla guatemalensis''), pop-eyed spikethumb frog (''
Plectrohyla lacertosa
''Plectrohyla lacertosa'' is a species of frog in the family Hylidae.
It is endemic to Mexico.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and rivers.
It is threatened by habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also ter ...
''), arcane spikethumb frog (''
Plectrohyla sagorum
''Plectrohyla sagorum'' (common name: arcane spikethumb frog) is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It is found in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas from Chiapas (Mexico) to southwestern Guatemala, with a single record from northwestern El Salvad ...
''), brown false brook salamander (''
Pseudoeurycea brunnata
''Pseudoeurycea brunnata'' is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.
It was formerly only found in a few disjunct populations in Guatemala and southern Mexico.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest
...
'') and Goebel's false brook salamander (''
Pseudoeurycea goebeli
''Pseudoeurycea goebeli'' is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.
It is found in Guatemala and Mexico.
It's natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. These salamanders live at an elevation of 2400–2900 m ...
'').
Status
The
World Wildlife Fund gives the ecoregion the status of "Critical/Endangered".
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinu Valley dry forests
Neotropical dry broadleaf forests
Ecoregions of Colombia