The Sierra de la Laguna dry forests are a subtropical dry forest

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

of the southern Baja California Peninsula in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Geography

The dry forests cover the lower elevations of the

Sierra de la Laguna The Sierra de la Laguna is a mountain range at the southern end of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico, and is the southernmost range of the Peninsular Ranges System. It is located in La Paz Municipality, Baja California Sur, La Paz Municipa ...

, from elevation. They are surrounded at lower elevations by the San Lucan xeric scrub, which lies between sea level and elevation. Above 800 meters elevation, the dry forests transition to the subhumid and temperate Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests.

Climate

The ecoregion has a warm and dry subtropical climate. Annual precipitation is generally less than 500 mm. The highest-rainfall months are late summer, from August to October, with peak annual precipitation in September.

Flora

The characteristic vegetation is dry forest, composed of low trees and shrubs with an herbaceous understory. Many of the trees are deciduous, dropping their leaves during the dry season. The predominant

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of the dry forests are the mauto (''

Lysiloma divaricatum ''Lysiloma divaricatum'' is a flowering tree native to Mexico and Central America. Common names include mauto, quitaz, and tepemesquite in Mexico, quebracho in Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua, and quebracho negro, tepemisque, and yaj ...

''), palo blanco ('' L. candidum''), cajalosucho (''

Bursera microphylla ''Bursera microphylla'', known by the common name elephant tree in English or 'torote' in Spanish, is a tree in the genus '' Bursera''. It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is foun ...

'') and palo zorrillo ('' Hesperalbizia occidentalis''). Herbaceous plants are less prominent and include caribe ('' Cnidoscolus angustidens''), buena mujer ('' Chloracantha spinosa''), ''

Solanum ''Solanum'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solana ...

'' spp., and biznaga ('' Ferocactus'' spp). The

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

palm here is '' Brahea brandegeei'', that occurs in washes and along streams.

Fauna

Bats in the ecoregion include the peninsular myotis (''Myotis peninsularis''), found only in the southern Baja Peninsula, and the Mexican long-tongued bat (''Choeronycteris mexicana'') and lesser long-nosed bat (''Leptonycteris yerbabuenae''), which are important

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are ...

s for some desert plants.C. Michael Hogan & World Wildlife Fund. 2013."San Lucan xeric scrub". Encyclopedia of Earth, National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington DC ed.Mark McGinley. Other native animals include the peninsular mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus peninsulae''),

white-tailed antelope squirrel The white-tailed antelope squirrel (''Ammospermophilus leucurus'') is a diurnal species of ground squirrel, scientifically classified in the order Rodentia and family Sciuridae, found in arid regions of the southwestern United States and the Ba ...

(''Ammospermophilus leucurus''), acorn woodpecker (''Melanerpes formicivorus''), red-spotted toad (''Anaxyrus punctatus''), and Baja California chorus frog (''Pseudacris hypochondriaca''). Dalquest's pocket mouse (''Chaetodipus dalquesti''), the Baja California slider (''Trachemys nebulosa''), and the Cape arboreal spiny lizard (''Sceloporus licki'') are restricted to the southern Baja California Peninsula. The San Lucan gecko (''Phyllodactylus unctus'') is restricted to the southern peninsula and adjacent islands in the gulf.

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 839 km², or 21%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas in the ecoregion include the Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve.

External links

*
Tropical Dry Forest of the Sierra de la Laguna (Los Cabos Guide)

References

{{reflist Ecoregions of Mexico Forests of Mexico Natural history of Baja California Sur La Paz Municipality (Baja California Sur) Los Cabos Municipality (Baja California Sur) * * Neotropical dry broadleaf forests