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Biome

Tropical Dry Forest

Also Known As Tropical Deciduous Forest
Tropical Forest Biomes

Tropical dry forest occurs in climates that are warm year-round but carry a long dry season lasting several months, unlike the constantly wet tropical rainforest. Deciduous trees predominate, shedding their leaves during the drought to conserve water, and the biome is less biologically diverse than rainforest but still supports substantial wildlife including monkeys, deer, large cats and parrots. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Disputed
Annual Precipitation (mm)
1500 1
Bioclimatic definitions disagree on bounds: Murphy and Lugo set 250 to 2000 mm annually, FAO sets 500 to 1500 mm, and the DryFlor network sets up to 1800 mm; Wikipedia's Seasonal Tropical Forest entry gives a typical 1000 to 2500 mm range. This entry uses a representative midpoint rather than asserting one agreed figure.
Typical High Temperature (C)
26 2
Representative low-elevation mean annual high from the Ecuadorian Dry Forests ecoregion (One Earth); this biome family bioclimatic definitions set only a mean annual floor above 17C (PMC bioclimatic paper, already cited), with no single universal high figure given.
Climate
Typical Low Temperature (C)
17 1
This is the biome's defining climatic threshold, the mean annual temperature floor used to distinguish it from cooler forest types, not a literal coldest single reading. No verified figure for temperature-high-c was found this pass; left unfilled rather than invented.
Connections

Demonstrates

Estivation, Natural Phenomena

Dry-season dormancy is a defining survival strategy for animals of seasonally dry tropical forests.

Source Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests (Wikipedia)

Home To

Baobab, Species
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Giant Anteater, Species
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Sources
1. Tropical Dry Forest Bioclimatic Definitions (PMC)
PMC (National Library of Medicine)
  • Table 1
    Murphy and Lugo: 250 to 2000 mm; FAO: 500 to 1500 mm; DryFlor: up to 1800 mm
  • Methods section
    minimum temperature of coldest month with mean annual temperature greater than 17 degrees C
2. Ecuadorian Dry Forests (One Earth)
One EarthClimate paragraph, temperature sentence
Quote, Climate paragraph, temperature sentence
At low elevations the mean annual temperature varies between 24 and 26°C.
View the Source
Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Wikipedia, Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, Characteristics section
    Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred millimeters of rain per year, they have long dry seasons that last several months and vary with geographic location.
  • In Category: Biomes, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_and_subtropical_dry_broadleaf_forests, lead section
    The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes.
  • Demonstrates: Estivation
View the Source
Seasonal Tropical Forest (Wikipedia)
Wikipedialead section
Quote, lead section
typically in the 1000 to 2500 mm range; 39 to 98 inches
View the Source
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
  • Home To: Baobab
  • Home To: Giant Anteater
View the Source

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