Tayrona National Park, Colombia Photograph by Luke Mastin   Northern South America: Northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela Deserts and Xeric Shrublands   12,200 square miles (31,600 square kilometers) -- about half the size of West Virginia Critical/Endangered

· Dry Tropical Peninsula
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Dry Tropical Peninsula

Located in northernmost Colombia and northwestern Venezuela along a tropical dry peninsula, this ecoregion is sandwiched between the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Maracaibo. It continues in patches along Colombia’s northwestern Caribbean coast for several hundred miles and is interspersed with mangroves, marshes, and dry forest. Vegetation in this region is adapted to the dry climate and consists of stunted scrub, low trees, and tree-like cacti.

Special Features

Characterized primarily by deciduous vegetation, this landscape consists of dry rolling hills dotted with columnar cacti, small wiry trees, and scrub. The most common trees are mesquite, thorny acacia, dividivi, Bulnesia, and guabo querre. Rainfall in this area ranges from about 10 to 20 inches (250-500 mm) annually and occurs over a short two-month rainy season. This region is bound by water on the north, east, and west, and by dry forest and montane forests to the south. Partly because of its confining geography, this area has several endemic and rare species.

	Red howler monkeys are true herbivores and rely almost exclusively on fresh leaves as their staple food. Because they spend a considerable amount of energy digesting these leaves, howler monkeys tend to be sluggish compared to other primates, which eat more fruit and insect material.

Wild Side

Here, you might see a regionally endemic leaf-eared vesper mouse stopping to drink from a small terrestrial thorny bromeliad, a pineapple-like plant that accumulates scarce water in its cup-shaped center. A rufous-necked wood rail walks with long red legs among the scrubs and thorn thickets searching for insects. Along the Maracaibo Basin, chirps of treefrogs draw the attention of a prowling mouse opossum, which searches out these elusive amphibians in the barren canopy. The large orange-and-red flowers of a Bulnesia tree lure endemic sapphire-bellied hummingbirds by day, while nearby white flowers of a liana attract bats and moths by night. A mixed feeding flock of bananaquits and tanagers picks small fruits and occasional insects from the leafless trees. During the rainy season, the forest’s new leaf growth attracts howler monkeys and other species that move back into the nearby hills and premontane habitats during the prolonged dry season.

Cause for Concern

This ecoregion is classified as endangered. It is relatively small and geographically isolated. Threats to this area include agriculture, cattle-ranching, encroaching human settlements, urbanization, and hunting.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.