In the pantheon of endangered ecosystems, tropical dry forests are seldom granted a leading role. They lack the lush mystique of rainforests and the climatic extremes of deserts. Yet these vanishing woodlands, which once sprawled across continents, are critical to the survival of countless species — including Homo sapiens, reports Liz Kimbrough.

Spanning Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania, tropical dry forests account for nearly half of all tropical and subtropical forests. They are home to jaguars and pygmy skunks, lemurs and tapirs, as well as hundreds of millions of people who rely on them for fuelwood, food, medicine and economic security. And they are rapidly disappearing.

A 2022 study estimated that more than 71 million hectares (175 million acres) — twice the size of Germany — were lost between 2000 and 2020. Deforestation hotspots stretch across Argentina’s Gran Chaco, Brazil’s Cerrado, Southeast Asia, and much of Africa. Many of the forests that remain are isolated fragments, unprotected and hemmed in by industrial agriculture.

“Destroy these forests and you destroy their well-being,” warned Phosiso Sola of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), referring to the human populations whose livelihoods depend on them.

Dry forests are particularly vulnerable to climate change. In Costa Rica’s Guanacaste region, where renowned ecologist Dan Janzen has worked since the 1960s, the dry season has lengthened by two months and temperatures now exceed 32° Celsius (89.6° Fahrenheit) for nearly two-thirds of the year. These changes are pushing species to physiological limits and shifting rainfall cues that once synchronized insect life cycles and plant flowering. Entire food webs are unraveling.

The effects are not confined to biology. Climate shifts are driving wildfires and soil loss, undermining both ecosystems and rural economies. Some species may adapt; others will vanish. The outlook, scientists warn, is “collapse within decades” without unprecedented intervention.

Yet even as the crisis deepens, tropical dry forests remain chronically underfunded and underresearched. Unlike the rainforests of the Amazon or Congo, they elicit little global alarm. Their muted tones and seasonal barrenness make them easy to overlook — until they are gone.

Read the full article by Liz Kimbrough here.

Banner image:Jaguars traverse many ecosystem types, including tropical dry forests. Image © Carlos Eduardo Fragoso/Greenpeace.