Tropical dry forest

Tropical dry forest, Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. While tropical rainforests get a tremendous amount of attention in the popular press, the tropical dry forest is actually much more threatened, especially in Central America and Mexico. Tropical dry forests grow in regions where there are both an extensive dry season and a wet season. In forests such as the one in this image, four or five months may go by with little or no rain, and many of the tree species in these forests have evolved to be deciduous, losing their leaves throughout most or all of the dry season. Animals in these forests must also deal with the dry season. Some birds and butterflies migrate to wetter regions during the dry season, while a number of others have a quiescent stage during the dry period.