Caribbean Dry Forest Networking: An Opportunity for Conservation

Seasonally dry tropical forest is the most threatened tropical forest in the world. Though its overall plant species diversity is lower than in neighboring biomes such as rain forest, species endemism can be high, and its conservation has often been neglected. Caribbean dry forests face diverse threats including tourism, agriculture, and climate change. The Latin American Dry Tropical Forest Floristic Network (DRYFLOR) is a research network that seeks to understand the flora of dry forests at a broad scale across the Neotropics in order to promote their conservation. DRYFLOR is developing a continental-scale floristic dataset that can be used to contextualize regional and local dry forests with the aim of providing local communities, non-governmental organizations, and regional authorities with information that can help to underpin conservation decisions.