ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an up-to-date view of the current biological knowledge and conservation status of seasonally dry tropical forests in Peru. The Peruvian seasonally dry tropical forests are distributed in three geographically distinct regions: 1) the north-western coast and western lower Andean foothills, 2) the dry inter-Andean valleys in northern, central and southern Peru, and 3) the Tarapoto and Huallaga valley region east of the Andes. Despite little biological information being available, each of these regions can be characterized by its own flora and environmental variables. All three regions show impressive figures of endemic species and floristic richness, but are highly threatened by human disturbance and little effort is being made to protect and conserve them. The floristic relationships of these forests with the seasonally dry tropical forests in adjacent Ecuador, with which they form a single phytogeographic unit, and with those in Colombia-Venezuela and Bolivia are discussed.
