Blogs posted from this ecoregion:
- Out of Africa in Morocco (January 2026)
This ecoregion is almost entirely restricted to western Morocco and in the disputed territory of the Western Sahara but also includes the two easternmost islands of Spain’s Canary Islands. On the map below, it is the pinkish ecoregion extending along a part of the Moroccan coast and inland to include Marrakech.
In the north, it is entirely surrounded by the Mediterranean Woodlands and Forests (PA1214). Its southern half is almost entirely adjacent to the North Saharan Steppe and Woodlands (PA1321). Two other ecoregions abut tiny areas: i) Mediterranean Dry Woodlands and Steppe (PA1213) just south of the Atlas Mountains and ii) the Atlantic Coastal Desert (PA1304), at its southern extremity.
Description of the Ecoregion
Adapted from the ecoregion’s Wikipedia page and from WWF, the ecoregion on the African mainland encompasses the Atlantic coastal plain, the lowlands of Al Haouz Province, the valleys of the Sous River and Draa River, and the westernmost part of the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas Mountains.
The chief plant communities in the ecoregion are dominated by Argans accompanied by Acacias. The predominant lower vegetation is succulent shrubland dominated by Euphorbias. The Argan tree, Sideroxylon spinosum, formerly (and unfortunately, as it gave its name to the ecoregion!) known as Argania spinosa, is thorny, with gnarled trunks and a wide spreading crown; its fruits, nuts, and oil are all economically important.
Birds of the Ecoregion
Wikipedia notes a number of mammal species that occur in the ecoregion but mentions no birds.
Resources for the Ecoregion Birder
No particular resources have yet been identified.
DJG: 0 spp. (April 2025)