Guayaquil flooded grasslands

The Guayaquil flooded grasslands (NT0905) is an ecoregion near the Pacific coast of the Ecuador. The ecoregion is critically endangered due to conversion into agricultural land.

Location
The Guayaquil flooded grasslands ecoregion is in the southwest of Ecuador in the delta of the Guayas River, extending south to the mangroves of the Gulf of Guayaquil. It covers an area of 284898 ha. The Guayaquil flooded grasslands adjoin the Western Ecuador moist forests ecoregion to the west and north, and a section of the Ecuadorian dry forests ecoregion to the east. To the southeast they merge into the South American Pacific mangroves ecoregion. The extreme south adjoins the Tumbes–Piura dry forests.

Physical
The Köppen climate classification is "Aw": equatorial, dry winter. In a sample location at coordinates -2.25°N, -79.75°W temperatures are fairly constant throughout the year, slightly cooler in July and slightly warmer in April. Yearly average minimum temperatures are 21 C and maximum 33 C, with a mean of 26 C. Monthly precipitation ranges from less than 10 mm in July–November to 265 mm in March. Total annual precipitation is about 1200 mm.

Ecology
The Guayaquil flooded grasslands are in the neotropical realm, in the flooded grasslands and savannas biome.

The grasslands are seasonally flooded, and also hold riparian flora. Endangered birds include yellow-bellied seedeater (Sporophila nigricollis) and Peruvian tern (Sternula lorata). Endangered reptiles include green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata).

Status
The World Wildlife Fund gives the ecoregion a status of "Critical/Endangered". Threats come from the steady growth of the human population and large-scale irrigation programs for agriculture. As of 2000 the 2974.5 km2 flooded grasslands ecoregion had 949.9 km2, or 31.9%, natural cover with extractive use, and 2024.7 km2 of agricultural land. A 2006 book said the 2883.50 km2 ecoregion had protected areas of 56.8 km2, or 2%. 67.1% of the area had been transformed.