Pizotito & the Wonders of the Dry Forest

Is every forest in the tropics a rainforest? Absolutely not!

There is a unique type of ecosystem called a tropical dry forest, where a rainy season is followed by a dry season. Come along and travel the world with Pizotito, a coati from Costa Rica, as he searches the world for tropical dry forests.

On this journey, you will be introduced to a number of different animal friends who make the tropical dry forest their home. After your travels, you will have a better understanding of the plants, animals, and ecological processes that connect the web of life in a tropical dry forest.

Laura Toro González is a tropical ecologist working at the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Ariadna Mondragón Botero is a biologist and restoration ecologist from Cali, Colombia, with a passion for understanding and restoring tropical ecosystems. Viviana Londoño Lemos is a Colombian plant ecologist and currently a PhD candidate in the Plant and Microbial Biology Program at the University of Minnesota. The Powers Lab, led by Jennifer Powers in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota, is interested in how land-use changes, like secondary forest regeneration, and climate change, like increased frequency of drought, affect seasonally dry tropical forests.