Tropical-subtropical dry forests and thickets are characterised by fertile substrates and seasonally dry conditions (~1800 mm per year, with a period of 3 to 6 months receiving less than 100 mm per month) that drive markedly seasonal patterns of productivity. Tree-diversity is high, with a variable mixture of evergreen and drought-deciduous trees, with abundant vines, but fewer epiphytes, ferns, mosses, and forbs, limited by seasonal drought. Abundant leaf litter is decomposed by fungi and microbes within complex foodwebs dominated by vertebrates of all kinds.