Greater Antillean Moist Forests - A Global Ecoregion
Large islands, long isolated from surrounding continents
Snapshot: Ecoregion 37
Size:
83,000 sq. km (32,000 sq. miles)
Habitat type:
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Geographic Location:
Larger islands of the western and northern Caribbean Sea: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico
Conservation Status:
Critical/Endangered
About the Area
This Global ecoregion is made up of these terrestrial ecoregions: Puerto Rican moist forests; Hispaniolan moist forests; Jamaican moist forests; Cuban moist forests. The moist forests of the Greater Antilles maintain an exceptionally distinctive variety of tropical plants and animals.
These large islands have long been isolated from surrounding continents and have thus retained several ancient species in addition to evolving many unique groups.Many of the primitive and ancient lineages that still survive in the Greater Antilles are now extinct on nearby continents. Cuba, in particular, has a rich flora as well as a diverse land snail fauna.
Local Species
Endemic animal species include the critically endangered and threatened Hispaniolan hutias (Isolobodon portoricensis and Plagiodontia aedium) - a muskrat-sized rodent, the rare Nez longue or solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) - a small insectivorous mammal, the Cuban tody (Todus multicolor) - a member of the Greater Antillean tody family Todidae, and the endangered Homerus swallowtail butterfly of Jamaica (Papilio homerus).
Several birds are endemic to individual islands and their forests, such as on:
- Jamaica: Arrow-headed warbler (Dendroica pharetra) and Jamaican woodpecker (Melanerpes radiolatus)
- Hispaniola: the Grey-crowned palm tanager (Phaenicophilus poliocephalus), White winged warbler (Xenoligea montana), and the Hispaniolan trogon (Priotelus roseigaster)
- Cuba: Yellow-headed warbler (Teretistris fernandinae), and Zapata sparrow (Torreornis inexpectata)
- Puerto Rico: Elfin-woods warbler (Dendroica angelae), Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata), and Puerto Rican bullfinch (Loxigilla portoricensis)
In addition, there are 275 endemic plant species in Jamaica's Blue and John Crow mountains.
Threats
Threats to the ecoregion include expansion of cacao, coffee and tobacco production, logging, firewood gathering, grazing, fire, and exploitative hunting.
Resources
• NationalGeographic.com
