Guánica is a town and municipality in southern Puerto Rico, bordering the Caribbean Sea, south of Sabana Grande, east of Lajas, and west of Yauco. It is part of the Yauco metropolitan statistical area.
The Cordillera Central is the only mountain range in the main island of Puerto Rico, consisting of three subranges: the western-central Cordillera Central, the southeastern Sierra de Cayey, and the northeastern Sierra de Luquillo. Bordered by the Northern Karst Belt to the northwest and costal plains to the north and south, the numerous ridges and foothills of the three subranges combined extend throughout the island. Concentrated in the western to central region of the island, the eponymous main subrange of Cordillera Central originates in the municipality of Mayagüez and merges with the Sierra de Cayey subrange on the town boundary between the municipalities of Barranquitas and Aibonito. At 1,338 meters on the town line between Ponce and Jayuya, Cerro de Punta is the summit of the Cordillera Central and the highest point in Puerto Rico.
The elfin woods warbler is a species of bird endemic to Puerto Rico, where it is local and uncommon. Discovered in 1968 and described in 1972, it is the most recently described New World warbler.
The fauna of Puerto Rico is similar to other island archipelago faunas, with high endemism, and low, skewed taxonomic diversity. Bats are the only extant native terrestrial mammals in Puerto Rico. All other terrestrial mammals in the area were introduced by humans, and include species such as cats, goats, sheep, the small Indian mongoose, and escaped monkeys. Marine mammals include dolphins, manatees, and whales. Of the 349 bird species, about 120 breed in the archipelago, and 47.5% are accidental or rare.
The Guánica State Forest, popularly known as the Guánica Dry Forest is a subtropical dry forest located in southwest Puerto Rico. The area was designated as a forest reserve in 1919 and a United Nations Biosphere Reserve in 1981. It is considered the best preserved subtropical dry forest and the best example of dry forest in the Caribbean.
Toro Negro State Forest is one of the 21 forests that make up the public forests system in Puerto Rico. It is also Puerto Rico's highest cloud forest. It is in the Cordillera Central region of the island and covers 8,204 cuerdas, of mountains. Toro Negro's mountains have heights reaching up to 4,400 feet (1,300 m) and include Cerro de Punta, Cerro Jayuya and Cerro Rosa, the three highest peaks in the island. Nested among these mountains is Lake Guineo, the island's highest lake. The forest has 18 kilometers (11 mi) of trails, an observation tower, two natural swimming pools (Spanish:"charcos"), camping and picnic areas, nine rivers, and numerous creeks and waterfalls. The forest spans areas within the municipalities of Ponce, Jayuya, Orocovis, Ciales, and Juana Díaz, and consists of seven non-contiguous tracts of land. The largest contiguous segment of the forest is located in the municipalities of Ponce and Jayuya. Some 40% of the area of Toro Negro State Forest is located in Ponce's Barrio Anón.
The common Puerto Rican ameiva, Puerto Rican ground lizard, or siguana común is a species of lizard in the whiptail family.
Nereina punctulata is a species of freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites.
Epilobocera is a genus of crabs in the family Epiloboceridae. It is the only genus in its family; this taxonomic arrangement follows the revision of the family Pseudothelphusidae by Álvarez and colleagues.
Buchenavia capitata is a tree of the Caribbean and northeastern South-American regions. Its Spanish vernacular names include granadillo, almendro (Colombia), amarillo and olivo negro (Venezuela), and mirindiba and periquiteira (Brazil). Its English vernacular name is fourleaf buchenavia. It is also known as Buchenavia tetraphylla (Aubl.) Howard.
Anolis cuvieri is a species of lizard in the family Dactyloidae. The species is endemic to Puerto Rico, and is common in the Toro Negro State Forest.
Prunus occidentalis is a plant in the family Rosaceae of the order Rosales.
Atya lanipes is a freshwater amphidromous shrimp of the Atyidae family in the Decapoda order. It is found widely in the Caribbean and is common in the Toro Negro State Forest in central Puerto Rico. It is also known as jonga and in some places people refer to it as "guábara” or “chágara”.
The mountain mullet is a freshwater ray-finned fish of the family Mugilidae. It can be found in North and South America, from North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas in the United States to Colombia and Venezuela, including the West Indies in the Antilles. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Dajaus.
The Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk is an endangered subspecies of the broad-winged hawk. It is a small hawk that occurs in Puerto Rico, inhabiting the Toro Negro State Forest. It is restricted to the montane forests of the Cordillera Central, Sierra de Cayey, and Sierra de Luquillo. It was federally listed as endangered on September 9, 1994. This species occurs in elfin woodland, sierra palm, caimitillo-granadillo, and tabonuco forest types of the Río Abajo Commonwealth Forest, Carite Commonwealth Forest, and El Yunque National Forest as well as within hardwood plantations, shade coffee plantations, and mature secondary forests. In 1994, the Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk population was estimated at 125 individuals islandwide.
Macrobrachium crenulatum is an amphidromous freshwater shrimp of the Palaemonidae family in the Decapoda order. It is found in lowland rivers and streams from Panama to Venezuela, as well as on several Caribbean islands. The species is common in the Toro Negro State Forest in central Puerto Rico. Studies have shown that the species have higher sensitivity to environmental, hydrological and chemical factors than other crustaceans also studied and which affect its migratory patterns.
Guilarte State Forest is one of the 20 forests that make up the public forests system in Puerto Rico. The forest is located in the eastern half of the Central Mountain Range or Cordillera Central. The main geographical feature of the forest reserve is Monte Guilarte, which is Puerto Rico's 7th highest mountain at 3,950 feet above sea level. While Monte Guilarte is located in the municipality of Adjuntas, the forest's borders also include parts of Guayanilla, Peñuelas and Yauco.
Guajataca State Forest is one of the 20 forests that make up the public forest system of Puerto Rico. The Guajataca Forest is located in the northwestern part of Puerto Rico, along the Northern Karst zone in the municipality of Isabela and municipality of Quebradillas, and is near Camuy and San Sebastián. The forest is renowned for its ecological diversity, the mogotes and karstic formations, and its numerous caves and canyons. It also has the largest trail system of any Puerto Rican state forest.
Mona and Monito Islands Nature Reserve consists of two islands, Mona and Monito, in the Mona Passage off western Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. Mona and Monito Islands Nature Reserve encompasses both land and marine area, and with an area of 38,893 acres it is the largest protected natural area in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Much like the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Mona and Monito Islands reserve represents a living laboratory for archaeological, biological, geological, oceanographical and wildlife management research.
