Flora of Belize

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The flora of Belize is highly diverse by regional standards, given the country's small geographical extent. Situated on the Caribbean coast of northern Central America the flora and vegetation have been intimately intertwined with Belize's history. The nation itself grew out of British timber extraction activities from the 17th century onwards, at first for logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum) and later for mahogany ( Swietenia macrophylla ), fondly called "red gold" because of its high cost and was much sought after by European aristocracy. Central America generally is thought to have gained much of it characteristic flora during the "Great American interchange" during which time South American elements migrated north after the geological closure of the isthmus of Panama. [1] Few Amazonian elements penetrate as far north as Belize and in species composition the forests of Belize are most similar to the forests of the Petén (Guatemala) and the Yucatán (Mexico). [2]

Contents

Vegetation types

The vegetation of Belize was first systematically surveyed in the 1930s. [3] Recent mapping projects have employed the following principal terrestrial and coastal categories of native vegetation: [4]

Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, savanna palmetto. Acoeloraphe.JPG
Acoelorrhaphe wrightii , savanna palmetto.
Curatella americana, the sandpaper tree of the pine forest. Curatella.JPG
Curatella americana , the sandpaper tree of the pine forest.

Plant conservation and forest reserves

Although deforestation continues to be a threat to Belize's natural environment [5] - and to the natural environment of almost all countries in Latin America - much of the native forest remains, facilitating a burgeoning ecotourism sector. The National Parks System Act of 1981 declared numerous protected areas, and the Belizean Government has been working with a prominent non-governmental organization (NGO), the Belize Audubon Society (BAS) to promote nature conservation within the country. Founded in 1969, the BAS assists the Forest Department of the Government of Belize to manage several important forest areas including:

In addition to the above there are numerous other important forest reserves such as:

Chamaedorea oblongata, understorey palm. Chamaedorea oblongata3.jpg
Chamaedorea oblongata , understorey palm.

There are numerous conservation challenges in Belize. One is the extensive recent illegal cutting of the understorey palm's xate ( Chamaedorea spp.). This has a severe effect on the health and reproduction of these characteristic understorey components. [6]

Forests and Deforestation

A remote sensing study conducted by the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC) and NASA, in collaboration with the Forest Department and the Land Information Centre (LIC) of the Government of Belize's Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE), and published in August 2010 revealed that Belize's forest cover in early 2010 was approximately 62.7%, down from 75.9% in late 1980. [5]

A similar study [7] by Belize Tropical Forest Studies and Conservation International revealed similar trends in terms of Belize's forest cover. Both studies indicate that each year, 0.6% of Belize's forest cover is lost, translating to the clearing of an average of 24,835 acres (9,982 hectares) each year. The USAID-supported SERVIR study by CATHALAC, NASA, and the MNRE also showed that Belize's protected areas have been extremely effective in protecting the country's forests. While some 6.4% of forests inside of legally declared protected areas were cleared between 1980 and 2010, over a quarter of forests outside of protected areas had been lost between 1980 and 2010. As a country with a relatively high forest cover and a low deforestation rate, Belize has significant potential for participation in initiatives such as REDD.

Belize had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.15/10, ranking it 85th globally out of 172 countries. [8]

Mangroves

While many consider mangrove to be one of Belize's various forest classes, it is important to point out that in Belize, mangroves assume the form of not only forest (dominated by closed formations of mangroves of over 3m tall) but also scrub (dominated by formations of dwarf mangroves below 3m in height), and savanna (areas with scattered mangroves). [9] Because of their importance for shoreline protection and maintenance of fisheries stocks, Belize's mangroves are legally protected under the Forests Act of the Laws of Belize. [10]

A recent study by the World Resources Institute (WRI) indicates that Belize's mangrove ecosystems contribute US $174–249 million per year to the national economy. [11] The clearing of mangroves for development of coastal infrastructure has been recognized as a threat to Belize's mangroves and led to public perception that destruction of mangrove ecosystems was rampant, such as an investigative study in 2008 which indicated unauthorized clearings within the South Water Caye Marine Reserve, [12] and which eventually led to the Belize Barrier Reef System's designation by UNESCO as an endangered World Heritage Site. [13]

With uncertainty regarding actual rates of clearing of Belize's mangrove ecosystems, a recent study [14] funded by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has clarified the situation, making use of Landsat satellite imagery to comprehensively examine Belize's mangrove cover. That study, which spanned the thirty years from 1980–2010 and was based on the earlier work of mangrove researcher Simon Zisman, [15] was conducted by the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC) and found that in 2010, mangroves covered some 184,548 acres (74,684 hectares) or 3.4% of Belize's territory. By contrast, it is estimated that in 1980 mangrove cover stood at 188,417 acres (76,250 hectares) - also 3.4% of Belize's territory. Based on Zisman, it is also estimated that Belize's mangrove cover in 1980 represented 98.7% of the pre-colonial extent of those ecosystems. Belize's mangrove cover in 2010 was thus estimated to represent 96.7% of the pre-colonial cover. Where the 2010 update of the World Mangrove Atlas also indicated that a fifth of the world's mangrove ecosystems have been lost since 1980, [16] the case of Belize's mangroves thus stands in stark contrast to the global picture.

Belize's relative mangrove cover declined by 2% from 1980–2010, and in that period, under 4,000 acres of mangroves had been cleared, although clearing of mangroves near Belize's main coastal settlements (e.g. Belize City and San Pedro) was relatively high. The rate of loss of Belize's mangroves - at 0.07% per year between 1980 and 2010 - was much lower than Belize's overall rate of forest clearing (0.6% per year between 1980 and 2010). [17]

Trees

As well as logwood ( Haematoxylon campechianum ) and mahogany ( Swietenia macrophylla ) two other important Belizean timber trees of note are the Santa Maria ( Calophyllum antillanum ) and cedar ( Cedrela mexicana ). Other economically important trees include cotton tree or kapok (Ceiba pentandra), and cacao (Theobroma cacao). Chicle (Manilkara chicle) is the original chewing gum (made from its gummy sap).

Orchids

Belize has a rich array (some 300 species) of native orchids [18] including Encyclia cochleata var. cochleata, the so-called "black orchid". [19] This is the national flower of Belize. [20]

Palms

Belizean vegetation is characterized by numerous species of palms including the palmettos of the savanna, silver palmetto ( Schippia concolor ), palmetto ( Acoelorrhaphe wrightii ) and the common coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) found in coastal areas. Other important palms include the cohune palms, cohune ( Attalea cohune ) and warree cohune ( Astrocaryum mexicanum ), as well as the give and take palm ( Chrysophila argentea ), xate palms ( Chamaedorea elegans and Chamaedorea oblongata ), pokenoboy ( Bactris major ), basket tie-tie ( Desmoncus schippii ) and royal palm ( Roystonea oleracea ).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belize</span> Country in Central America

Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a water boundary with Honduras to the southeast. It has an area of 22,970 square kilometres (8,867 sq mi) and a population of 441,471 (2022). Its mainland is about 290 km (180 mi) long and 110 km (68 mi) wide. It is the least populated and least densely populated country in Central America. Its population growth rate of 1.87% per year is the second-highest in the region and one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere. Its capital is Belmopan, and its largest city is the namesake city of Belize City. Belize is often thought of as a Caribbean country in Central America because it has a history similar to that of English-speaking Caribbean nations. Belize's institutions and official language reflect its history as a British colony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest</span> Dense collection of trees covering a relatively large area

A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines a forest as, "Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban use." Using this definition, Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 found that forests covered 4.06 billion hectares, or approximately 31 percent of the world's land area in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainforest</span> Type of forest with high rainfall

Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropical rainforests or temperate rainforests, but other types have been described.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savanna</span> Mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem

A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. According to Britannica, there exists four savanna forms; savanna woodland where trees and shrubs form a light canopy, tree savanna with scattered trees and shrubs, shrub savanna with distributed shrubs, and grass savanna where trees and shrubs are mostly nonexistent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangrove forest</span> Productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones

Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand freezing temperatures. There are about 80 different species of mangroves, all of which grow in areas with low-oxygen soil, where slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to accumulate.

A tropical marine climate is a tropical climate that is primarily influenced by the ocean. It is usually experienced by islands and coastal areas 10° to 20° north and south of the equator. There are two main seasons in a tropical marine climate: the wet season and the dry season. The annual rainfall is 1000 to over 1500 mm. The temperature ranges from 20 °C to 35 °C. The trade winds blow all year round and are moist, as they pass over warm seas. These climatic conditions are found, for example, across the Caribbean, the eastern coasts of Brazil, Madagascar and Queensland; and many islands in tropical waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Burundi</span> Flora and fauna in Burundi

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The wildlife of the Gambia is dictated by several habitat zones over the Gambia's land area of about 10,000 km2. It is bound in the south by the savanna and on the north by the Sudanian woodlands. The habitats host abundant indigenous plants and animals, in addition to migrant species and newly planted species. They vary widely and consist of the marine system, coastal zone, estuary with mangrove vegetation coupled with Banto Faros, river banks with brackish and fresh water zones, swamps covered with forests and many wetlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation in Belize</span>

Since declaring independence in 1981, Belize has enacted many environmental protection laws aimed at the preservation of the country's natural and cultural heritage, as well as its wealth of natural resources. These acts have established a number of different types of protected areas, with each category having its own set of regulations dictating public access, resource extraction, land use and ownership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Nigeria</span>

The wildlife of Nigeria consists of the flora and fauna of this country in West Africa. Nigeria has a wide variety of habitats, ranging from mangrove swamps and tropical rainforest to savanna with scattered clumps of trees. About 290 mammal species and 940 bird species have been recorded in the country.

Global mangrove distributions have fluctuated throughout human and geological history. The area covered by mangroves is influenced by a complex interaction between land position, rainfall hydrology, sea level, sedimentation, subsidence, storms and pest-predator relationships). In the last 50 years, human activities have strongly affected mangrove distributions, resulting in declines or expansions of worldwide mangrove area. Mangroves provide several important ecological services including coastal stabilization, juvenile fish habitats, and the filtration of sediment and nutrients). Mangrove loss has important implications for coastal ecological systems and human communities are dependent on healthy mangrove ecosystems. This article presents an overview of global mangrove forest biome trends in mangrove ecoregions distribution, as well as the cause of such changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical vegetation</span> Vegetation in tropical latitude

Tropical vegetation is any vegetation in tropical latitudes. Plant life that occurs in climates that are warm year-round is in general more biologically diverse that in other latitudes. Some tropical areas may receive abundant rain the whole year round, but others have long dry seasons which last several months and may vary in length and intensity with geographic location. These seasonal droughts have great impact on the vegetation, such as in the Madagascar spiny forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belizean pine forests</span>

The Belizean pine forests is an ecoregion that represents an example of lowland and premontane pine forests in the Neotropical realm, where the dominant tree species is Caribbean pine. The vegetation here is generally adapted to the xeric, acidic and nutrient-poor conditions along the Belizean near coastal zone of the Caribbean versant.

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References

  1. ↑ Gentry, A.H. 1982. Neotropical floristic diversity: phytogeographical connections between Central and South America, Pleistocene climatic fluctuations, or an accident of the Andean orogeny? Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 69, 557-593
  2. ↑ Brewer, S. et al. 2003 J. Biogeography 30: 1669- 1688
  3. ↑ Standley, P.C. and Record, S.J. 1936. The forests and flora of British Honduras. Fieldiana, Bot. 12: 1-432
  4. ↑ BERDS > Mapping
  5. 1 2 Cherrington, E.A., Ek, E., Cho, P., Howell, B.F., Hernandez, B.E., Anderson, E.R., Flores, A.I., Garcia, B.C., Sempris, E., and D.E. Irwin. (2010) “Forest cover and Deforestation in Belize: 1980-2010.” Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean. Panama City, Panama. 42 pp. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2011-04-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ↑ "Xaté palms (Chamaedorea spp.) in Belize - Natural History Museum". Archived from the original on 2006-08-22. Retrieved 2006-12-04.
  7. ↑ "Biodiversity in Belize - Deforestation". biological-diversity.info. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  8. ↑ Grantham, H. S.; Duncan, A.; Evans, T. D.; Jones, K. R.; Beyer, H. L.; Schuster, R.; Walston, J.; Ray, J. C.; Robinson, J. G.; Callow, M.; Clements, T.; Costa, H. M.; DeGemmis, A.; Elsen, P. R.; Ervin, J.; Franco, P.; Goldman, E.; Goetz, S.; Hansen, A.; Hofsvang, E.; Jantz, P.; Jupiter, S.; Kang, A.; Langhammer, P.; Laurance, W. F.; Lieberman, S.; Linkie, M.; Malhi, Y.; Maxwell, S.; Mendez, M.; Mittermeier, R.; Murray, N. J.; Possingham, H.; Radachowsky, J.; Saatchi, S.; Samper, C.; Silverman, J.; Shapiro, A.; Strassburg, B.; Stevens, T.; Stokes, E.; Taylor, R.; Tear, T.; Tizard, R.; Venter, O.; Visconti, P.; Wang, S.; Watson, J. E. M. (2020). "Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity - Supplementary Material". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 5978. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3 . ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   7723057 . PMID   33293507.
  9. ↑ Murray, M.R., Zisman, S.A., Furley, P.A., Munro, D.M., Gibson, J., Ratter, J., Bridgewater, S., Mity, C.D., and C.J. Place. 2003. "The Mangroves of Belize: Part 1. Distribution, Composition and Classification." Forest Ecology and Management 174: 265–279
  10. ↑ Government of Belize (GOB). 2003. "Forests Act Subsidiary Laws." Chapter 213 in: Substantive Laws of Belize. Revised Edition 2003. Government Printer: Belmopan, Belize. 137 pp. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2016-02-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ↑ Cooper, E., Burke, L., and N. Bood. 2009. "Coastal Capital: Belize. The Contribution of Belize's Coral Reefs and Mangroves." WRI Working Paper. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC. 53 pp. http://pdf.wri.org/working_papers/coastal_capital_belize_wp.pdf
  12. ↑ http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/art/Pelican_Review.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  13. ↑ "Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System and Colombia's los Katios National Park enter UNESCO's Danger List".
  14. ↑ Cherrington, E.A., Hernandez, B.E., Trejos, N.A., Smith, O.A., Anderson, E.R., Flores, A.I., and B.C. Garcia. 2010. "Identification of Threatened and Resilient Mangroves in the Belize Barrier Reef System." Technical report to the World Wildlife Fund. Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC) / Regional Visualization & Monitoring System (SERVIR). 28 pp. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-31. Retrieved 2011-07-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ↑ Zisman, S.A. 1998. "Sustainability or Status Quo: Elite Influence and the Political Ecology of Mangrove Exploitation in Belize." Doctoral dissertation, Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh, Scotland
  16. ↑ The Nature Conservancy (TNC). 2010a. ""World Atlas of Mangroves" Highlights the Importance of and Threats to Mangroves: Mangroves among World's Most Valuable Ecosystems." Press release. Arlington, Virginia. http://www.nature.org/pressroom/press/press4573.html Archived 2010-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ Cherrington, E.A., Ek, E., Cho, P., Howell, B.F., Hernandez, B.E., Anderson, E.R., Flores, A.I., Garcia, B.C., Sempris, E., and D.E. Irwin. 2010. "Forest Cover and Deforestation in Belize: 1980-2010." Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean. Panama City, Panama. 42 pp. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2011-04-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ↑ Green, Kim (10 February 2012). "Belize Flora (and fauna)". The Greenery. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  19. ↑ Williams, L.O. (1956). An enumeration of the Orchidaceae of Central America, British Honduras, and Panama. Ceiba 5: 1-256
  20. ↑ "Biodiversity in Belize - Orchids". biological-diversity.info. Retrieved 2022-03-04.

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