| Jamaican dry forests | |
|---|---|
 Hills above Alligator Pond, Jamaica | |
 Ecoregion territory (in purple) | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Neotropical |
| Biome | tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests |
| Borders | Jamaican moist forests |
| Geography | |
| Area | 2,255 km2 (871 sq mi) |
| Country | Jamaica |
| Conservation | |
| Conservation status | Critical/Endangered [1] |
| Protected | 459 km2 (20%) [2] |
The Jamaican dry forests is a tropical dry forest ecoregion located in southern Jamaica.
The ecoregion covers three discontinuous areas of Jamaica. The largest area extends along the south coast of the island, from Morant Point, Jamaica's easternmost point, to Black River Bay in the west. Kingston, Jamaica's capital and largest city, is in the ecoregion. Smaller areas of dry forest occur around Negril at the western end of the island, and east of Montego Bay along the island's northern shore.
The most extensive dry forests are in the limestone hills of the Hellshire Hills in Saint Catherine Parish and Portland Ridge in Clarendon Parish in southern Jamaica. These areas are dry because they lie in the orographic rain shadow of the Blue Mountains. The Hellshire Hills have been described as one of the last substantial areas of primary, undisturbed dry forest in the Caribbean. [3] Much of the remaining Jamaican dry forest lies within the Portland Bight Protected Area [4] which includes the Portland Ridge and the Hellshire Hills, which are the best-studied areas of Jamaican dry forest.
The Jamaican dry forests are dominated by plants in the Rubiaceae, the Euphorbiaceae and the Myrtaceae. In this regard they are similar to Puerto Rican dry forests, but differ sharply from dry forests on the mainland of South and Central America which are dominated by the Fabaceae and the Bignoniaceae. [5] Over 271 plant species have been reported from the Hellshire Hills, including 53 species endemic to Jamaica. [6] [7] McLaren and coauthors (2005) found forests in the Hellshire Hills to be dominated by Drypetes lateriflora , Metopium brownei , Bauhinia divaricata and Krugiodendron ferreum . [8]
The endangered Jamaican iguana (Cyclura collei) is restricted to dry forests in the Hellshire Hills. The endemic tree frog Eleutherodactylus cavernicola , two endemic thunder snakes, Tropidophis stullae and Tropidophis jamaicensis , and the endemic blue-tailed galliwasp ( Celestus duquesneyi ) are restricted to the Portland Ridge. Other endemic species present in the area include the Jamaican boa ( Chilabothrus subflavus ), the common snake ( Typhlops jamaicensis ), the Jamaican red groundsnake ( Hypsirhynchus callilaemus ), the Jamaican coney (Geocapromys brownii) and 11 endemic subspecies of birds. The last Jamaican populations of the skink Mabuya mabouya are believed to be in the Hellshire Hills.
The Puerto Rican dry forests are a tropical dry forest ecoregion located in southwestern and eastern Puerto Rico and on the offshore islands. They cover an area of 1,300 km2 (500 sq mi). These forests grow in areas receiving less than 1,000 mm (39 in) of rain annually. Many of the trees are deciduous, losing their leaves during the dry season which normally lasts from December to April.
The Ogasawara subtropical moist forests is a terrestrial ecoregion which encompasses the Ogasawara Archipelago of Japan. The Ogasawara Archipelago lies in the Pacific Ocean south of Honshu, Japan's largest island, and north of the Marianas Islands. The ecoregion includes the Bonin Islands and Volcano Islands chains. The islands are volcanic in origin, and have never been linked to a continent. They are home to distinct plants and animals including many endemic species.
The Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests is a mostly arid ecoregion in northwestern India that stretches over 103,100 sq mi (267,000 km2) across Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The dry deciduous forests in the region are dominated by teak, and thorny trees and scrub in drier areas.
The Northwestern thorn scrub forests is a xeric shrubland ecoregion of Pakistan and Northern India, stretching along the border lowlands and hills between the two countries. Once covered in deciduous forest, this ecoregion has been degraded through agriculture and the extraction of timber so that it currently has a scanty covering of thorny scrub dominated by such trees as Acacia senegal, Acacia leucophloea and Prosopis cineraria. Where the soils are particularly saline, there are patches of semi-desert. A number of mammals are found in this habitat and about four hundred species of bird. Some small areas are protected but the collection of firewood and the conversion of the land to subsistence farming continues.
The Mona ground iguana is a rock iguana that is endemic to Mona Island, Puerto Rico, and is the largest native terrestrial lizard in Puerto Rico. It was previously considered a subspecies of the rhinoceros iguana.
The Deccan thorn scrub forests are a xeric shrubland ecoregion of south India and northern Sri Lanka. Historically this area was covered by tropical dry deciduous forest, but this only remains in isolated fragments. The vegetation now consists of mainly of southern tropical thorn scrub type forests. These consist of open woodland with thorny trees with short trunks and low, branching crowns; spiny and xerophytic shrubs; and dry grassland. This is the habitat of the great Indian bustard and blackbuck, though these and other animals are declining in numbers; this area was at one time home to large numbers of elephants and tigers. Almost 350 species of bird have been recorded here. The remaining natural habitat is threatened by overgrazing and invasive weeds, but there are a number of small protected areas which provide a haven for the wildlife. Trees in these forests have adapted to not require much water.
The Jamaican iguana is a large species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. The species is endemic to Jamaica. It is the largest native land animal in Jamaica, and is critically endangered, even considered extinct between 1948 and 1990. Once found throughout Jamaica and on the offshore islets Great Goat Island and Little Goat Island, it is now confined to the forests of the Hellshire Hills.
Cyclura ricordii, also known as Ricord's ground iguana or Ricord's rock iguana, is an endangered species of medium-sized rock iguana, a large herbivorous lizard. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola. It is known to coexist with the nominate subspecies of the rhinoceros iguana ; the two species are the only taxa of rock iguana to do so. The natural habitats of its three subpopulations are hot, dry, wooded savanna on limestone with access to soil and sandy flats in southern Hispaniola. It is threatened by predation by introduced predators and habitat loss, due to overgrazing and charcoal manufacture.
The Veracruz moist forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion in eastern Mexico.
The Bahamian dry forests are a tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, covering an area of 4,800 km2 (1,900 sq mi). They are found on much of the northern Bahamas, including Andros, Abaco, and Grand Bahama, where they are known as coppices. Dry forests are distributed evenly throughout the Turks and Caicos.
The Arnhem Land tropical savanna is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in Australia's Northern Territory.
The Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA) was created by the Jamaican government in 1999 to protect a large marine and terrestrial area on the island of Jamaica located southwest of Kingston. Nearby cays such as Little Goat Island are included. It is the largest protected area in Jamaica and comprises 724 square miles (1,880 km2). Although the first priority in forming the protected area was to protect the coral reefs, it also serves to protect vulnerable and endemic species. The PBPA includes 32 square miles (83 km2) of wetlands on the island, and coastlines of mangroves, as well as sea-grass beds that serve as a nursery for fish and shellfish breeding. The Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation (C-CAM) has been charged with managing zones within the protected area.
The Magdalena Valley dry forests (NT0221) is an ecoregion in Colombia along the upper Magdalena River, a large river that runs from south to north between the two main cordilleras of the Andes. There are many endemic species, but much of the original habitat has been destroyed by agriculture and over-grazing, mainly by goats. The habitat is not protected by any national park, and is at risk of complete destruction.
Hellshire Hills is a region of dry limestone hills in St Catherine Parish, Jamaica, which forms part of the Portland Bight Protected Area. The region supports one of the largest remaining areas of dry limestone forest in the Caribbean, and supports endangered Jamaican endemics include the Jamaican iguana and the blue-tailed galliwasp.
The Maldives–Lakshadweep–Chagos Archipelago tropical moist forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in South Asia. It spans a chain of coralline islands in the Indian Ocean, including Lakshadweep, a union territory of India; the Maldives, an independent country; and the British Indian Ocean Territory, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom.
The Fiji tropical moist forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in Fiji and Wallis and Futuna. It covers the windward sides of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, Fiji's largest islands, as well as the smaller Fijian islands and the three islands that make up Wallis and Futuna, an overseas territory of France.
The Tongan tropical moist forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion that includes the Tonga archipelago and Niue.
The Cook Islands tropical moist forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion that covers the Southern Cook Islands in the Cook Islands.
The Enriquillo wetlands are a flooded grasslands and savannas ecoregion on the island of Hispaniola. They cover about 628 km2 (242 sq mi) around several low-lying lakes in southwestern Hispaniola in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The Jamaican moist forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion in Jamaica.