Caribbean bioregion
The Caribbean bioregion is a biogeographic region that includes the islands of the Caribbean Sea and nearby Atlantic islands, which share a fauna, flora and mycobiota distinct from surrounding bioregions.
Geography
The Caribbean bioregion, as described by the
The climate of the ecoregion is tropical, and varies from humid to arid. Geology and topography also vary, with larger mountainous islands of continental rock, volcanic islands, and low-lying coral and limestone islands. The bioregion includes
Flora and fauna
The Caribbean bioregion's distinct fauna, flora and mycobiota was shaped by long periods of physical separation from the neighboring continents, allowing animals, fungi and plants to evolve in isolation. Other animals, fungi and plants arrived via long-distance
The bioregion has many plant species, including many endemics. There are about 200 endemic genera of plants. Wallenia, the largest endemic genus, has thirty species, and six other genera have ten or more species.[4]
Three mammal families are endemic to the bioregion; the
Ecoregions
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
- Cuban moist forests (Cuba)
- Hispaniolan moist forests (Dominican Republic, Haiti)
- Jamaican moist forests (Jamaica)
- US Virgin Islands)
- Puerto Rican moist forests (Puerto Rico)
- South Florida rocklands (United States)
- Windward Islands moist forests (Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
- Bahamas)
- Cayman Islands dry forests (Cayman Islands)
- Cuban dry forests (Cuba)
- Hispaniolan dry forests (Dominican Republic, Haiti)
- Jamaican dry forests (Jamaica)
- Lesser Antillean dry forests (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Martinique, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
- Puerto Rican dry forests (Puerto Rico)
Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests
- Bahamian pineyards (The Bahamas)
- Cuban pine forests (Cuba)
- Hispaniolan pine forests (Dominican Republic, Haiti)
Flooded grasslands and savannas
Deserts and xeric shrublands
- )
- Cayman Islands xeric scrub (Cayman Islands)
- Cuban cactus scrub (Cuba)
- US Virgin Islands)
- Windward Islands xeric scrub (Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
Mangrove
- Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands)
- Greater Antilles mangroves (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico)
- Lesser Antilles mangroves (Lesser Antilles)
See also
References
- ^ Dinerstein, Eric; David Olson; Douglas J. Graham; et al. (1995). A Conservation Assessment of the Terrestrial Ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean. World Bank, Washington DC.
- ^ Dinerstein, Eric; David Olson; Douglas J. Graham; et al. (1995). A Conservation Assessment of the Terrestrial Ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean. World Bank, Washington DC.
- ^ Iturralde-Vinent, M.A., and R.D.E. MacPhee (1999). Paleogeography of the Caribbean region: Implications for Cenozoic biogeography. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 238:1–95.
- ^ World Wildlife Fund. "Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean". Accessed 4 September 2017. [1]
- ^ Iturralde-Vinent, M.A., and R.D.E. MacPhee (1999). Paleogeography of the Caribbean region: Implications for Cenozoic biogeography. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 238:1–95.
- ^ MacPhee, R.D.E., Ronald Singer, Michael Diamond (2000). "LateCenozoic Land Mammals from Grenada, Lesser Antilles Island-Arc". American Museum Novitates Number 3302, American Museum of Natural History, October 16, 2000.