Cuban pine forests
Encyclopedia
Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests
Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests are a forest biome. They are located in regions of semi-humid climate at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Most tropical and subtropical coniferous forest ecoregions are found in the Nearctic and Neotropic ecozones, from Mexico to Nicaragua and on the...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
on the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
islands of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Isla de la Juventud. They cover an area of 6400 km² (2,471.1 sq mi), occurring in separate sections in eastern Cuba and western Cuba and Isla de la Juventud.
Description
Pine forests are found primarily in well-drained, nutrient-poor, acidic soils such as quartzQuartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
iferous sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
s, pseudo-spodosols in the west, and lateritic
Laterite
Laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminium, formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are rusty-red because of iron oxides. They develop by intensive and long-lasting weathering of the underlying parent rock...
soils. Pine trees and encino (Quercus cubana
Quercus cubana
Quercus cubana, the Cuban oak, is a medium sized evergreen tree native to Western Cuba in the Cuban pine forests ecoregion.Some authors believe it is a hybrid between sand live oak and Quercus oleoides rather than a true species....
) obtain nutrients through an ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with fungi, allowing them to attain tree size. The forests feature a dense xerophytic brushy story of mainly Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...
, Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae, the Spurge family are a large family of flowering plants with 300 genera and around 7,500 species. Most are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are also shrubs or trees. Some are succulent and resemble cacti....
, Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae
The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here. All species are woody, with essential oils, and flower parts in multiples of four or five...
, and Melastomataceae
Melastomataceae
right|thumb|200px|Characteristic venation of many melastomesThe family Melastomataceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics comprising some 200 genera and 4500 species...
along with a herbaceous story of a few epiphyte
Epiphyte
An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...
s, primarily from the genus Tillandsia
Tillandsia
Tillandsia is a genus of around 540 species in the Bromeliad family , found in the forests, mountains, and deserts, of Central and South America, and Mexico and the southern United States in North America....
, and lianas. Secondary forest
Secondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
s formed by deforestation have a more open canopy with an understory dominated by Comocladia dentata; grasses, lianas and epiphytes are poorly represented.
Western pine forests
Western pine forests are found in the northern and southern plains surrounding the Sierra de los Organos in Pinar del Río ProvincePinar del Río Province
Pinar del Río is one of the provinces of Cuba. It is at the western end of the island of Cuba.-Geography:The Pinar del Río province is Cuba's westernmost province and contains one of Cuba's three main mountain ranges, the Cordillera de Guaniguanico, divided into the easterly Sierra del Rosario and...
and on the northern half of Isla de la Juventud. Annual precipitation is less than 1500 mm (59.1 in), with a dry season from November to April and a rainy season from May to October. The temperature ranges from 21.5 to 28 °C (70.7 to 82.4 F), averaging 25 °C (77 °F), and is somewhat less at higher elevations. Pino macho (Pinus caribaea var. caribaea
Caribbean Pine
The Caribbean Pine, Pinus caribaea, is a hard pine native to Central America, Cuba, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It inhabits tropical and subtropical coniferous forests, which include both lowland savannas and montane forests...
), which may reach heights of up to 30 m (98.4 ft), and pino hembra (Pinus tropicalis
Tropical Pine
Pinus tropicalis, the Tropical Pine, is a pine tree endemic to the western highlands of the island of Cuba.-References:*...
) dominate the canopy. Other species such include peralejo (Byrsonima crassifolia), palma barrigona (Colpothrinax wrightii
Colpothrinax wrightii
Colpothrinax wrightii, the palma barrigona, is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae-palm family.It is found only in—endemic to Cuba.-Source:* Moya, C.; 1998; ; Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
), icaco (Chrysobalanus icaco var. hellocarpus
Chrysobalanus icaco
Chrysobalanus icaco, the cocoplum, Paradise Plum and icaco , is found near sea beaches and inland throughout the tropical Americas and the Caribbean, including Cuba, southern Florida, and the Bahamas. The inland subspecies is Chrysobalanus icaco pellocarpus.-Description:Chrysobalanus icaco is a...
), encino (Quercus cubana
Quercus cubana
Quercus cubana, the Cuban oak, is a medium sized evergreen tree native to Western Cuba in the Cuban pine forests ecoregion.Some authors believe it is a hybrid between sand live oak and Quercus oleoides rather than a true species....
), Calophyllum pinetorum, Erythroxylum minutifolium, Phania cajalbanica, Vaccinium cubense, Hyperbaena columbica, Clusia rosea, Copernicia
Copernicia
Copernicia is a genus of 24 species of palms, native to South America and the Caribbean. They are fan palms , with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets...
species, yuraguano (Coccothrinax yuraguana
Coccothrinax yuraguana
Coccothrinax yuraguana is a palm which is endemic to western Cuba.Henderson and colleagues considered C. yuraguana to be a synonym of Coccothrinax miraguama....
), Aristida species and Andropogon
Andropogon
Andropogon is a genus of grasses. Andropogon gerardii, big bluestem, is the official state grass of Illinois.Broomsedge is found along the eastern United States...
species. Ferritic soils in Pinar del Río, such as in the Cajálbana plateau, are home to Pinus caribaea var. caribaea and an understory rich in endemic species. Mixed pine forests develop over oligotrophic quartzitic yellow soils in northern Pinar del Río province and Isla de la Juventud. They feature Pinus caribaea var. caribaea, P. tropicalis, and, possibly, Quercus cubana. Dry, rocky pine forests found on the southern side of the Cajálbana plateau include pines, thorny scrublands
Cuban dry forests
The Cuban dry forests are a tropical dry forest ecoregion that occupies on Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. The ecoregion receives of rainfall annually...
, and Agave cajalbanenesis, an endemic succulent.
Eastern pine forests
Small patches of pine forest occur around the Sierra Cristal, Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa Mountains, and Sierra MaestraSierra Maestra
Sierra Maestra is a mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old Oriente Province from what is now Guantánamo Province to Niquero in southeast Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. Some view it as a series of connecting ranges , which joins with others extending to the west...
. These forests are found at at higher elevations than western pine forests, up to 800–1800 m (2,624.7–5,905.5 ft), making them cooler and wetter. Consequently, the some of the vegetation resembles that of the rainforests
Cuban moist forests
The Cuban moist forests are a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion that occupies on Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. The ecoregion receives more than of rainfall annually, and does not have a dry season. Soils are usually derived from quartz, limestone, or serpentinites...
, with an abundance of ferns. Pino de la Maestra (Pinus maestrensis) predominates in the Sierra Maestra, developing on landslide areas over granitic rock, while the Pino de Mayarí (Pinus cubensis
Cuban Pine
The Cuban Pine is a pine endemic to the eastern highlands of the island of Cuba.The closely related Hispaniolan Pine , native to the neighboring island of Hispaniola, is treated as synonymous by some botanists....
) predominates in the Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa. Some accompanying species in these forests are the griñapo (Dracaena cubensis), Eupatorium
Eupatorium
Eupatorium is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae, containing from 36 to 60 species depending on the classification system. Most are herbaceous perennial plants growing to 0.5–3 m tall. A few are shrubs. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
spp., Myrtus spp., Baccharis
Baccharis
Baccharis is a genus of perennials and shrubs in the aster family . They are commonly known as baccharises but sometimes referred to as "brooms", because many members have small thin leaves resembling the true brooms. They are not at all related to these however, but belong to an entirely...
spp., Jacaranda arborea
Jacaranda arborea
Jacaranda arborea is a species of flowering plant in the Bignoniaceae family. It is endemic to Cuba. It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* Areces-Mallea, A.E. 1998. . Downloaded on 22 August 2007....
and Eugenia pinetorum.
Fauna
Endemic birds include the Olive-capped Warbler (Dendroica pityophila), Cuban Kite (Chondrohierax wilsonii), Cuban TrogonCuban Trogon
The Cuban Trogon or Tocororo is a species of bird in the Trogonidae family. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Cuba, where it is also the national bird....
(Priotelus temnurus), Cuban Amazon, (Amazona leucocephala) and Cuban Tody
Cuban Tody
The Cuban Tody is a bird species in the family Todidae that is restricted to Cuba and adjacent islands. The species is characterized by small size , large head relative to body size, and a thin, pointed bill...
(Todus multicolor). The Cuban Ivory-billed Woodpecker
Cuban Ivory-billed Woodpecker
The Cuban Ivory-billed Woodpecker or Carpintero real is, or was, a Cuban subspecies of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker . Once classified as a separate species, recent research has indicated that C. p...
(Campephilus principalis bairdii) may remain in eastern pine forests, but is probably extinct.