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Cayman Islands Dry Forests
The Cayman Islands dry forests ecoregion (WWF ID: NT0208) covers about half of the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean Sea. The other half of the low-lying islands are mangroves. The dry forests of Grand Cayman have been heavily cleared or degraded for human development; the less populated islands have more intact wooded habitat. Location and description The three main islands of the Caymans are Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. The islands are low and flat on a limestone base. The islands, 250 south of Cuba, are at the western end of the Greater Antilles. Climate The climate of the ecoregion is ''Tropical savanna climate, Tropical savanna climate - dry winter'' (Köppen climate classification Köppen_climate_classification#Aw:_Tropical_savanna_climate_with_dry-winter_characteristics, (Aw)). This climate is characterized by relatively even temperatures throughout the year, and a pronounced dry season. The driest month has less than 60 mm of precipitation, and is drier ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Cayman
Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territory's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles (121 km) southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles (145 km) southwest of Cayman Brac. Geography Grand Cayman encompasses 76% of the territory's entire land mass. The island is approximately long with its widest point being wide. The elevation ranges from sea level at the beaches to above sea level on the North Side's Mastic Trail. Unlike many other Caribbean islands, Grand Cayman is for the most part, flat. This allows for more space to build as the island’s population grows. Island districts Grand Cayman Island includes five of the six districts of the Cayman Islands: Bodden Town, East End, George Town, North Side and West Bay. *Bodden Town – Founded in the 1700s, Bodden Town district comprises the central part of Grand Cayman Island, between the George Town and Nort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola ( Haiti/Dominican Republic), and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The official area of the Republic of Cuba is (without the territorial waters) but a total of 350,730 km² (135,418 sq mi) including the exclusive economic zone. Cuba is the second-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti, with over 11 million inhabitants. The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited by the Ciboney people from the 4th millennium BC with the Gua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Booby Pond Nature Reserve
Booby Pond Nature Reserve is a protected wetland on Little Cayman, one of the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean Sea. Description The reserve lies on the south coast of Little Cayman, near the western end of the island. It comprises a 43 ha seasonally flooded Hypersaline lake, hypersaline lagoon with a fringe of mangroves and a strip of Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, dry forest on its northern side. The forest is dominated by ''Bursera simaruba'', ''Canella winterana'', ''Coccothrinax proctorii, Coccothrinax procterii'', ''Ficus aurea'', ''Guipera discolour'', ''Myrcianthes fragrans, Myrcianthus fragrans'' and ''Plumeria obtusa'', while the mangroves are intermixed with ''Thespesia populnea'' and ''Cordia sebestena'' var. ''caymanensis''. Birds The site has been identified by BirdLife International as a 136 ha Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of West Indian whistling duck ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Botanic Park And Salina Reserve Important Bird Area
The Botanic Park and Salina Reserve Important Bird Area comprises two separate sites on Grand Cayman, one of the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean Sea. Description Both sites lie in the East End district of Grand Cayman. The 50 ha Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park in the centre of the island contains fragments of native dry forest and shrubland, with a lake and ''Conocarpus erectus'' dominated wetlands. The Botanic Park site is also largely surrounded by the Frank Sound Forest IBA. Salina Reserve, lying inland from the north-east coast, is a 125 ha freshwater herbaceous wetland. It is surrounded by a fringe of '' Typha'' sedgeland and ''Conocarpus'' shrubland, with 135 ha of ''Swietenia mahagoni'' dominated dry forest on the northern boundary. The reserve lies over the northern part of the largest freshwater lens in the eastern part of the island and is not easily accessible. Birds The two sites, with a combined area of 276 ha, hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Savanna Climate With Dry-winter Characteristics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone (see geographical zone). In terms of climate, the tropics receive sunlight that is more direct than the rest of Earth and are generally hotter and wetter as they aren't affected as much by the solar seasons. The word "tropical" sometimes refers to this sort of climate in the zone rather than to the geographical zone itself. The tropical zone includes deserts and snow-capped mountains, which are not tropical in the climatic sense. The tropics are distinguished from the other climatic and biomatic regions of Earth, which are the middle latitudes and the polar regions on either side of the equatorial zone. The tropics constitute 40% of Earth's surface area and contain 36% of Earth's landmass. , the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notably in 1918 and 1936. Later, the climatologist Rudolf Geiger (1894–1981) introduced some changes to the classification system, which is thus sometimes called the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system. The Köppen climate classification divides climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (temperate), ''D'' (continental), and ''E'' (polar). Each group and subgroup is represented by a letter. All climates are assigned a main group (the first letter). All climates except for those in the ''E'' group are assigned a seasonal precipitation subgroup (the second letter). For example, ''Af'' indi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Savanna Climate
Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of precipitation and also less than 100-\left (\frac \right)mm of precipitation. This latter fact is in a direct contrast to a tropical monsoon climate, whose driest month sees less than of precipitation but has ''more'' than 100-\left (\frac \right) of precipitation. In essence, a tropical savanna climate tends to either see less overall rainfall than a tropical monsoon climate or have more pronounced dry season(s). In tropical savanna climates, the dry season can become severe, and often drought conditions prevail during the course of the year. Tropical savanna climates often feature tree-studded grasslands due to its dryness, rather than thick jungle. It is this widespread occurrence of tall, coarse grass (called savanna) which has led to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Antilles
The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands. Six island states share the region of the Greater Antilles, with Haiti and the Dominican Republic sharing the island of Hispaniola. Together with the Lesser Antilles, they make up the Antilles. While most of the Greater Antilles consists of independent countries, Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States, while the Cayman Islands are a British Overseas Territory. The largest island by area is Cuba, which extends to the western end of the island group. Puerto Rico lies on the eastern end, and the island of Hispaniola, the largest island by population, is located in the middle. Jamaica lies to the south of Cuba, while the Cayman Islands are located to the west. The state of Florida is the closes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cayman Brac
Cayman Brac is an island that is part of the Cayman Islands. It lies in the Caribbean Sea about north-east of Grand Cayman and east of Little Cayman. It is about long, with an average width of . Its terrain is the most prominent of the three Cayman Islands due to " The Bluff", a limestone outcrop that rises steadily along the length of the island up to above sea level at the eastern end. The island is named after this prominent feature, as "brac" is a Gaelic name for a bluff. History Christopher Columbus sighted Cayman Brac and its sister island, Little Cayman, on 10 May 1503 when his ship was blown off course during a trip between Hispaniola and Panama. He named them "Las Tortugas" because of the many turtles he spotted on the islands. The Cayman Islands were renamed by Sir Francis Drake, who came upon the islands during a voyage in 1586. He used the word "Caymanas", taken from the Carib name for crocodiles after seeing many of the large crocodilians. Many people believ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the south of Cuba and northeast of Honduras, between Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The capital city is George Town on Grand Cayman, which is the most populous of the three islands. The Cayman Islands is considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is a major world offshore financial centre for international businesses and wealthy individuals, largely as a result of the state not charging taxes on any income earned or stored. With a GDP per capita of $91,392, the Cayman Islands has the highest standard of living in the Caribbean. Immigrants from over 130 countries and territories reside in the Cayman Islands. History No archaeological evidence for an indigenous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Cayman
Little Cayman is one of three Islands that make up the Cayman Islands. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, approximately 60 miles (96 km) northeast of East End, Grand Cayman and five miles (8 km) west of West End, Cayman Brac. Little Cayman is the least populous island of the three, with a permanent population of about 160 (2021) including seasonal residents/homeowners. The majority of the population are expatriate workers from Jamaica, the Philippines, and Honduras and from other Latin American countries as well as Canada, the USA, India, Australia, Scotland, England, and South Africa. There are a handful of local Caymanians estimated as fewer than 20. It is about 10 miles (16 km) long with an average width of 1 mile (1600 m) and most of the island is undeveloped. Almost the entire island is at sea level. The highest elevation is about 40 feet (12 metres). The rainy season, which consists of mostly light showers, occurs in Mid-April until June and again in mid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles starting with Cuba, to the east by the Lesser Antilles, and to the south by the northern coast of South America. The Gulf of Mexico lies to the northwest. The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the numerous islands of the West Indies, and adjacent coasts are collectively known as the Caribbean. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas and has an area of about . The sea's deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays: the Gulf of Gonâve, Gulf of Venezuela, Gulf of Darién, Golfo de los Mosquitos, Gulf of Paria and Gulf of Honduras. The Caribbean Sea has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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