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Ceiba State Forest
Ceiba State Forest (Spanish: ''Bosque Estatal de Ceiba''), also referred to as the Ceiba State Reserve (Spanish: ''Reserva Estatal de Ceiba''), is a mangrove forest and nature reserve located in the eastern coast of Puerto Rico, in the municipalities of Ceiba and Fajardo. The forest extends over 350 acres and is mostly made of mangrove forests which are habitat to a large number of bird species. Although named Ceiba State Forest, the forest is not home to the large ceiba tree (''Ceiba pentandra''), and it is actually named after the municipality it is located in. In addition to the mangrove forests, the reserve also includes coastal zones that comprise sandy beaches and coral reefs found in both the Ceiba and Fajardo sections. History The forest's ecological value has been recognized since 1918, when Puerto Rico governor Arthur Yager proclaimed and designated mora than 800 acres of coastal mangrove forest between the municipalities of Fajardo and Naguabo. In 1941, the Puerto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated territories of the United States, unincorporated territory of the United States. It is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic and the United States Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Isla de Mona, Mona, Culebra, Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques, Puerto Rico, Vieques. It has roughly 3.2 million residents, and its Capital city, capital and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, most populous city is San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan. Spanish language, Spanish and English language, English are the official languages of the executive branch of government, though Spanish predominates. Puerto Rico ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at the edges of lakes and streams, where they form a transition between the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. They are often dominated by grasses, rushes or reeds. If woody plants are present they tend to be low-growing shrubs, and the marsh is sometimes called a carr. This form of vegetation is what differentiates marshes from other types of wetland such as swamps, which are dominated by trees, and mires, which are wetlands that have accumulated deposits of acidic peat. Marshes provide habitats for many kinds of invertebrates, fish, amphibians, waterfowl and aquatic mammals. This biological productivity means that marshes contain 0.1% of global sequestered terrestrial carbon. Moreover, they have an outsized influence on climate resi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Indian Manatee
The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the eastern US to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it feeds on underwater plants and uses its whiskers to navigate. It is divided into two endangered subspecies, the Florida manatee (''T. m. latirostris'') in the US and the Antillean manatee (''T. m. manatus'') in the Caribbean, both of which face pressure from habitat loss, pollution, and other human activity. The West Indian manatee is the largest of the sirenians (order Sirenia), a group of large aquatic mammals that includes the dugong, other manatees, and the extinct Steller's sea cow. Manatees are herbivores, have developed vocal communication abilities, and are covered in highly sensitive whiskers (called vibrissae) that are used for feeding and navigation. In breeding season, several males form mating herds around an individual female; on aver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yellow-shouldered Blackbird
The yellow-shouldered blackbird (''Agelaius xanthomus''), known in Puerto Rican Spanish as ''mariquita de Puerto Rico'' or ''capitán'', is a species of blackbird endemic to Puerto Rico. It has black plumage with a prominent yellow patch on the wing. Adult males and females are of similar appearance. The species is predominantly insectivorous. Taxonomy The nominate form of the yellow-shouldered blackbird (''A. x. xanthomus'') was first described from Puerto Rico and Vieques in 1862 by Philip Sclater as ''Icterus xanthomus''. The recognized subspecies ''A. x. monensis'', or Mona yellow-shouldered blackbird, was described by Barnes in 1945 from the islands of Mona and Monito. The species is closely related to, and possibly derived from, the red-winged blackbird (''Agelaius phoeniceus''). The tawny-shouldered blackbird (''Agelaius humeralis''), a species from Cuba and Hispaniola, is morphologically intermediate between ''A. xanthomus'' and ''A. phoeniceus''. Until recently, some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Indian Whistling Duck
The West Indian whistling duck (''Dendrocygna arborea'') is a whistling duck that breeds in the Caribbean. Alternative names are black-billed whistling duck and Cuban whistling duck. Distribution The West Indian whistling duck is widely scattered throughout the West Indies, including a large breeding population in the Bahamas, and smaller numbers in Cuba, the Cayman Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Puerto Rico. It is largely sedentary, apart from local movements, which can be 100 km or more. Description The West Indian whistling duck is the largest and darkest of the whistling ducks. With a length of and female weighs from and male weights from , this species is about the size of a mallard.Carboneras, C. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). ''West Indian Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna arborea)'', version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-cheeked Pintail
The white-cheeked pintail (''Anas bahamensis''), also known as the Bahama pintail or summer duck, is a species of dabbling duck. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' under its current scientific name. Distribution and habitat It is found in the Caribbean, South America, and the Galápagos Islands. It occurs on waters with some salinity, such as brackish lakes, estuaries and mangrove swamps. There are three subspecies: * ''A. b. bahamensis''—lesser Bahama pintail—in the Caribbean, and a vagrant to southern Florida * ''A. b. rubirostris''—greater Bahama pintail—in South America; it may be partly migratory, breeding in Argentina and wintering further north. * ''A. b. galapagensis''—Galápagos pintail—in the Galápagos Islands Description Like many southern ducks, the sexes are similar. It is mainly brown with white cheeks and a red-based grey bill (young birds lack the pink). It cannot be confused with any ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seagrass Meadow
A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and long green, grass-like leaves. They produce seeds and pollen and have roots and rhizomes which anchor them in seafloor sand. Seagrasses form dense underwater meadows which are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. They provide habitats and food for a diversity of marine life comparable to that of coral reefs. This includes invertebrates like shrimp and crabs, cod and flatfish, marine mammals and birds. They provide refuges for endangered species such as seahorses, turtles, and dugongs. They function as nursery habitats for shrimps, scallops and many commercial fish species. Seagrass meadows provide coastal storm protection by the way their leaves absorb energy from waves as they hit the coast. They keep coastal waters healthy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batis Maritima
''Batis maritima'', the saltwort or beachwort (also known as ''turtleweed'', ''pickleweed'', ''barilla'', ''planta de sal'', ''camphire'', ''herbe-à-crâbes'', and ''akulikuli-kai''), is a halophyte. It is a C3-plant, long-lived perennial, dioecious, succulent shrub. The plant forms dense colonies in salt marshes, brackish marshes, and mangrove swamps and frequently is found on the margins of saltpans and wind-tidal flats. Batis maritima is a pioneer plant, covers quickly areas where hurricanes have destroyed the natural vegetation. So far, ''Batis maritima'' has not been used commercially for food production but the seeds have a high oil content with high nutritional value.Massimo F. Marcone, 2003. "Batis maritima (Saltwort/Beachwort): a nutritious, halophytic, seed bearings, perennial shrub for cultivation and recovery of otherwise unproductive agricultural land affected by salinity" ''Food Research International'' 36:123-130 Morphology Plants are dioecious, perennial sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conocarpus Erectus
''Conocarpus erectus'', commonly called buttonwood or button mangrove, is a mangrove shrub in the family Combretaceae. This species grows on shorelines in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Range Locations it is known from include Florida, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil on the Atlantic Coast and Mexico to Ecuador on the Pacific Coast, western Africa and in Melanesia and Polynesia. It was introduced in Kuwait because it can thrive in high temperatures and absorbs brackish water. Description ''Conocarpus erectus'' is usually a dense multiple-trunked shrub, tall, but can grow into a tree up to or more tall, with a trunk up to in diameter. The United States National Champion green buttonwood is tall, has a spread of , and a circumference of . The bark is thick and has broad plates of thin scales which are gray to brown. The twigs are brittle, and angled or narrowly winged in cross-section. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laguncularia Racemosa
''Laguncularia racemosa'', the white mangrove, is a species of flowering plant in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae. It is native to the coasts of western Africa from Senegal to Cameroon, the Atlantic Coast of the Americas from Bermuda and Florida to the Bahamas, Mexico, the Caribbean, and south to Brazil; and on the Pacific Coast of the Americas from Mexico to northwestern Peru, including the Galápagos Islands. It is a mangrove tree, growing to tall. The bark is gray-brown or reddish, and rough and fissured. Pneumatophores and/or prop roots may be present, depending on environmental conditions. The leaves are opposite, elliptical, long, and broad, rounded at both ends, entire, smooth, leathery in texture, slightly fleshy, without visible veins, and yellow-green in color. The petiole is stout, reddish, and long, with two small glands near the blade that exude sugars. The white, bell-shaped flowers are mostly bisexual and about long. The fruit is a reddish-brown dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avicennia Germinans
''Avicennia germinans'', the black mangrove, is a shrub or small tree growing up to 12 meters (39 feet) in the acanthus family, Acanthaceae. It grows in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, on both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, and on the Atlantic Coast of tropical Africa, where it thrives on the sandy and muddy shores where seawater reaches. It is common throughout coastal areas of Texas and Florida, and ranges as far north as southern Louisiana and coastal Georgia in the United States. Like many other mangrove species, it reproduces by vivipary. Seeds are encased in a fruit, which reveals the germinated seedling when it falls into the water. Unlike other mangrove species, it does not grow on prop roots, but possesses pneumatophores that allow its roots to breathe even when submerged. It is a hardy species and expels absorbed salt mainly from its leathery leaves. The name "black mangrove" refers to the color of the trunk and heartwood. The leaves often appear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhizophora Mangle
''Rhizophora mangle'', the red mangrove, is distributed in Estuary, estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics. Its Vivipary, viviparous "seeds", in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree. These are dispersed by water until eventually embedding in the shallows. ''Rhizophora mangle'' grows on Aerial root#Aerial roots as supports, aerial prop roots, which arch above the water level, giving stands of this tree the characteristic "mangrove" appearance. It is a valuable plant in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas coastal ecosystems. In its native habitat it is threatened by invasive species such as the Brazilian pepper tree ''(Schinus terebinthifolius)''. The red mangrove itself is considered an invasive species in some locations, such as Hawaii, where it forms dense, monoculture, monospecific thickets. ''R. mangle'' thickets, however, provide nesting and hunting habitat for a diverse array of organisms, including fish, birds, and cro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
