Alejandro de Humboldt National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Alejandro de Humboldt) is a national park in the

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 Caribbea ...

n provinces of

Holguín Holguín () is a municipality and city in Cuba, and the capital of Province of Holguín. After Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Camagüey, it is the fourth largest city in Cuba. History Before Columbus, the Taino people settled in huts made fro ...

and

Guantánamo Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast Cuba and capital of Guantánamo Province. Guantánamo is served by the Caimanera port near the site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces sugarcane and cotton wool. These are traditi ...

. It is named after the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

scientist

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...

who visited the island in 1800 and 1801. The park was inscribed as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 2001 for of its size, altitude range, complex lithology, landform diversity, and wealth of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

Geography

The rivers that flow off the peaks of the park are some of the largest in the insular Caribbean. The park is said to be the most humid place in Cuba and this causes a high biological diversity. The park has an area of , of which land area and marine area. Elevation ranges from sea level to on ''El Toldo'' Peak. The region around Alejandro de Humboldt National Park is geologically complex, containing karst landscapes that originated from oceanic crust in the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

period. Unique to this region, the landscape is ultrabasic, dominated by

serpentine soils Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

and peridotites.

Wildlife

The area comprising the national park was a

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

refugium, retaining a relatively stable climate through the repeated

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...

events. This has allowed for remarkably high rates of

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

and biodiversity in the park. In addition, the ultra-basic rocks are relatively toxic to plants, driving rapid speciation. 16 of Cuba's 28 endemic plant species are protected in the park including such flora as '' Dracaena cubensis'' and ''

Podocarpus ''Podocarpus'' () is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, the Podocarpaceae. The name comes from Greek πούς (poús, “foot”) + καρπός (karpós, “fruit”). ''Podocarpus'' species ...

ekman''. Fauna present in the park includes various species of

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...

s, lizards, hummingbirds, the endangered

Cuban solenodon The Cuban solenodon or ''almiquí'' (''Atopogale cubana'') is a small, furry, shrew-like mammal endemic to mountainous forests on Cuba. It is the only species in the genus ''Atopogale''. An elusive animal, it lives in burrows and is only active ...

(endemic),

hutia Hutias (known in Spanish as jutía) are moderately large cavy-like rodents of the subfamily Capromyinae that inhabit the Caribbean islands, with most species restricted to Cuba and Hispaniola. Twenty species of hutia have been identified, but at ...

and snails. Over 900 total plant species have been recorded at the park, along with 45 species of reptiles, 21 amphibian species, and 10 mammal species.

Important Bird Area

The park has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports populations of

northern bobwhite The northern bobwhite (''Colinus virginianus''), also known as the Virginia quail or (in its home range) bobwhite quail, is a ground-dwelling bird native to Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Cuba, with introduced populations elsewhere in th ...

s, white crowned and plain pigeons, grey-fronted and blue-headed quail-doves,

Antillean nighthawk The Antillean nighthawk (''Chordeiles gundlachii'') is a nightjar native to the Caribbean and Florida Keys. Its specific epithet, ''gundlachii'', is in honor of Cuban naturalist Juan Gundlach. Description The adults are dark with brown, grey an ...

Cuban nightjar The Cuban nightjar (''Antrostomus cubanensis''), is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to Cuba. Taxonomy and systematics The Cuban nightjar was originally described as ''Antrostomus cubanensis''; the genus was l ...

s, Antillean palm-swifts,

Cuban emerald The Cuban emerald (''Riccordia ricordii'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in the Bahamas and Cuba. Taxonomy and systematics The Cuban emerald was formerly placed in the ge ...

bee hummingbird The bee hummingbird, zunzuncito or Helena hummingbird (''Mellisuga helenae'') is a species of hummingbird, native to the island of Cuba in the Caribbean. It is the world's smallest bird. Description The bee hummingbird is the smallest living ...

great lizard cuckoo The great lizard cuckoo (''Coccyzus merlini'') is a species of bird in the tribe Phaenicophaeini, subfamily Cuculinae of the cuckoo family Cuculidae. It is found in the Bahamas and Cuba, as well as Puerto Rico. Taxonomy and systematics The g ...

s, Cuban pygmy owls,

bare-legged owl The bare-legged owl (''Margarobyas lawrencii''), also called the Cuban bare-legged owl or Cuban screech owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae that is endemic to Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Margarob ...

s, Cuban kites,

Gundlach's hawk Gundlach's hawk (''Accipiter gundlachi'') is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is one of 21 Endemism, endemic bird species of Cuba. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate the German-Cuban ornithologist Juan Gundlac ...

Cuban trogon The Cuban trogon or tocororo (''Priotelus temnurus'') is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae. It is endemic to Cuba, where it is also the national bird. Taxonomy and systematics The Cuban trogon shares its genus with the Hispaniolan ...

s and

todies The todies are a family, Todidae, of tiny Caribbean birds in the order Coraciiformes, which also includes the kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers. The family has one living genus, '' Todus'', and one genus known from the fossil record, '' Palaeot ...

, ivory-billed, Cuban green and West Indian woodpeckers, Cuban amazons and

parakeet A parakeet is any one of many small to medium-sized species of parrot, in multiple genera, that generally has long tail feathers. Etymology and naming The name ''parakeet'' is derived from the French wor''perroquet'' which is reflected in ...

s, loggerhead and giant kingbirds,

La Sagra's flycatcher La Sagra's flycatcher (''Myiarchus sagrae'') is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds on Cuba, the Bahamas and Grand Cayman in the West Indies. It is normally a year-round resident, but has been known as an occasional vagra ...

Cuban pewee The Cuban pewee or crescent-eyed pewee (''Contopus caribaeus'') is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in Cuba and the northern Bahamas. It was formerly lumped with the Hispaniolan pewee (''C. hispaniolensis'') and Jamaican ...

vireo The vireos make up a family, Vireonidae, of small to medium-sized passerine birds found in the New World (Canada to Argentina, including Bermuda and the West Indies) and Southeast Asia. "Vireo" is a Latin word referring to a green migrato ...

crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

gnatcatcher The Gnatcatchers are a family of small passerine birds called Polioptilidae. The 21 species occur in North and South America (except for the far south and the high Andean regions). Most species of this mainly tropical and subtropical group are re ...

s and solitaires, Oriente warblers, Cuban orioles, tawny-shouldered and

Cuban blackbird The Cuban blackbird (''Ptiloxena atroviolaceus'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It was previously placed in Dives_(bird), ''Dives'', but now classified in its own genus, the ''Ptiloxena''. Measuring long, this species has entire ...

Greater Antillean grackle The Greater Antillean grackle (''Quiscalus niger'') is a grackle found throughout the Greater Antilles as well as smaller, nearby islands. Like all ''Quiscalus'' grackles, it is a rather large, gregarious bird. It lives largely in heavily settl ...

s, western spindalises, and Cuban bullfinches and grassquits.

History

The Alexander von Humboldt National Park has historically been an area of land little used by man, with only one archaeological site from the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

period being known; this is located in the coastal zone of Aguas Verdes. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries some peripheral places were used as refuges or camps by

maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos. ...

. The park began to be laid out in the 1960s, with the declaration of the Jaguani and Cupeyal del Norte nature reserves. This continued into the 1980s with the proposal of the Ojito del Agua Refuge, associated with the last sighting of the royal woodpecker, a last remnant of this species which was already extinct in its other habitats in the United States and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. In 1996 these protected areas were united to form a national park that was named after

. Being one of the most important biosphere reserves in the Caribbean basin, the national park, along with Cuchillas del Toa was declared a

World Natural Heritage Site in 2001. There are unique flora and fauna elements in this unique ecosystem, with some of the highest indexes of endemicity in the archipelago.

References

External links