The Cuban wetlands is a

flooded grasslands and savannas Flooded grasslands and savannas is a terrestrial biome of the WWF biogeographical system, consisting of large expanses or complexes of flooded grasslands. These areas support numerous plants and animals adapted to the unique hydrologic regimes ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

on the island of

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 ...

and nearby smaller islands. The ecoregion covers , about 4% of the island's area.

Geography

The Cuban wetlands are found on lowland floodplains on island's northern and southern (Caribbean) shores. Most are fringed with

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

nearer to the sea. The largest wetland in Cuba is the

Zapata Swamp The Zapata Swamp ( es, Ciénaga de Zapata, ) is located on the Zapata Peninsula in the southern Matanzas Province of Cuba, in the municipality of Ciénaga de Zapata. It is located less than southeast of Havana. Species and preservation Within th ...

, located in southern

Matanzas Province Matanzas () is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns in the province include Cárdenas, Colón, Jovellanos and the capital of the same name, Matanzas. The resort town of Varadero is also located in this province. Among Cuban provinces, ...

, and extending west along the

Gulf of Batabanó The Gulf of Batabanó ( es, Golfo de Batabanó; ),In isolation, ''de'' and ''Batabanó'' are pronounced and , respectively. also called the Batabanó Gulf, is an inlet or strait off southwestern Cuba in the Caribbean Sea, separating mainland Cub ...

into southern

Havana Province La Habana Province , formerly known as Ciudad de La Habana Province, is a province of Cuba that includes the territory of the city of Havana, the Republic's capital. Between 1878 and 2010, the name referred to another province that covered a m ...

. Zapata Swamp has an area of 450 km. It lies between 22º01’ and 22º40’ N latitude and 80º33’ and 82º09’ W longitude in southern Matanzas province. The swamp extends 175 km east and west from Punta Gorda to Jagua, with an average width of 14 to 16 km, reaching a maximum width of 58 km from southern Torriente to Cayo Miguel. Other wetlands along Cuba's southern shore include Pesquero Lake and Alcatraz Grande Lagoon in the western province of

Pinar del Río Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 139,336 (2004) in a municipality of 190,332, it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños'' ...

, around the Gulf of Ana María in Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey provinces, and Birama Inlet and Leonero Lagoon along the

Gulf of Guacanayabo The Gulf of Guacanayabo () is a bay along the southern coast of Cuba, bordered by Granma and Las Tunas provinces. Overview The largest port on the bay is Manzanillo, and the gulf is bordered to the north-west by the Jardines de la Reina arch ...

. On the northern shore, the larger wetlands are around the

Bay of Santa Clara The Bay of Santa Clara is a bay on 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. C ...

in Matanzas Province, and around

Laguna de Leche Laguna de Leche (Spanish for "Milk Lagoon", also called ''Laguna Grande de Morón'') is the largest natural fresh water lake in Cuba. It is located in the wetland of northern Ciego de Ávila Province, north of Morón, and has a total surface of . ...

in Ciego de Ávila Province. Lanier Swamp is on the

Isle of Youth Isla de la Juventud (; en, Isle of Youth) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Isla ...

, which lies south of the Cuban mainland.

Flora

Plant communities include floating vegetation in areas of deeper water, permanently and seasonally flooded grasslands, and swamp forests.

Fauna

The

Zapata wren The Zapata wren (''Ferminia cerverai'') is a medium-sized grayish-brown bird that lives in dense shrubs of the Zapata Swamp, Cuba. It is the only member of the monotypical genus ''Ferminia'', which is endemic to Cuba and endangered. This specie ...

or ferminia (''Fermina cerverai'') and the

Zapata rail The Zapata rail (''Cyanolimnas cerverai'') is a medium-sized, dark-coloured rail, the only member of the monotypic genus ''Cyanolimnas''. It has brown upperparts, greyish-blue underparts, a red-based yellow bill, white undertail coverts, and re ...

(''Cyanolimnas cerverai'') are

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 elsew ...

to the Zapata Swamp. The

Zapata sparrow The Zapata sparrow (''Torreornis inexpectata'') is a medium-sized grey and yellow bird that lives in the grasslands of the Zapata Swamp and elsewhere on the island of Cuba. Measuring about in length, it is grey and yellow overall with a dark red ...

(''Torreornis inexpectata'') lives in the Zapata Swamp and adjacent forests and cactus scrub.

Protected areas

3,306 km, or 59%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas, including Ciénaga de Zapata Biosphere Reserve.

References

External links

* {{WWF ecoregion , id=nt0902, name=Cuban wetlands
Cuban wetlands (DOPA)

Cuban wetlands (Encyclopedia of Earth)
Ecoregions of the Caribbean Ecoregions of Cuba Flooded grasslands and savannas Neotropical ecoregions