The Hispaniolan pine forests are a subtropical coniferous forest

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 ...

found on the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

, which is shared by

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. The ecoregion covers , or about 15% of the island. It lies at elevations greater than in the mountains of Hispaniola, extending from the

Cordillera Central Central Cordillera refers to the New Guinea Highlands. Cordillera Central, meaning ''central range'' in Spanish, may refer to the following mountain ranges: * Cordillera Central, Andes (disambiguation), several mountain ranges in South America ** ...

of the Dominican Republic and into the Massif du Nord of Haiti. It is surrounded at lower elevations by the

Hispaniolan moist forests The Hispaniolan moist forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion on the island of Hispaniola. They cover , around 60% of the island's area. Geography Moist forests occur on most of the eastern half the Dominican Republic, stretc ...

and

Hispaniolan dry forests The Hispaniolan dry forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion on the island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti). They cover , around 20% of the island's area. Geography The dry forests are found mostly on ...

ecoregions, which cover the remainder of the island. Annual rainfall is .

Flora

The natural vegetation of the region consists primarily of stands of pino criollo ('' Pinus occidentalis''). Pines are mixed with other conifers, including sabina (''

Juniperus gracilior ''Juniperus gracilior'' is a species of conifer in the cypress family, Cupressaceae. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, where there are localized populations in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Common names Its Spanish-la ...

'') and ''

Podocarpus aristulatus ''Podocarpus aristulatus'' is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree in the conifer family Podocarpaceae. It is found on the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola and Cuba. Description ''Podocarpus aristulatus'' grows to 10–20 m tall. The leaves ...

'' (syn. ''P. buchii''). Below , pine forests are found on

lateritic soils Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

and are interspersed with areas of wet montane forest. Important broad-leaved species are ''

Garrya fadyenii ''Garrya fadyenii'' is a species of flowering shrub known by the common name Fadyen's silktassel. It is native to the West Indies, specifically Jamaica, Hispaniola, and the former Cuban provinces of Oriente and Santa Clara (Las Villas). It gro ...

'' and ''

Vaccinium cubense ''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (wh ...

'' near Constanza and the

Sierra de Bahoruco The Bahoruco Mountain Range—Sierra de Bahoruco (or Sierra de Bahoruco) is a mountain range located in the far southwestern region of the Dominican Republic. It is within Pedernales, Independencia, Barahona, and Bahoruco Provinces. A large part ...

, ''

Rapanea ferruginea ''Rapanea'' is a genus of plant in family Primulaceae. It has often been placed in synonymy with ''Myrsine'', and many species have been moved to ''Myrsine''. , Plants of the World Online does not accept the genus, regarding it as a synonym of ' ...

'' near

Jarabacoa Jarabacoa is a town and the second largest municipality in La Vega Province, Dominican Republic. History The indigenous Taino people originally inhabited the valley of Jarabacoa. It is assumed that the town's name was formed out of the words ...

and

San José de las Matas San José de las Matas, also known as Sajoma, is an important municipality (''municipio'') of the Santiago province in the Dominican Republic. The mayor of Sajoma is Alfredo Reyes. there has been many positive changes in the last four years such ...

, and ''

Buddleja domingensis ''Buddleja domingensis'' is a species endemic to the uplands of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, growing in rocky, limestone ravines, along forest edges and roadsides; it was first described and named by Ignatz Urban in 1908.Urban, I. (1908). '' ...

'' along the Cordillera Central. Plants of montane steppe () include cara de hombre ('' Lyonia'' spp.), abey ('' Cojoba arborea''), yaya fina ('' Oxandra lanceolata''), pajón (''

Danthonia ''Danthonia'' is a genus of Eurasian, North African, and American plants in the grass family. Members of this genus are sometimes referred to as oatgrass, but that common name is not restricted to this genus. Other common names include heathgra ...

domingensis''), ''Verbena officinalis'' var. ''officinalis'', and '' Weinmannia pinnata''.

Fauna

Many endemic and rare animal species occur in this ecoregion, including the

Hispaniolan crossbill The Hispaniolan crossbill (''Loxia megaplaga'') is a crossbill that is endemic to the island of Hispaniola (split between Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and the only representative of the ''Loxia'' genus in the Caribbean. Taxonomy & evol ...

(''Loxia megaplaga''),

white-winged warbler The white-winged warbler (''Xenoligea montana''), also called the white-winged ground-warbler, is a Vulnerable species of bird of the family Phaenicophilidae, the Hispaniolan tanagers. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola which is shared ...

(''Xenoligea montana''),

golden swallow The golden swallow (''Tachycineta euchrysea'') is a swallow endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and was once native to Jamaica, but is now extirpated there. It is restricted to isolated ...

(''Tachycineta euchrysea'') and the Darlington's galliwasp (''Caribicus darlingtoni'').

Threats

More than half of the ecoregion's area has been lost to clearing for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

, or

plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

of exotic trees. The Haitian portion of the ecoregion is much more

deforested Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

than the Dominican portion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hispaniolan Pine Forests Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests Ecoregions of the Caribbean Ecoregions of the Dominican Republic Ecoregions of Haiti Neotropical ecoregions