The flora of Belize is highly diverse by regional standards, given the country's small geographical extent. Situated on the Caribbean coast of northern

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. C ...

the flora and vegetation have been intimately intertwined with Belize's history. The nation itself grew out of British timber extraction activities from the 17th century onwards, at first for

logwood ''Haematoxylum campechianum'' (blackwood, bloodwood tree, bluewood, campeachy tree, campeachy wood, campeche logwood, campeche wood, Jamaica wood, logwood or logwood tree) is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is n ...

(''Haematoxylum campechianum'') and later for

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Univ ...

(''

Swietenia macrophylla ''Swietenia macrophylla'', commonly known as mahogany, Honduran mahogany, Honduras mahogany, or big-leaf mahogany is a species of plant in the Meliaceae family. It is one of three species that yields genuine mahogany timber (Swietenia), the othe ...

''), fondly called "red gold" because of its high cost and was much sought after by European aristocracy. Central America generally is thought to have gained much of it characteristic flora during the "

Great American interchange The Great American Biotic Interchange (commonly abbreviated as GABI), also known as the Great American Interchange and the Great American Faunal Interchange, was an important late Cenozoic paleozoogeographic biotic interchange event in which la ...

" during which time South American elements migrated north after the geological closure of the

isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the countr ...

. Few Amazonian elements penetrate as far north as Belize and in species composition the forests of

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

are most similar to the forests of the Petén (

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

) and the

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate mun ...

(

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 ...

Vegetation types

The vegetation of Belize was first systematically surveyed in the 1930s. Recent mapping projects have employed the following principal terrestrial and coastal categories of native vegetation: * lowland broad-leaved forest. This is a diverse forest type in Belize, now greatly reduced in extent by clearance for agricultural land. It includes such tropical tree species as ''

Simarouba glauca ''Simarouba glauca'' is a flowering tree that is native to Florida, South America, and the Caribbean. Common names include paradise-tree, dysentery-bark, bitterwood . The tree is well suited for warm, humid, tropical regions. Its cultivation dep ...

'', ''

Calophyllum brasiliense ''Calophyllum brasiliense'' (guanandi) is a species of plant in the family ''Calophyllaceae''. It is native to subtropical and tropical regions of Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Description It is an evergreen tree grow ...

'', ''

Terminalia amazonia ''Terminalia amazonia'' is a species of tree in the Combretaceae family. It is native to North America and South America and has been used for commercial logging. The wood is hard and durable. In Belize, ''Terminalia amazonia'' is widely locate ...

'' and ''

Pterocarpus officinalis ''Pterocarpus officinalis'', the dragonsblood tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,Acoelorrhaphe wrightii'', ''

Quercus oleoides ''Quercus oleoides'', with Spanish common names encina or encino, is a Mesoamerican species of oak in the live oak group (''Quercus'' sect. ''Virentes''). It grows in dry forests and pastureland of eastern and southern Mexico and much of Central ...

'' and madre de cacao ''

Gliricidia sepium ''Gliricidia sepium'', often simply referred to as its genus name '' Gliricidia'', is a medium size leguminous tree belonging to the family Fabaceae. Common names include quickstick, ''mata ratón''; ''cacao de nance'', ''cachanance''; ''balo'' ...

''. * lowland pine forest or pine savanna (open forest mainly composed of ''Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis'' with shrubs such as the rough-leaved "sandpaper tree" (Curatella americana). * submontane pine forest (with ''

Pinus ayacahuite ''Pinus ayacahuite'', also called ayacahuite pine and Mexican white pine, (family Pinaceae) is a species of pine native to the mountains of southern Mexico and western Central America, in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains and the eastern end of ...

'', ''

Pinus oocarpa ''Pinus oocarpa'' is a species of pine tree native to Mexico and Central America. It is the national tree of Honduras, where it is known as ocote. Common names include ocote chino, pino amarillo, pino avellano, Mexican yellow pine, egg-cone pine ...

'' and '' Pinus rudis'' together with some broadleaved species) * submontane broadleaved forest. Characteristic vegetation of the Maya Mountain massif above 500m. Typical species include '' Podocarpus guatemalensis'', ''

'', ''

Virola brachycarpa ''Virola'' is a genus of medium-sized trees native to the South American rainforest and closely related to other Myristicaceae, such as nutmeg. Species are known commonly as ''epená'', ''patricá'', or ''cumala''. They have glossy, dark green l ...

'', and the palm '' Astrocaryum mexicanum''. * mangrove and littoral forest. Ecologically important vegetation type of the coastal cayes. Several species of mangrove are involved including: red mangrove (''

Rhizophora mangle ''Rhizophora mangle'', the red mangrove, is distributed in estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics. Its viviparous "seeds", in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree. These are dispersed b ...

''), black mangrove (''

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 white mangrove (''

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 an ...

''). In addition the buttonwood (''

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 inclu ...

'') although not a true mangrove is often associated with mangroves in littoral forest. Also see the section on

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 ...

below. * seagrass beds. Sandy bays often have extensive mats of

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families ( Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the ...

. There are several different types in Belize:

turtle grass ''Thalassia testudinum'', commonly known as turtlegrass, is a species of marine seagrass. It forms meadows in shallow sandy or muddy locations in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Turtle grass and other seagrasses form meadows which are ...

(''

Thalassia testudinum ''Thalassia testudinum'', commonly known as turtlegrass, is a species of marine seagrass. It forms meadows in shallow sandy or muddy locations in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Turtle grass and other seagrasses form meadows which are ...

'' in the

Hydrocharitaceae Hydrocharitaceae is a flowering plant family including 16 known genera with a total of ca 135 known species (Christenhusz & Byng 2016), that including a number of species of aquatic plant, for instance the tape-grasses, the well known Canadian ...

), manatee seagrass ('' Syringodium filiforme'' in the

Cymodoceaceae Cymodoceaceae is a family of flowering plants, sometimes known as the "manatee-grass family", which includes only marine species. The 2016 APG IV does recognize Cymodoceaceae and places it in the order Alismatales, in the clade monocots. The fam ...

), duckweed seagrasses (''

Halodule ''Halodule'' is a genus of plants in the family Cymodoceaceae described as a genus in 1841. It is widespread on tropical and semi-tropical ocean shores of all continents except Europe and Antarctica. Species Hybridization has been reported in ...

'' spp in the

). * riparian shrubland. This is a mixed vegetation type, of shrubs and small trees with grasses and sedges, found along watercourses. Typical species include '' Schizolobium'' and ''

Ceiba pentandra ''Ceiba pentandra'' is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae (previously emplaced in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and (as the variety ''C. pentand ...

''. Loss of this habitat was one of the particular environmental concerns of building the

Chalillo Dam The Chalillo Dam is a gravity dam on the Macal River about south of San Ignacio in Cayo District, Belize. Chalillo Dam's maximum capacity is 7.0MW. The dam was constructed by Sinohydro of Beijing, China between 2002 and 2005 with the primary purp ...

on the Macal river.

Plant conservation and forest reserves

Although

deforestation 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 ...

continues to be a threat to Belize's natural environmentCherrington, E.A., Ek, E., Cho, P., Howell, B.F., Hernandez, B.E., Anderson, E.R., Flores, A.I., Garcia, B.C., Sempris, E., and D.E. Irwin. (2010) “

Forest cover Forest cover is the amount of forest that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/square miles). Around a third of the world's surface is covered with forest, with closed-canop ...

and Deforestation in Belize: 1980-2010.” Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean. Panama City, Panama. 42 pp. - and to the natural environment of almost all countries in Latin America - much of the native forest remains, facilitating a burgeoning

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...

sector. National Parks System Act of 1981 declared numerous protected areas, and the Belizean Government has been working with a prominent non-governmental organization (NGO), the Belize Audubon Society (BAS) to promote nature conservation within the country. Founded in 1969, the BAS assists the Forest Department of the Government of Belize to manage several important forest areas including: * Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary - established in 1990 as a result of the studies of the biology of the

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

Alan Rabinowitz Alan Robert Rabinowitz (December 31, 1953 – August 5, 2018) was an American zoologist who served as the president, CEO, and chief scientist at Panthera Corporation, a nonprofit conservation organization devoted to protecting the world's 40 w ...

. Although initially established for jaguar conservation it is very important for plant conservation. * Guanacaste National park - approximately fifty acres of tropical forest reserve in the Cayo District of Belize. The signature tree of the reserve is the Guanacaste (''

Enterolobium cyclocarpum ''Enterolobium cyclocarpum'', commonly known as guanacaste, caro caro, monkey-ear tree, or elephant-ear tree, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to tropical regions of the Americas, from central Mexico ...

'') of which several giant specimens may be found. * Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve - a forest reserve of , in the

Maya Mountains The Maya Mountains are a mountain range located in Belize and eastern Guatemala, in Central America. Etymology The Maya Mountains were known as the ''Cockscomb'' or ''Coxcomb Mountains'' to Baymen and later Belizeans at least until the mid-2 ...

with rugged (

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ...

) relief and relatively undisturbed subtropical moist forest. In addition to the above there are numerous other important forest reserves such as: * Chiquibul Forest Reserve (CFR) There are numerous conservation challenges in Belize. One is the extensive recent illegal cutting of the

understorey In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but a ...

palm's

xate Xate (pronounce: shatay are the leaves from three Chamaedorea species of palm tree ( Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti, Chamaedorea elegans, and Chamaedorea oblongata). The fronds are popular in floristry for flower arrangements, Palm Sunday services ...

(''

Chamaedorea ''Chamaedorea'' is a genus of 107 species of palms, native to subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas.Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, palms checklist''Chamaedorea''/ref>Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan ...

'' spp.). This has a severe effect on the health and reproduction of these characteristic understorey components.

Forests and Deforestation

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Earth ...

study conducted by th
Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC)
an
NASA
in collaboration with the Forest Department and the Land Information Centre (LIC) of the Government of Belize's Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE), and published in August 2010 revealed that Belize's forest cover in early 2010 was approximately 62.7%, down from 75.9% in late 1980. A similar study b

and Conservation International revealed similar trends in terms of Belize's forest cover. Both studies indicate that each year, 0.6% of Belize's forest cover is lost, translating to the clearing of an average of 24,835 acres (9,982 hectares) each year. The USAID-supporte
SERVIR
study by CATHALAC, NASA, and the MNRE also showed that Belize's protected areas have been extremely effective in protecting the country's forests. While some 6.4% of forests inside of legally declared protected areas were cleared between 1980 and 2010, over a quarter of forests outside of protected areas had been lost between 1980 and 2010. As a country with a relatively high forest cover and a low deforestation rate, Belize has significant potential for participation in initiatives such as

REDD Redd is a Turkish rock band established in 1996 by tenor opera singer Doğan Duru and guitarist Berke Hatipoğlu under the name ''Ten''. They used to play at bars until they set up their own studio in 2004. Their first album, titled ''"50/50" ...

. Belize had a 2018

Forest Landscape Integrity Index The Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII) is an annual global index of forest condition measured by degree of anthropogenic modification. Created by a team of 48 scientists, the FLII, in its measurement of 300m pixels of forest across the globe ...

mean score of 6.15/10, ranking it 85th globally out of 172 countries.

Mangroves

While many consider

mangrove 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 sever ...

to be one of Belize's various

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

classes, it is important to point out that in Belize, mangroves assume the form of not only

(dominated by closed formations of mangroves of over 3m tall) but also scrub (dominated by formations of dwarf mangroves below 3m in height), and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

(areas with scattered mangroves). Because of their importance for shoreline protection and maintenance of fisheries stocks, Belize's mangroves are legally protected under the
Forests Act
' of the
Laws of Belize
'. A recent study by th
World Resources Institute (WRI)
indicates that Belize's mangrove ecosystems contribute US $174–249 million ''per year'' to the national economy. The clearing of mangroves for development of coastal infrastructure has been recognized as a threat to Belize's mangroves and led to public perception that destruction of mangrove ecosystems was rampant, such as an investigative study in 2008 which indicated unauthorized clearings within the South Water Caye Marine Reserve, and which eventually led to the Belize Barrier Reef System's designation by

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 ...

as an endangered

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 ...

. With uncertainty regarding actual rates of clearing of Belize's mangrove ecosystems, a recent study funded by th
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
has clarified the situation, making use of

Landsat The Landsat program is the longest-running enterprise for acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. It is a joint NASA / USGS program. On 23 July 1972, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite was launched. This was eventually renamed to La ...

satellite imagery Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell im ...

to comprehensively examine Belize's mangrove cover. That study, which spanned the thirty years from 1980–2010 and was based on the earlier work of mangrove researcher Simon Zisman, was conducted by th
Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC)
and found that in 2010, mangroves covered some 184,548 acres (74,684 hectares) or 3.4% of Belize's territory. By contrast, it is estimated that in 1980 mangrove cover stood at 188,417 acres (76,250 hectares) - also 3.4% of Belize's territory. Based on Zisman, it is also estimated that Belize's mangrove cover in 1980 represented 98.7% of the pre-colonial extent of those ecosystems. Belize's mangrove cover in 2010 was thus estimated to represent 96.7% of the pre-colonial cover. Where the 2010 update of th
World Mangrove Atlas
also indicated that a fifth of the world's mangrove ecosystems have been lost since 1980, the case of Belize's mangroves thus stands in stark contrast to the global picture. Belize's relative mangrove cover declined by 2% from 1980–2010, and in that period, under 4,000 acres of mangroves had been cleared, although clearing of mangroves near Belize's main coastal settlements (e.g.

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, wh ...

and San Pedro) was relatively high. The rate of loss of Belize's mangroves - at 0.07% per year between 1980 and 2010 - was much lower than Belize's overall rate of forest clearing (0.6% per year between 1980 and 2010).

Trees

As well as logwood (''

Haematoxylon campechianum ''Haematoxylum campechianum'' (blackwood, bloodwood tree, bluewood, campeachy tree, campeachy wood, campeche logwood, campeche wood, Jamaica wood, logwood or logwood tree) is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is ...

'') and mahogany (''

'') two other important Belizean timber trees of note are the Santa Maria ('' Calophyllum antillanum'') and cedar (''

Cedrela mexicana ''Cedrela odorata'' is a commercially important species of tree in the chinaberry family, Meliaceae, commonly known as Spanish cedar or Cuban cedar; it is also known as cedro in Spanish. Classification The genus ''Cedrela'' has undergone two ...

''). Other economically important trees include cotton tree or kapok (

), and cacao ( Theobroma cacao).

Chicle Chicle () is a natural gum traditionally used in making chewing gum and other products. It is collected from several species of Mesoamerican trees in the genus ''Manilkara'', including '' M. zapota'', '' M. chicle'', '' M. staminodella'', and '' ...

(''Manilkara chicle'') is the original chewing gum (made from its gummy sap).

Orchids

Belize has a rich array (some 300 species) of native orchids including ''Encyclia cochleata var. cochleata'', the so-called "black orchid". This is the national flower of Belize.

Palms

Belizean vegetation is characterized by numerous species of palms including the palmettos of the savanna, silver palmetto ('' Schippia concolor''), palmetto ('' Acoelorrhaphe wrightii'') and the common coconut palm ( ''Cocos nucifera'') found in coastal areas. Other important palms include the cohune palms, cohune (''

Attalea cohune ''Attalea cohune'', commonly known as the cohune palm (also rain tree, American oil palm, corozo palm or manaca palm), is a species of palm tree native to Mexico and parts of Central America. The cohune palm is used in the production of cohune ...

'') and warree cohune ('' Astrocaryum mexicanum''), as well as the give and take palm ('' Chrysophila argentea''),

palms (''

Chamaedorea elegans ''Chamaedorea elegans'', the neanthe bella palm or parlour palm, is a species of small palm tree native to the rainforests in Southern Mexico and Guatemala. The parlor palm is one of the most heavily sold houseplant palms in the world. It is on ...

'' and '' Chamaedorea oblongata''), pokenoboy ('' Bactris major''), basket tie-tie ('' Desmoncus schippii'') and

royal palm ''Roystonea regia'', commonly known as the Cuban royal palm or Florida royal palm, is a species of palm that is native to Mexico, parts of Central America and the Caribbean, and southern Florida. A large and attractive palm, it has been planted ...

(''

Roystonea oleracea ''Roystonea oleracea'', sometimes known as the Caribbean royal palm, palmiste, imperial palm or cabbage palm, is a species of palm which is native to the Lesser Antilles, Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago. It is also reportedly natural ...

'').

References

External links

''Belize Wildlife Conservation Network''''Biodiversity & Environmental Resource Data System of Belize (BERDS)''''Ethnobotany and floristics of Belize''''Regional Visualization & Monitoring System (SERVIR)''
{{North America in topic, Flora of Environment of Belize

Vegetation types

Plant conservation and forest reserves

Forests and Deforestation

Mangroves

Trees

Orchids

Palms

See also

References

Further reading

External links