The Hispaniolan dry forests are a tropical dry broadleaf 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 ...

on the 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 ...

(split between 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 with ...

and

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 s ...

). They cover , around 20% of the island's area.

Geography

The dry forests are found mostly on the southern and western portions of the island of Hispaniola, covering portions of both the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The ecoregion covers the southern and western coastal lowlands, the Cul-de-Sac–Enriquillo lowland, and the

Cibao Valley The Cibao, usually referred as "El Cibao", is a region of the Dominican Republic located at the northern part of the country. As of 2009 the Cibao has a population of 5,622,378 making it the most populous region in the country. The region constitu ...

in the north-central portion of the island.

Flora

Plant communities include high dry forest and cactus scrub dominated by species of ''

Prosopis ''Prosopis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in ari ...

Pilosocereus ''Pilosocereus'' (from Latin, "hairy cereus") is a genus of cactus native to the Neotropics. Tree cactus is a common name for ''Pilosocereus'' species. The commonly cultivated '' Pilosocereus pachycladus'' ( syn. ''Pilosocereus azureus'') is a b ...

Hippomane ''Hippomane'' is a genus of plants in the Euphorbiaceae described by Linnaeus in 1753. It is native to the West Indies, Central America, Mexico, Florida, Venezuela, Colombia, and Galápagos. Derivation of name The name of the genus references t ...

Cylindropuntia ''Cylindropuntia'' is a genus of cacti (family Cactaceae), containing species commonly known as chollas, native to northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States. They are known for their barbed spines that tenaciously attach to skin, fur, a ...

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

'', and ''

Bursera ''Bursera'' is a genus with about 100 described species of flowering shrubs and trees varying in size up to high. It is the type genus for Burseraceae. The trees are native (often for many species endemic) to the Americas, from the southern Uni ...

'', as well as ''

Melocactus lemairei ''Melocactus lemairei'' is a species of cactus endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti). It is named after French botanist and cactus expert Charles Antoine Lemaire.Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Ne ...

''.Cano-Ortiz, Ana & Musarella, Carmelo & Piñar Fuentes, José Carlos & Gomes, Carlos & Cano, Eusébio. (2015). Forests and Landscapes of Dominican Republic. Jordan Journal of Applied Science.

Fauna

Given the climate, reptiles are numerous in this region. Species found include

Ricord's iguana ''Cyclura ricordii'', also known as Ricord's ground iguana or Ricord's rock iguana, is an endangered species of medium-sized rock iguana, a large herbivorous lizard. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola (in both Haiti and the Dominican Repu ...

s (''Cyclura ricordii''), rhinoceros iguanas (''C. cornuta''), Hispaniola racers (''Haitiophis anomalus''), and Barreras fanged snakes (''Ialtris agyrtes''). A 2017 study found that

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

giant tortoises (''

Chelonoidis ''Chelonoidis'' is a genus of turtles in the tortoise family erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1835. They are found in South America and the Galápagos Islands, and formerly had a wide distribution in the West Indies. The multiple subspecies of t ...

marcanoi'') found on Hispaniola were specialists adapted to dry, open habitats and had a major role in shaping this ecoregion; following a decrease in the extent of these ecosystems after the end of the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), 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 fina ...

, these tortoises were restricted to refugia habitats up until their extinction.

Protected areas

2,859 km, or 19%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include Anacaona National Park, Canapé-Vert National Park, Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó National Park,

Grand Bois National Park Grand Bois National Park (French: Parc National Naturel de Grand Bois, Haitian Creole: Gran Bwa Pak Nasyonal) is a national park in Haiti. It was established on September 23, 2015, by Haitian president, Michel Martelly.Le Moniteur, Journal Of ...

, Jaragua National Park (1535.5 km), La Gran Sabana National Park, Lagon des Huîtres National Park, Les Matheux National Park, Máximo Gómez National Park, Picky Lora National Park,

Sierra de Bahoruco National Park The Sierra de Bahoruco National Park is an environmentally protected national park located in the South-western region of Dominican Republic. It was created in 1983 by Presidential Decree (No. 1315/83) during the presidency of Salvador Jorge Blanc ...

(1091.8 km), Sierra Martín García National Park, Three Bays National Park, Arroyo Cano Forest Reserve (23.9 km), Barrero Forest Reserve (192.2 km), Cabeza de Toro Forest Reserve (5.9 km), Cerro de Bocanigua Forest Reserve (29.2 km), Carretera Cabral - Polo panoramic road (12 km), and Carretera Santiago - La Cumbre - Puerto Plata panoramic road (21 km).

References

External links

* {{WWF ecoregion , id=nt0215, name=Hispaniolan dry forests
Hispaniolan dry forests (DOPA)

Hispaniolan dry forests (Encyclopedia of Earth)
Neotropical dry broadleaf forests Ecoregions of the Caribbean Ecoregions of the Dominican Republic Ecoregions of Haiti Geography of Hispaniola