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 ...

found on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which is shared by Haiti 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 with ...

. 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 of the Dominican Republic and into the

Massif du Nord The Massif du Nord is the longest mountain range of Haiti. Geography The mountain range is located in the northern region of Haiti, in the departments of the and in . The range's altitude varies from . The Plaine-du-Nord lies along the norther ...

of Haiti. It is surrounded at lower elevations by the Hispaniolan moist forests 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 ''Pinus occidentalis'', also known as the Hispaniolan pine or Hispaniola pine, (or in Spanish: pino criollo ) is a pine tree endemic to the island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti). Ecology It is the eponymous ...

''). Pines are mixed with other conifers, including sabina ('' Juniperus gracilior'') and '' Podocarpus aristulatus'' (syn. ''P. buchii''). Below , pine forests are found on lateritic soils and are interspersed with areas of wet montane forest. Important broad-leaved species are '' Garrya fadyenii'' and '' Vaccinium cubense'' near Constanza and the Sierra de Bahoruco, '' Rapanea ferruginea'' 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, and '' Buddleja domingensis'' along the Cordillera Central. Plants of montane steppe () include cara de hombre ('' Lyonia'' spp.), abey (''

Cojoba arborea ''Cojoba arborea'' (common names include algarrobo, ardillo, lorito, barba de jolote, iguano, quebracho, sang sang, tamarindo, tambrán, tuburús, and bahamas sibicú) is a leguminous tree of the family Fabaceae found in the Caribbean, Mexico, a ...

''), yaya fina (''

Oxandra ''Oxandra'' is a genus of flowering plants in the soursop family, Annonaceae. Selected species * ''Oxandra lanceolata'' (Sw.) Baill. * ''Oxandra laurifolia'' (Sw.) A.Rich. * ''Oxandra leucodermis'' (Spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus '' ...

lanceolata''), pajón ('' Danthonia domingensis''), ''Verbena officinalis'' var. ''officinalis'', and ''

Weinmannia ''Weinmannia'' is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Cunoniaceae. It is the largest genus of the family with about 150 species. It is also the most widespread genus, occurring in Central and South America including the Caribbean, Madagas ...

pinnata''.

Fauna

Many endemic and rare animal species occur in this ecoregion, including the Hispaniolan crossbill (''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 (''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 t ...

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 sw ...

, 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. Th ...

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