The Jamaican moist forests is a

tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discon ...

ecoregion in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispanio ...

Geography

Jamaica is the third-largest island in the Caribbean, lying south of Cuba and west 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 ...

. The Jamaican moist forests ecoregion covers an area of 8,192 km, and covers 85% of the island of Jamaica. It includes the Blue Mountains and

John Crow Mountains The John Crow Mountains are a range of mountains in Jamaica. They extend parallel with the northeast coast of the island, bounded to the west by the banks of the Rio Grande, and joining with the eastern end of the Blue Mountains in the southeast. ...

in eastern Jamaica, and

Cockpit Country Cockpit Country is an area in Trelawny and Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Ann, Manchester and the northern tip of Clarendon parishes in Jamaica. The land is marked by steep-sided hollows, as much as deep in places, which are separated ...

further to the west. The highest peak on Jamaica is

Blue Mountain Peak Blue Mountain Peak is the highest mountain in Jamaica and one of the highest peaks in the Caribbean at . It is the home of Blue Mountain coffee. It is located on the border of the Portland and Saint Thomas parishes of Jamaica. The Blue Mountain ...

at 2,256 meters elevation. Two-thirds of the island's land surface has a limestone substrate. The rest of the island is composed of igneous rocks, sedimentary shale, and alluvium. The John Crow Mountains are mostly limestone. In Blue Mountains the limestone has mostly eroded away, exposing shale, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. The island's central region, which covers most of the island, is covered in limestone. In the central Cockpit Country the limestone has eroded into a 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 ...

landscape with sinkholes, hollows, and caves and caverns. The separate

Jamaican dry forests The Jamaican dry forests is a tropical dry forest ecoregion located in southern Jamaica. Geography The ecoregion covers three discontinuous areas of Jamaica. The largest area extends along the south coast of the island, from Morant Point, Jamai ...

ecoregion covers the southern and northwestern coastal areas.

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is tropical, and ranges from subhumid to humid. Average annual rainfall varies from less than 750 mm to more than 7,000 mm. Rainfall generally increases with elevation. The island frequently experiences

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s between June and November.

Flora

The forests of Jamaica vary with substrate, elevation, and rainfall. They are grouped into three broad groups – limestone forests, shale forests, and alluvial and wetland forests on the coastal plains. The forests are species-rich and diverse, containing over 1500 vascular plant species, of which about 400 are endemic to Jamaica. Centers of endemism include the Blue and John Crow Mountains, which have about 87 locally-endemic species, and

, with about 100 species of endemic flowering plants and one endemic fern. Black River Lower Morass, located in the lower reaches of the Black River on the southwestern shore of the island, is Jamaica's largest wetland, and includes areas of open wetland, freshwater swamp forest, peatland, and coastal mangrove.

Fauna

The ecoregion has 207 native species of birds.Hoekstra JM, Molnar JL, Jennings M, Revenga C, Spalding MD, Boucher TM, Robertson JC, Heibel TJ, Ellison K (2010) The Atlas of Global Conservation: Changes, Challenges, and Opportunities to Make a Difference (ed. Molnar JL). Berkeley: University of California Press. 28 species are endemic to Jamaica, the most endemic species of any Caribbean island. Jamaica has four endemic genera – ''

Trochilus The streamertails are hummingbirds in the genus ''Trochilus'', that are endemic to Jamaica. It is the type genus of the family Trochilidae. Today most authorities consider the two taxa in this genus as separate species, but some (e.g. AOU) conti ...

, Loxipasser, Euneornis'', and '' Nesopsar''. All of Jamaica's endemic species are native to the moist forests, and some also range into the dry forests. The

black-billed streamertail The black-billed streamertail (''Trochilus scitulus'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to eastern Jamaica.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the ...

(''Trochilus scitulus'') is limited to the eastern Blue and John Crow mountains.BirdLife International (2021) Endemic Bird Areas factsheet: Jamaica. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 6 January 2021. Three widespread threatened species are found on Jamaica – the resident

West Indian whistling duck The West Indian whistling duck (''Dendrocygna arborea'') is a whistling duck that breeds in the Caribbean. Alternative names are black-billed whistling duck and Cuban whistling duck. Distribution The West Indian whistling duck is widely scatter ...

(''Dendrocygna arborea'') and plain pigeon (''Patagioenas inornata''), and the

piping plover The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from e ...

(''Charadrius melodus''), a winter visitor. The Jamaican petrel (''Pterodroma caribbaea'') is a seabird that once bred in large numbers in the forests of the Blue and John Crow mountains. The petrels are thought extinct from predation by humans and introduced mongooses. Jamaica's native terrestrial mammals are mostly bats, including the endemic

Jamaican fig-eating bat The Jamaican fig-eating bat (''Ariteus flavescens'') is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is the only living species in the genus ''Ariteus''. The scientific name translates as "yellowish and warlike". There are no recognised s ...

(''Ariteus flavescens'') and Jamaican flower bat (''Phyllonycteris aphylla''). The endemic Jamaican serotine is considered a subspecies of

big brown bat The big brown bat (''Eptesicus fuscus'') is a species of vesper bat distributed widely throughout North America, the Caribbean, and the northern portion of South America. It was first described as a species in 1796. Compared to other microbats ...

(''Eptesicus fuscus lynni'') or a separate species (''Eptesicus lynni''). The

Jamaican fruit bat The Jamaican, common or Mexican fruit bat (''Artibeus jamaicensis'') is a fruit-eating bat native to Mexico, through Central America to northwestern South America, as well as the Greater and many of the Lesser Antilles. It is also an uncommon res ...

(''Artibeus jamaicensis'') is native to Jamaica along with the other Greater Antilles, Central America, and northwestern South America. The only other terrestrial mammal is the

Jamaican hutia The Jamaican coney (''Geocapromys brownii''), also known as the Jamaican hutia or Brown's hutia, is a small, endangered, rat-like mammal found only on the island of Jamaica. About the size of a rabbit, it lives in group nests and is active at nig ...

(''Geocapromys brownii''), a rabbit-sized rodent endemic to Jamaica which mostly lives in the island's eastern, central and southern mountains. It is threatened by habitat loss and hunting. The ecoregion is home to 62 species of lizards and snakes. The island has 27 endemic reptile species, and 20 endemic amphibian species. Reptiles and amphibians endemic to the Jamaican moist forests include '' Sphaerodactylus richardsonii, Sphaerodactylus semasiops, Anolis garmani, Anolis reconditus, Eleutherodactylus grabhami, Eleutherodactylus griphus, Eleutherodactylus jamaicensis, Eleutherodactylus junori, Eleutherodactylus luteolus,

Eleutherodactylus nubicola ''Eleutherodactylus nubicola'' is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae endemic to Jamaica. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also terme ...

, Eleutherodactylus orcutti, Eleutherodactylus pantoni'', and '' Eleutherodactylus sisyphodemus''. The forests are home to many insects, including the Jamaican endemic butterflies '' Eurytides marcellinus'' and the Jamaican swallowtail (''Papilio homerus''), the largest butterfly in the Americas. Jamaica has 562 known species of terrestrial snails and slugs, of which 505, or 90%, are endemic. Most inhabit the moist forests. They include 24 species of '' Pleurodonte'', and '' Annularia pulchrum''. Many are threatened by deforestation and habitat loss, in particular tree snails of the genus '' Anoma''.Rosenberg, Gary & Muratov, Igor. (2006). Status Report on the Terrestrial Mollusca of Jamaica. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 155. 117-161. 10.1635/i0097-3157-155-1-117.1.

Conservation and threats

The ecoregion is threatened by forest clearance for agriculture and timber, hunting, and introduced species. The

small Indian mongoose The small Indian mongoose (''Urva auropunctata'') is a mongoose species native to Iraq and northern South Asia; it has also been introduced to many regions of the world, such as several Caribbean and Pacific islands. Taxonomy ''Mangusta auropun ...

(''Urva auropunctata'') was introduced to Jamaica in 1872. It is an adaptable predator which has preyed heavily on native vertebrates, particularly the island's reptiles and amphibians.

Protected areas

1,131 km, or 14%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include

Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park is a national park in Jamaica. The park covers 495.2 km2 and accounts for 4.5% of Jamaica's land surface. It gets its name from the Blue Mountains, the mountain range that runs through it, as well ...

, Cockpit Country Forest Reserve, Litchfield-Matheson's Run Forest Reserve, and Stephney John's Vale Forest Reserve. Black River Lower Morass is designated a protected

Ramsar wetland The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It ...

."Jamaican moist forests". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 31 December 2020

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References

External links

* {{WWF ecoregion, id=nt0131, name=Jamaican moist forests
Jamaican moist forests (DOPA Explorer)

Jamaican moist forests (Encyclopedia of Earth)
Neotropical tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Ecoregions of the Caribbean Ecoregions of Jamaica