Pterocarpus officinalis - Palmas del Mar PR - Pterocarpus Forest IMG 2294

'
Palmas del Mar Tropical Forest
'', also known as the Palmas del Mar Pterocarpus Forest, is located in and near the beach resort community of

Palmas del Mar Palmas del Mar is a beach resort community consisting of a country club, golf courses, tennis, a beach club, residences and a hotel. It is located in the municipality of Humacao, Puerto Rico, on the southeast corner of the island. Features Set i ...

Humacao, Puerto Rico Humacao () is a city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 12 barrios and Humacao Pueblo (the ...

. The 144 acres of forest tracts belonging to the Palmas del Mar Tropical Forest are protected by conservation easement laws (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: ''Ley de servidumbre de conservación'') between Palmas del Mar Properties Inc. and the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico'') since 2010. It consists of

secondary forests A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

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 ...

and, most notably, a ''

Pterocarpus ''Pterocarpus'' is a pantropical genus of trees in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Pterocarpus'' clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of ''Pterocarpus'' ...

'' forest. The Candelero River also crosses the forest area and its mouth is also located just north of the forest limits. A total of 456 tree species has been documented in the area, including the notable ''palo de pollo'' (''

Pterocarpus officinalis ''Pterocarpus officinalis'', the dragonsblood tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to southern Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is typically found in coastal freshwater or slig ...

'') and the ortegon ('' Coccoloba rugosa''). The forest is also considered an important bird area, many of which are migratory. 52 species of animals have been documented in the forest, including 12 of which are endemic to Puerto Rico. In addition to its flora and fauna, the forest is important as a natural protection against flooding and

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...

References

{{Coord, 18, 05, 33, N, 65, 48, 00, W, display=title Protected areas of Puerto Rico Humacao, Puerto Rico 2010 establishments in Puerto Rico Protected areas established in 2010

See also

References