The Trinidad and Tobago moist forests

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 ...

(WWF ID: NT0171) covers most of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Island and

Tobago Tobago () is an island and ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trinidad and about off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. It also lies to the southeast of Grenada. The offic ...

Island near the coast of South America where the southeastern

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexic ...

meets the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Small portions of the islands around river estuaries and coastal lowlands are mangroves or dry forests. Species diversity is very high, in particular for plants (over 2,500 species) and birds (over 400 species). Tobago, being much smaller, has fewer species.

Location and description

Approximately 90% of islands are in this ecoregion. There are a few scattered mangroves of the

Trinidad mangroves The Trinidad mangroves ecoregion (WWF ID: NT1436) covers the separate mangrove forest areas on the coast of the island of Trinidad, in the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The character of the mangroves is affected by the large amount of fresh wat ...

ecoregion at the main river estuaries, a ring of dry forest of the

Trinidad and Tobago dry forests Trinidad and Tobago dry forests are tropical dry forests located primarily in western and southern parts of the island of Trinidad, in southern parts of the island of Tobago and on smaller offshore islands including Chacachacare, Monos, Huevos ...

ecoregion around the

Caroni Swamp The Caroni Swamp is the second largest mangrove wetland in Trinidad and Tobago. It is located on the west coast of Trinidad, south of Port of Spain and northwest of Chaguanas, where the Caroni River meets the Gulf of Paria. The Caroni Swamp ...

, just south of the capital city of

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a muni ...

, and a small section of dry forest at the northeast end of Tobago. The islands are affected by the

South Equatorial Current The South Equatorial Current are ocean currents in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean that flow east-to-west between the equator and about 20 degrees south. In the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, it extends across the equator to about 5 degr ...

from the southeast and the outflow from the

Orinoco River The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

to the south. Elevations in the islands are .

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is ''

Tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

(Am)). This climate is characterized by relatively even temperatures throughout the year (all months being greater than average temperature), and a pronounced dry season. The driest month has less than 60 mm of precipitation, but more than (100-(average/25) mm. This climate is mid-way between a tropical rainforest and a tropical savannah. The drier months are in the winter.

Flora and fauna

The island of Trinidad is only 20 km from the mainland of South America, and a land bridge existed as late as 1,500 years ago. So the flora and fauna are most similar to those of the continent. The island of Tobago is a further 40 km from the northern edge of Trinidad, and its land bridge disappeared 11,500 years ago, but its species mix is similar to the larger island. Over 60% of the island is still covered with closed broadleaf evergreen forest. The islands have high species diversity, with over 2,500 species of plants identified, of which up to 110 are endemic to the island. Also reported 100 species of mammals (bats and rodents predominate), 400 of birds, 85 of reptiles, and 30 of amphibians. Characteristic tree species are andiroba (''

Carapa guianensis ''Carapa guianensis'' is a species of tree in the family Meliaceae, also known by the common names andiroba or crabwood. Description Andiroba is native to the Amazon and is widely used by the indigenous populations of the northern region o ...

''), andiroba (''

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. pentandr ...

''), yellow mombin ('' Spondias mombin''), ''

Pentaclethra macroloba ''Pentaclethra macroloba'' is a large and common leguminous tree in the genus ''Pentaclethra'' native to the wet tropical areas of the northern Neotropics, which can form monocultural stands in some seasonally flooded habitats. It has giant, bip ...

'', and ''

Brownea latifolia ''Brownea'' is a genus of about 30 species in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Detarioideae. The genus is native to tropical regions of the Americas. The species are shrubs and tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated ...

''. A notable tree species in eastern Trinidad is the '' Mora'' tree.

Protected areas

Officially protected areas in the ecoregion include: *

Main Ridge, Tobago Main Ridge is the main mountainous ridge on the island of Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago. It is a chain of hills which runs from southwest to northeast between the Caribbean Sea and the Southern Tobago fault system and reaches a maximum height of ...

* Aripo Savannas

References

{{reflist Neotropical ecoregions Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Ecoregions of Trinidad and Tobago