The Guánica State Forest (), popularly known as the Guánica Dry Forest (Spanish: ''Bosque seco de Guánica'') is a subtropical dry forest located in southwest

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. The area was designated as a forest reserve in 1919 and a United Nations

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

in 1981. It is considered the best preserved subtropical

dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

and the best example of dry forest in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. With approximately 10,000 acres, it is the largest of the 20 state forests of Puerto Rico, and it extends over 5 municipalities: Guánica, Guayanilla, Peñuelas, Ponce, and Yauco (although the forest units located in the municipalities of Peñuelas and Ponce only consist of keys and small islands).

History

The dry forest area of southwestern Puerto Rico protected under the jurisdiction of the Guánica Dry Forest was first established in 1919 as a forest reserve. The United Nations recognized the ecological value of the forest in 1981 when it was designated a

, the second in Puerto Rico after El Yunque National Forest (then called the Caribbean National Forest). The forest was given further protections as a nature reserve on October 16, 1985, by the Puerto Rico Planning Board (Spanish: ''Junta De Planificación''), and all provisions from Law No. 133 from 1975 were subsequently applied to the nature reserve.

Geography

Located in the dry orographic rain shadow of the Cordillera Central, Puerto Rico's driest area, temperatures in the forest are, on average, around in shaded areas and in exposed areas. The average temperature is and the average annual rainfall is .

Geology

The dry forest is located on the Southern karst region of Puerto Rico. The soils in the state forest include limestone, fine and soft lime soil which include areas of sand and clay where deciduous plants grow, and sand and clay soils where evergreen plants thrive.

Ecology

The Guánica State Forest is of great natural complexity and scientific importance as it serves as a critical habitat to numerous species of animals and plants that are unique to the region. Its ecosystems include sandy beaches, rocky shores, mangrove forests, seagrass prairies, coral reefs, limestone caverns, saltwater lagoons, salt flats and different types of dry forests (both deciduous and evergreen). The last remaining natural population of Puerto Rican crested toads ('' Peltophryne lemur'') can be found in the intermittent freshwater pools which are created by seasonal rains. This species proliferates in the natural conditions created by the karstic geology of the forest, and current efforts by the

Association of Zoos and Aquariums The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA), is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aqu ...

(AZA) include breeding programs and projects to release individuals of this species in similar ecosystems in Coamo and in the Northern karst of Puerto Rico.

Fauna

Approximately half of Puerto Rico's birds and nine of sixteen the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

bird species occur in the Guánica State Forest. In addition to the Puerto Rican crested toad, other protected animal species in the forest include the Puerto Rican vireo ('' Vireo latimeri''), the Puerto Rican nightjar ('' Antrostomus noctitherus''), the red land crab ('' Gecarcinus ruricola''), and the Mona basket shrimp ('' Typhlatya monae''). The dry forest is also one of the few habitats where the Cook's pallid anole ('' Anolis cooki'') can be found. The coral reefs and maritime areas of the forest reserve are also home to numerous coral, animal and plant species, such as the

West Indian manatee The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the Eastern United States to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it ...

which feeds on seaweeds, found in underwater prairies in the reserve.

Flora

The vegetation in the forest is divided into three main groups: upland

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flo ...

(which occupies ), semi-

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zo ...

(), and scrub forest ().Lugo, A. E., J. A. Gonzalez-Liboy, B. Cintrón, and K. Dugger. (1978) Structure, productivity and transpiration of a subtropical dry forest in Puerto Rico. ''Biotropica'' 10:278-291. Similar to other insular dry forests species diversity is low; between 30 and 50 tree species are found per hectare.Murphy, P. G., and A. E. Lugo. (1986) Structure and biomass of a subtropical dry forest in Puerto Rico. ''Biotropica'' 18:89-96. More than 700 plant species, of which 48 are endangered and 16 are endemic to the forest, occur within the forest. Some of the endangered plant species in the forest include the sebucan cactus ('' Leptocereus quadricostatus''), the palo de rosa ('' Ottoschulzia rhodoxylon''), the violeta tree ('' Polygala cowellii''), and the critically endangered bariaco ('' Trichilia triacantha''). One of the most famous plant inhabitants of the forest is an old-growth guaiacwood tree or guayacán ('' Guaiacum officinale'') often called the ''Guayacán Centenario'' ("the centenary guaiacwood") which could be as old as 1,000 years-old.

Recreation

The dry forest is open to visitors and some of its beaches are popular with tourists and locals alike. Fishing and biking are allowed in special designated areas, while scuba diving is also popular in the coral reefs and in the beaches. There are 12 hiking trails with varying difficulties open to visitors and the reserve is also popular for

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

Gallery

File:Playa Jaboncillo y Bosque Seco.jpg, Jaboncillo Beach File:Critical electrical grid infrastructure in Guánica, Puerto Rico.jpg, Critical electrical grid infrastructure in Guánica State Forest. File:Fuerte Caprón.jpg, Fuerte Caprón ruins. File:View from Guánica State Forest, Puerto Rico.jpg, View from Guánica State Forest. File:Bosque Estatal de Guánica en Boca, Guayanilla, Puerto Rico.jpg, Salt flats of the dry forest in Boca, Guayanilla. File:Tolumnia Guánica State Forest.jpg, '' Tolumnia'' sp. in the forest. File:Guánica State forest.jpg,

Limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

cliffs in the forest. File:Guanica mangroves (6482328887).jpg, Mangrove forest in Guánica. File:Carenero, Guánica 00653, Puerto Rico - panoramio.jpg, View of the forest from Carenero, Guánica. File:Carenero, Guánica 00653, Puerto Rico - panoramio (3).jpg, State forest sign by the DRNA. File:Melocactus intortus.tif, '' Melocactus intortus'' File:IMG 2934crop-puerto-rican-tody.JPG, Puerto Rican tody File:Plumeria alba 4.JPG, '' Plumeria alba'' File:Comocladia dodonea.JPG, '' Comocladia dodonaea'' File:Eugenia foetida.JPG, '' Eugenia foetida'' File:Flickr - ggallice - Brown pelican.jpg, Brown pelican File:Pilosocereus royenii 1.JPG, ''Pilosocereus royenii'' ('' Pilosocereus armatus'') File:Ruehssia woodburyana (10.3897-BDJ.8.e47110) Figure 3.jpg, '' Ruehssia woodburyana'' File:Flickr - ggallice - American kestrel.jpg,

American kestrel The American kestrel (''Falco sparverius'') is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. Though it has been called the American sparrowhawk, this common name is a misnomer; the American kestrel is a true falcon, while neither th ...

on cactus. File:Endangered Puerto Rican nightjar face (7840009282).jpg, Puerto Rican nightjar File:ISS053-E-7233 - View of Puerto Rico.jpg, View of the dry forest area, between the Guanica and Guayanilla Bays, from the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

References

External links

Guánica Biosphere Reserve Information from UNESCO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guanica State Forest Puerto Rico state forests Protected areas established in 1919 Biosphere reserves of the United States Guánica, Puerto Rico 1919 establishments in Puerto Rico