Satellite view of the pine forests on the Bahamas Photograph by USGS   Andros Island,the Bahamas in the Caribbean Tropical and Subtropical Coniferous Forests   800 square miles (2,100 square kilometers) -- about the size of Rhode Island Critical/Endangered

· Location and General Description
· Biodiversity Features
· Current Status
· Threats
· Ecoregion Justification
· References
More Photos

Pine forests are distributed throughout the Bahamas island archipelago and Turks and Caicos Islands representing a unique habitat association in the Caribbean. The small over all geographic size of this ecoregion combined with continuing pressures from population growth and associated infrastructure development makes these pine forests particularly prone to degradation and disturbance. A history of land-use practices that include deforestation and intensive agricultural alteration of much of the original forest cover have contributed to a subsequent loss of species richness. Fortunately, logging licenses were relinquished to the Crown in 1974, which has kept tree felling localized and sporadic with allowances for natural regeneration to occur in many areas. The biodiversity includes numerous resident and migrating bird species as well as a variety of mammals and reptiles that are regionally distinct.

Location and General Description

Biodiversity Features

Current Status

Types and Severity of Threats

Justification of Ecoregion Delineation

References

Brown, D.E., F. Reichenbacher, and S.E. Franson. 1998. A classification of North American biotic communities. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

For more general information on this ecoregion, go to the WildWorld version of this description.