The Cuban cactus scrub is a xeric shrubland

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

that occupies on the

leeward In geography and seamanship, windward () and leeward () are directions relative to the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e., towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point o ...

coast of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. Most of it occurs in the southeastern part of the island in the provinces of Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba. The ecoregion receives less than of rainfall annually. The principal

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

s are coastal rendzinas that were derived from

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

line

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) ...

. Cuban cactus scrub contains four vegetation zones: xerophytic coastal and subcoastal scrubland, coastal thorny semidesert, coastal sclerophyllous scrubland, and rocky coastal scrublands.

Xerophytic coastal and subcoastal scrubland

Vegetation in the xerophytic coastal and subcoastal scrublands reaches a height of and is dominated by palms and

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

s, especially cacti. Common evergreen plants include ('' Bourreria virgata''), ('' Capparis cynophallophora''), ('' Eugenia foetida''), '' Bursera glauca'', '' B. cubana'', '' Croton'' spp., '' Cordia'' spp., '' Calliandra colletioides'', '' Caesalpinia'' spp., ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

'' spp., ''

Phyllostylon ''Phyllostylon'' is a genus of plant in family Ulmaceae The Ulmaceae () are a family (biology), family of flowering plants that includes the elms (genus ''Ulmus''), and the zelkovas (genus ''Zelkova''). Members of the family are widely distrib ...

brasiliense'', '' Pseudosamanea cubana'' and ('' Guaiacum officinale''). ('' Opuntia stricta''), '' O. militaris'', ('' Harrisia eriophora''), ('' H. taetra''), ('' Pilosocereus polygonus''), ('' Dendrocereus nudiflorus''), (''

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the arid regions of the Americas. The genus is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large Rosette (botany), rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Many plan ...

'' spp.), ('' Melocactus'' spp.) and '' Leptocereus'' spp. are typical

Coastal thorny semidesert

Coastal thorny semidesert is similar to xerophytic coastal and subcoastal scrubland in that they both have the same succulent composition and reach a height of . However, succulents represent a smaller proportion of the plant life in this zone. Other plant species include ('' Cordia sebestena''), ('' Hippomane mancinella'') and ('' Plumeria filifolia'').

Coastal sclerophyllous scrubland

The vegetation in this zone is sclerophyllous, meaning that their

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are hard. It reaches a height of with emergent

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s up to . This zone represents the transition between xeric shrublands and moister dry forests. Plant life includes ('' Picrodendron baccatum''), ('' Maytenus buxifolia''), ('' Pictetia spinosa''), ('' Brya ebenus'') and ('' Diospyros grisebachii'').

Rocky coastal scrublands

The most sparse and stunted vegetation is found in this zone, which occurs adjacent to the ocean on

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

ic soil. The flora is tolerant of wind and

salt spray Sea spray consists of aerosol particles formed from the ocean, primarily by ejection into Earth's atmosphere through bursting bubbles at the air-sea interface Sea spray contains both organic matter and inorganic salts that form sea salt aerosol ...

, and includes ('' Borrichia arborescens''), ('' Tournefortia gnaphalodes''), and ('' Sesuvium maritimum'').

Fauna

Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s of the cactus scrub include the Zapata sparrow (''Torreornis inexpectata sigmani''), Cuban vireo (''Vireo gundlachii''), Cuban gnatcatcher (''Polioptila lembeyei''), and Oriente warbler (''Teretistris fornsi''). The yellow-striped pygmy eleuth (''Eleutherodactylus limbatus'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

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 ...

to this ecoregion, while several

anole Dactyloidae are a family of lizards commonly known as anoles (singular anole ) and native to warmer parts of the Americas, ranging from southeastern United States to Paraguay. Instead of treating it as a family, some authorities prefer to treat ...

species and the Cuban rock iguana ('' Cyclura nubila nubila'') are endemic

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

References

External links

*{{commons-inline, , Cuban cactus scrub Deserts and xeric shrublands Ecoregions of the Caribbean Ecoregions of Cuba * Natural history of Cuba Neotropical ecoregions