The Cuban cactus scrub is a xeric shrubland

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 o ...

that occupies on the

leeward Windward () and leeward () are terms used to describe the direction of 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 of reference ...

coast of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. Most of it occurs in the southeastern part of the island in the provinces of

Guantánamo Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast Cuba and capital of Guantánamo Province. Guantánamo is served by the Caimanera port near the site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces sugarcane and cotton wool. These are tradition ...

and

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

. The ecoregion receives less than of rainfall annually. The principal

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

s are coastal rendzinas that were derived from

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secre ...

line

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

. Cuban cactus scrub contains four vegetation zones:

xerophytic A xerophyte (from Greek ξηρός ''xeros'' 'dry' + φυτόν ''phuton'' 'plant') is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water, such as a desert such as the Sahara or places in the Alps or th ...

coastal and subcoastal scrubland, coastal thorny semidesert, coastal

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

ous 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 succulents, especially

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

. Common evergreen plants include ('' Bourreria virgata''), (''

Capparis cynophallophora ''Capparis cynophallophora'', commonly known as the Jamaican caper, is small tree in the caper family, Capparaceae, that is native to the Neotropical realm. Description The brand new leaves at the apical tips of twigs are folded in half showi ...

''), (''

Eugenia foetida ''Eugenia foetida'' is a member of the family Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, and is colloquially referred to as "Spanish stopper" or "boxleaf stopper." It is found year-round in the understory of mangrove forests, coastal hammocks and dunes in ...

''), ''

Bursera ''Bursera'' is a genus with about 100 described species of flowering shrubs and trees varying in size up to high. It is the type genus for Burseraceae. The trees are native (often for many species endemic) to the Americas, from the southern Un ...

glauca'', '' B. cubana'', '' Croton'' spp., '' Cordia'' spp., '' Calliandra colletioides'', '' Caesalpinia'' spp., ''

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

'' spp., ''

Phyllostylon ''Phyllostylon'' is a genus of plant in family Ulmaceae. Species include: * '' Phyllostylon brasiliense'' Capan. ex Benth. & Hook.f. * '' Phyllostylon orthopterum'' Hallier f. * ''Phyllostylon rhamnoides ''Phyllostylon'' is a genus of plant i ...

brasiliense'', ''

Pseudosamanea cubana ''Pseudosamanea cubana'' is a tree species in the legume family (Fabaceae). It is found only in Cuba. Presently, this is the only member of the genus ''Pseudosamanea''. ''Pseudosamanea guachapele'' is a junior synonym of ''Albizia guachapele ...

'' and ('' Guaiacum officinale''). (''

Opuntia stricta ''Opuntia stricta'' is a species of large cactus that is endemic to the subtropical and tropical coastal areas of the Americas, especially around the Caribbean. Common names include erect prickly pear and nopal estricto (Spanish). The first desc ...

''), '' O. militaris'', (''

Harrisia eriophora ''Harrisia'' is the name of two genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above specie ...

''), ('' H. taetra''), (''

Pilosocereus ''Pilosocereus'' (from Latin, "hairy cereus") is a genus of cactus native to the Neotropics. Tree cactus is a common name for ''Pilosocereus'' species. The commonly cultivated ''Pilosocereus pachycladus'' ( syn. ''Pilosocereus azureus'') is a bl ...

polygonus Polygonus may refer to: * Polygonus (genus), a genus of Nearctic and Neotropical spread-winged skippers * Polygonus (mythology) In Greek mythology, Polygonus (Ancient Greek: Πολύγονον means 'prolific') was the Thracian son of the sea go ...

''), ('' Dendrocereus nudiflorus''), (''

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known ...

'' spp.), (''

Melocactus ''Melocactus'' (melon cactus), also known as the Turk's cap cactus, is a genus of cactus with about 30–40 species. They are native to the Caribbean, western Mexico through Central America to northern South America, with some species along the ...

'' spp.) and '' Leptocereus'' spp. are typical succulents.

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 ''Cordia sebestena'' is a shrubby tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, native to the Americas, American tropics. It ranges from southern Florida in the United States and the Bahamas, southwards throughout Central America and the Greater Anti ...

''), (''

Hippomane mancinella The manchineel tree (''Hippomane mancinella'') is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Its native range stretches from tropical southern North America to northern South America. The name "manchineel" (sometimes spe ...

'') and ('' Plumeria filifolia'').

Coastal sclerophyllous scrubland

The vegetation in this zone is

ous, meaning that their leaves 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, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s up to . This zone represents the transition between xeric shrublands and moister dry forests. Plant life includes (''

Picrodendron baccatum ''Picrodendron'' is a genus of plant belonging to the family Picrodendraceae described as a genus in 1859. ''Picrodendron'' contains only one known species, ''Picrodendron baccatum'', native to the West Indies ( Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cub ...

''), ('' Maytenus buxifolia''), ('' Pictetia spinosa''), (''

Brya ebenus ''Brya ebenus'', also known as espino de sabana, granadillo, cocus wood, cocuswood, and coccuswood, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Jamaica. Horticulturally it is kno ...

'') and (''

Diospyros ''Diospyros'' is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. Individual species valued for their hard, heavy, dark ...

grisebachii'').

Rocky coastal scrublands

The most sparse and stunted vegetation is found in this zone, which occurs adjacent to the ocean on karstic soil. The flora is tolerant of wind and

salt spray Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

, and includes (''

Borrichia ''Borrichia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is named for Danish physician Ole Borch (1628–1690). Members of the genus are commonly known as seaside tansies. They are native to North and South America. Species and ...

arborescens''), ('' Argusia

gnaphalodes ''Gnaphalodes trachyderoides'' is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species a ...

''), and (''

Sesuvium ''Sesuvium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. The roughly eight species it contains are commonly known as sea-purslanes. Selected species * ''Sesuvium crithmoides'' Welw. – Tropical sea-purslane * '' Se ...

maritimum'').

Fauna

Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s of the cactus scrub include the Zapata sparrow (''Torreornis inexpectata sigmani''),

Cuban vireo The Cuban vireo (''Vireo gundlachii'') is a species of bird in the family Vireonidae that is endemic to Cuba. Its natural habitats are dry forests, lowland moist forests, xeric shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome define ...

(''Vireo gundlachii''),

Cuban gnatcatcher The Cuban gnatcatcher (''Polioptila lembeyei'') is a species of bird in the family Polioptilidae, the gnatcatchers. It is endemic to Cuba. Taxonomy and systematics "The Cuban gnatcatcher was described by the most famous of this island’s or ...

(''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 carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

to this ecoregion, while several

anole Dactyloidae are a family of lizards commonly known as anoles () 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 it as a subfami ...

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

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia al ...

References

{{reflist Deserts and xeric shrublands Ecoregions of the Caribbean Ecoregions of Cuba * Natural history of Cuba Neotropical ecoregions