The Cuban pine forests are a tropical coniferous forest

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 ...

on 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 ...

islands 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 ...

and

Isla de la Juventud Isla de la Juventud (; ) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Island). The island was ...

. They cover an area of , occurring in separate sections in eastern Cuba and western Cuba and Isla de la Juventud.

Description

Pine forests are found primarily in well-drained, nutrient-poor, acidic soils such as

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

iferous

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

s, pseudo-spodosols in the west, and lateritic soils. Pine trees and encino ('' Quercus sagraeana'') obtain nutrients through an ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with fungi, allowing them to attain tree size. The forests feature a dense xerophytic brushy story of mainly

Rubiaceae Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...

, and

Melastomataceae Melastomataceae () is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics (two-thirds of the genera are from the New World tropics) comprising c. 175 genera and c. 5115 known species. Melastomes are annual or perennial herbs ...

along with a herbaceous story of a few

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

s, primarily from the genus '' Tillandsia'', and lianas. Secondary forests formed by deforestation have a more open canopy with an understory dominated by '' Comocladia dentata''; grasses, lianas and epiphytes are poorly represented.

Western pine forests

Western pine forests are found in the northern and southern plains surrounding the Sierra de los Órganos in Pinar del Río Province and on the northern half of

. Annual precipitation is less than , with a dry season from November to April and a rainy season from May to October. The temperature ranges from , averaging , and is somewhat less at higher elevations. Pino macho ( ''Pinus caribaea'' var. ''caribaea''), which may reach heights of up to , and pino hembra ('' Pinus tropicalis'') dominate the canopy. Other species such include peralejo ('' Byrsonima crassifolia''), palma barrigona ('' Colpothrinax wrightii''), icaco ( ''Chrysobalanus icaco'' var. ''hellocarpus''), encino ('' Quercus sagraeana''), '' Calophyllum pinetorum'', '' Erythroxylum minutifolium'', '' Phania cajalbanica'', '' Vaccinium cubense'', '' Hyperbaena columbica'', '' Clusia rosea'', '' Copernicia'' species, yuraguano ('' Coccothrinax yuraguana''), '' Aristida'' species and '' Andropogon'' species. Ferritic soils in Pinar del Río, such as in the Cajálbana plateau, are home to ''Pinus caribaea'' var. ''caribaea'' and an understory rich in endemic species. Mixed pine forests develop over oligotrophic quartzitic yellow soils in northern Pinar del Río province and Isla de la Juventud. They feature ''Pinus caribaea'' var. ''caribaea'', ''P. tropicalis'', and, possibly, ''Quercus sagraeana''. Dry, rocky pine forests found on the southern side of the Cajálbana plateau include pines, thorny scrublands, and '' Agave cajalbanensis'', an endemic succulent.

Eastern pine forests

Small patches of pine forest occur around the Sierra Cristal, Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa Mountains, and Sierra Maestra. These forests are found at higher elevations than western pine forests, up to , making them cooler and wetter. Consequently, some of the vegetation resembles that of the rainforests, with an abundance of ferns. Pino de la Maestra ('' Pinus maestrensis'') predominates in the Sierra Maestra, developing on landslide areas over granitic rock, while the Pino de Mayarí ('' Pinus cubensis'') predominates in the Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa. Some accompanying species in these forests are the griñapo ('' Dracaena cubensis''), '' Eupatorium'' spp., '' Myrtus'' spp., '' Baccharis'' spp., '' Jacaranda arborea'' and '' Eugenia pinetorum''.

Fauna

Endemic birds include the olive-capped warbler (''Dendroica pityophila''), Cuban kite (''Chondrohierax wilsonii''), Cuban trogon (''Priotelus temnurus''), Cuban amazon, (''Amazona leucocephala'') and Cuban tody (''Todus multicolor''). The Cuban ivory-billed woodpecker (''Campephilus principalis bairdii'') may remain in eastern pine forests, but is probably extinct.

References

{{reflist Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests Ecoregions of the Caribbean Ecoregions of Cuba * Natural history of Cuba Neotropical ecoregions