Grand Cayman Photograph by TheBrac.com   Caribbean Islands: Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests   50 square miles (100 square kilometers) -- about the size of Washington DC Critical/Endangered

· Cayman Communities
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Cayman Communities

The Caymans are a small group of low-lying islands in the Caribbean Sea. Wander across them and you'll find patches of hardwood forests containing West Indian mahogany, gumbo-limbo, and ironwood trees. You'll cross through stretches of secondary woodlands, and you'll encounter dense evergreen thickets. Many species dwell in these habitats. Grand Cayman parrots fly noisily overhead, displaying their brilliant green plumage. Iguanas bask on rocks. And climbing cactuses produce large, colorful flowers that bloom only at night, the best time to attract the bats that serve as their pollinators.

Special Features

The Caymans consist of three islands--Little Cayman, Grand Cayman, and Cayman Brac. None of the islands has ever been connected to another or to adjacent landmasses. All three are emergent limestone bluffs that rose from the ocean floor 10 million years ago. Evergreen thickets dominate the arid eastern sections of Grand Cayman, the largest island. They also grow on the north slope of Little Cayman and on higher ground on the tall island of Cayman Brac. Palms are abundant on all of the islands, including the endemic silver thatch palm, the national tree of the Cayman Islands. Its leaves, called fronds, are salt-resistant and were once widely used to make thatched roofs, shoes, and rope.

	Introduced mosquitoes have thrived on the Cayman Islands ever since Europeans accidentally brought them here. In one standard measure of mosquito density in the 1970s, a researcher recorded a total of 600 bites per minute on one arm.

Wild Side

Among the many reptiles you'll find on this island are iridescent Cayman blue iguanas, a critically endangered subspecies of the Cuban rock iguana. These iguanas can grow up to five feet (1.5 m) long and feed on flowers, nectar, and fruit. The critically endangered Little Cayman Island rock iguana is found only on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Pale gray and buff mangrove cuckoos perch under cover in dry bush. Despite their name, these shy birds are not found in mangrove habitat on the Caymans but prefer coastal and inland woodlands. Parrots forage widely throughout the Cayman Islands in all types of vegetation. The shy and quiet Cayman Brac parrot has the smallest range of any Amazonian parrot and is found only on Cayman Brac. It was once found on Little Cayman, but this population was eliminated by a fierce storm in 1932. Both kinds of parrot are considered subspecies of the Cuban parrot.

Cause for Concern

The demand for lumber and fuel wood means that very little native timber remains. Development for tourism has also led to habitat loss. Introduced animals such as dogs and rats pose a serious threat to native reptiles. Overgrazing and invasive plants, most notably the logwood tree, are also concerns.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.