Near Sand Hill, Belize Photograph by David Olson   Central America: Central Belize Tropical and Subtropical Coniferous Forests   1,100 square miles (2,800 square kilometers) -- about the size of Rhode Island Critical/Endangered

· Roosting in the Ruins
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Roosting in the Ruins

These tropical pine forests are imbedded in a landscape of tropical rain forests, beautiful rivers, and ancient Mayan ruins. A number of large caves also dot the landscape and house their own unique creatures. The numerous bats of this ecoregion know roosting opportunities when they see them. If a cave is too crowded, some bats may find a roost in the nearby Mayan ruins.

Special Features

The Belizean Pine Forests are among the few lowland pine forests found in the tropics. This ecoregion incorporates a mixture of habitats--from solid stands of pine forest in the highest areas to mosaics of wetland, pine, and broadleaf forest below. These pine forests are typically quite open in the understory, containing numerous grassy areas that are easy to walk through. Frequent fires of low intensity play an important role in pine forest ecoregions such as this one. The cones of some pines actually require the heat from fires to germinate. Natural fires also help to clear the understory and keep it free of non-native species.

	Collared peccaries are piglike animals that have short, straight tusks that rub against opposing teeth and get sharpened with every bite. These animals are also called javelinas because their spear-like teeth resemble javelins.

Wild Side

Lesser doglike bats, shaggy bats, and ghost-faced bats are just a few of the many bat species found here. Collared and white-lipped peccaries, as well as red brockets and whitetail deer, graze along the forest boundaries. Other animals include orange-breasted falcons, howler monkeys, ocellated turkeys, jaguars, and tayras. Jabiru storks--the largest flying birds in the Western Hemisphere--can also be seen flying through the pines. The numerous caves are refuge to several species of arthropods, including crickets, whiptail scorpions, and spiders. Living in this dark environment, many have completely lost their color pigments and appear to be albino.

Cause for Concern

Logging and the expansion of citrus, cashew, and banana plantations encroach on this habitat. Tourism has increased throughout the ecoregion, too. In the higher elevation forests, logging has historically been heavy but is less so today. The lowland forests have also been logged and now face threats from agriculture.

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