Sierra del Rosario Biosphere Reserve, Cuba Photograph by © WWF-Canon/Michel ROGGO   Caribbean Islands: Cuba Tropical and Subtropical Coniferous Forests   2,500 square miles (6,400 square kilometers) -- about half the size of Connecticut Critical/Endangered

· Pines and Parrots
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Pines and Parrots

Scattered on the island of Cuba are montane forests filled with tropical pines, a variety of birds, and a diversity of insects. While Cuban parrots fly overhead, ants pass below in a swirl of colors from yellow to blue-green. But human activities threaten to upset the natural balance in the Cuban Pine Forests.

Special Features

The pine forest ecoregion is located mainly in two areas of Cuba, one in the east and the other in the west. The forest grows in a variety of climates--from hot and dry areas to wet, montane regions. Four species of pine trees are endemic to Cuba, although some of them have been introduced to other Caribbean islands. The Caribbean pine, a graceful tree with very long, dense needles, is the dominant tree in the western pine forests. Another species of tropical pine, Pinus tropicalis, is often found with the unusual bottle palm. The bottle palm, also known as the belly palm, has a trunk that swells outward like a glass bottle.

	The ivory-billed woodpecker was declared extinct in the United States in 1995. Its decline coincided with the logging of virgin forests where the bird fed on insects in dead trees. Small numbers still remain in the Cuban Pine Forest.

Wild Side

The Cuban pine forests are especially known for their bird and insect life. The ivory-billed woodpecker, which was once found in the United States, is presumed extinct, but may still be in Cuba and would be found only in the eastern pine forest. This species is vulnerable to habitat degradation because it prefers mature forest with plenty of dead trees to dig in for its food--large insect larvae. The endemic Cuban solitaire can also be found exclusively in the pine forests. This bird has, perhaps, the best song in the country--its voice has been compared to the noise made by running a wet finger around the rim of a crystal glass. In addition, several species of the colorful Leptothorax ants can be found here in almost every color imaginable: red, yellow, black, and a shocking blue-green. The workers forage for food in low, woody vegetation.

Cause for Concern

A variety of human activities threaten the pine forests, including mining, citrus plantations, grazing, and logging. Fires are also a threat because they inhibit natural regeneration in the pine forest: After a fire, the pine is replaced by woodland. And populations of threatened parrot species are being exploited in western portions of this ecoregion.

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