Flora Endemica
The island of Hispaniola features a richness in diverse climates and *endemic flora. In its entirety, about 34.16% of the regional flora is endemic and highlights the biodiversity within varying altitudes of the island. The country is a tropical maritime nation and conditions diverse climate types such as: Rainforest, Monsoon, Savanna, Hot Semi-Arid, Subtropical Highland, Humid Subtropical, Oceanic, and Tundra. Although the highest concentration of endemics can be found in Cordillera Central mountain region, these plants are also now being used in urban design, reforestation initiatives, and botanical gardens as a means of conversation. The high amount of destructive activity in regional environments and climate change threatens the existents of these unique species resulting in vulnerability to extinction. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in the Dominican Republic has taken steps towards protecting major natural areas with endemic flora and has increased initiatives to integrate them in community centers. Despite these acts of good intention, a number of projects are misguided and result in a series of monoculture plantings and beautification projects. In an effort to support conservation in a sustainable way, I plan to learn more about endemic plants and see how they can be integrated into landscape strategies for regeneration. Endemic plants are unique to the island and are essential to the cultural history of Haitian and Dominican civilization as well.
Below are some pictures of endemic plants I have seen in the Dominican Republic. As I learn more about these plants, their names and characteristics will be added to the image profiles. I plan to continue this study during my time in Haiti next month. (Pictures by me or Students at UNIBE)
*Endemic – Plants that are unique to a defined geographic location, and cannot be found anywhere else.
Sources
+ Ana Cano-ortiz, Carmelo M. Musarella, JosÉ C. PiÑar Fuentes, Carlos J. Pinto Gomes & Eusebio Cano (2016) Distribution patterns of endemic flora to define hotspots on Hispaniola, Systematics and Biodiversity, 14:3, 261-275, DOI: 10.1080/14772000.2015.1135195
+ http://ambiente.gob.do/proyectos/
+https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_Dominican_Republic
