Biogeographical Areas of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic, Republic of Haiti)

The island of Hispaniola is located between parallels 17 and 19 N and forms part of theGreater Antilles group in the Caribbean region. It covers an area of 76,484 km2 and hasthe highest altitudes in the whole Caribbean region. The island consists of two countries:the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti. The flora of both countries has beenstudied in depth by Liogier and several authors from the Dr. Rafael Ma. Moscoso NationalBotanical Garden in Santo Domingo; this has enabled us to examine the distribution of1582 endemic species in 19 areas and several important endemic habitats for conservation:Lepotogono buchii‐Leptochloopsietum virgatae; Crotono astrophori‐Leptochloopsietum virgatae;Melocacto pedenalensi‐Leptochloopsietum virgatae and Solano microphylli‐Leptochloopsietumvirgatae pine forests on serpentine belonging to the association Leptogono buchii‐Pinetumoccidentalis and high‐mountain pine forests: Dendropemom phycnophylli‐Pinetum occidentalisand Cocotrino scopari‐Pinetum occidentalis. Some dry forest communities are of interest,including Chrysophyllo oliviformi‐Sideroxyletum salicifolii and Zamio debilis‐Metopietum toxiferi.Based on the floristic analysis and the vegetation study, a biogeographical typologyfor the island, in which we propose 19 biogeographical areas (BA) has been established.