Flora

Main Source Material: A Vegetation Classification: Implications for Conservation: Prepared by Kevel Lindsay and Bruce Horwith of The Island Resource Foundation, Eastern Caribbean Biodiversity Programme, November, 1999. (288kb - Word format or 664kb - PDF format)

This website report presents a vegetation classification system for St. Kitts and Nevis to guide biodiversity conservation efforts in that country. Thirty-six Alliances and Associations were identified. These are based on the National Vegetation Classification System developed as a U.S. standard (proposed as a global standard) by the United States Federal Geographic Data Committee, which in turn is part of a larger worldwide initiative to characterize land cover and land use in a standardized manner.

The classification presented in this report differs from previous vegetation studies:
(1) in emphasizing existing rather than potential vegetation, and
(2) by refining the coarser level classifications to produce a more detailed system intended for conservation management purposes.
The report includes a table attempting to reconcile this classification with the major classifications that preceded it.
The conservation status of each of the 36 Alliances/Associations is identified using a two-tier labeling system modified from the Red Data Book Categories of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). 10 Alliances/Associations are classified as Rare (very restricted in distribution and/or size), and one of these is also considered Endangered (in danger of extirpation).

Coastal Zone: Provide a description of this area, link to a relevant map of Nevis showing various zones
Tropical Zone: Provide a description of this area, link to a relevant map of Nevis showing various zones
Atlantic Zone: Provide a description of this area, link to a relevant map of Nevis showing various zones
Elfian Cloud Forest Zone: Provide a description of this area, linked to a relevant map

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