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G684 Caribbean-Mesoamerican Lowland Ruderal Grassland & Shrubland Group

Type Concept Sentence: These ruderal grasslands and shrublands include weedy pastures with exotic grasses, scattered small trees and shrubs which occur on a variety of disturbed sites in southern Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Caribbean-Mesoamerican Lowland Ruderal Grassland & Shrubland Group

Colloquial Name: Caribbean-Mesoamerican Lowland Ruderal Grassland & Shrubland

Hierarchy Level:  Group

Type Concept: This group includes weedy pastures which may be grazed and burned periodically, and may include areas which are shrub-dominated, or with small trees. Without grazing, fire or some other disturbance, succession to young forest may occur in less than ten years. These areas are grass-dominated, including many exotic species, which include Chloris gayana, Digitaria eriantha ssp. pentzii, Hyparrhenia rufa, Melinis minutiflora, Pennisetum clandestinum, Pennisetum purpureum, Urochloa mutica, and Urochloa maxima. These grasslands occur in southern Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Diagnostic Characteristics: Grasslands dominated by exotic species.

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: No Data Available

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: This is mostly grassland, but includes some savanna and steppe (graminoid-dominated).

Floristics: Dense grasses dominate, with scattered shrub or short tree species reaching 3-5 m high. Some landscapes support a recurring mosaic of open savanna with "islands" of dense forest composed of the tree species found across the more open savanna. The following list of grass species is diagnostic for this group: Andropogon spp., Hyparrhenia rufa, Paspalum spp., and shrubs Acacia collinsii, Vachellia farnesiana (= Acacia farnesiana), Acoelorraphe wrightii, Byrsonima crassifolia, Cameraria latifolia, Crescentia alata, Curatella americana, Erythroxylum guatemalense, Gliricidia sepium, Quercus oleoides, and Roupala montana. Some of the most prominent invasive grasses (including many forage grasses) of African origin include Chloris gayana, Digitaria eriantha ssp. pentzii (= Digitaria decumbens), Hyparrhenia rufa, Melinis minutiflora, Pennisetum clandestinum, Pennisetum purpureum, Urochloa maxima (= Panicum maximum), and Urochloa mutica (= Brachiaria mutica) (Williams and Baruch 2000). Additional invasive grass species include Eragrostis curvula, Eragrostis lehmanniana, Panicum coloratum, Pennisetum ciliare, and Melinis repens (= Rhynchelytrum repens) (Williams and Baruch 2000). Many grasses are listed as weeds in Puerto Rico, such as Andropogon bicornis, Arundo donax, Bothriochloa bladhii, Bothriochloa pertusa, Pennisetum ciliare (= Cenchrus ciliaris), Cenchrus echinatus, Cyperus esculentus, Paspalum spp., Rottboellia cochinchinensis, and Sporobolus indicus (Más and Lugo-Torres 2013). Among the invasive species listed for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Antigonon leptopus, Epipremnum pinnatum, Leucaena leucocephala, Oeceoclades maculata, Pueraria phaseoloides, Spathodea campanulata, Syngonium podophyllum, Syzygium jambos, Thunbergia alata, Urochloa maxima (= Megathyrsus maximus), and Urochloa mutica are some of the most conspicuous in terms of abundance (Rojas-Sandoval and Acevedo-Rodriguez 2015), and some of the most widespread and damaging invasive trees and shrubs are Albizia lebbeck, Leucaena leucocephala, Pinus caribaea, Spathodea campanulata, Syzygium jambos, Tabebuia rosea, and Terminalia catappa (Rojas-Sandoval and Acevedo-Rodriguez 2015).

Dynamics:  Frequent or annual burning is a common practice. Sites that are not grazed, burned or periodically disturbed in some way would naturally succeed to young forest, generally initially dominated by a mix of native and exotic trees, but over time native trees mostly will gain dominance (Lugo and Helmer 2004).
Environmental Description:  Climate: Occurs in dry to wet tropical climates. Soil/substrate/hydrology: Occurs on inland or coastal plateaus, midslopes or toeslopes with soils of various origins and textures, volcanic or sedimentary, alluvial, or clayish (verticos), usually acidic and with low fertility. Most sites are successional, following forest clearing, agriculture, use as pasture, and in some cases abandonment.
Geographic Range: This group is found in southern Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands.

Nations: BS,BZ,CO,CR,CU,DO,GT,HN,HT,JM,MX,NI,PA,PR,SV,US,VI

States/Provinces:  FL


Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNA

Greasons: No Data Available
Type Name Database Code Classification Code
Class 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class C02 2
Subclass 2.A Tropical Grassland, Savanna & Shrubland Subclass S01 2.A
Formation 2.A.1 Tropical Lowland Grassland, Savanna & Shrubland Formation F019 2.A.1
Division 2.A.1.Ea Caribbean-Mesoamerican Lowland Grassland, Savanna & Shrubland Division D094 2.A.1.Ea
Macrogroup 2.A.1.Ea.90 Caribbean-Mesoamerican Lowland Ruderal Grassland & Shrubland Macrogroup M515 2.A.1.Ea.90
Group 2.A.1.Ea.90.a Caribbean-Mesoamerican Lowland Ruderal Grassland & Shrubland Group G684 2.A.1.Ea.90.a
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: > Puerto Rico land cover type 48, Dry grasslands and pastures (Gould et al. 2008)
> Puerto Rico land cover type 50, Moist grasslands and pastures (Gould et al. 2008)
Concept Author(s): C. Josse and C. Nordman, in Faber-Langendoen et al. (2016)

Author of Description: C. Josse and C. Nordman

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 02-04-16
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  • Gould, W. A., C. Alarcón, B. Fevold, M. E. Jiménez, S. Martinuzzi, G. Potts, M. Quiñones, M. Solórzano, and E. Ventosa. 2008. The Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project. Volume 1: Land cover, vertebrate species distributions, and land stewardship. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. USDA Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Río Piedras, PR. 165 pp.
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