Although over 2.5 times smaller than Lake Superior, and smaller than Lake Michigan, the Dominican Republic houses a diverse landscape, from semi-arid desert plains, to lush highland valleys, to tropical rain forests. The DR is a subtropical country with the highest and lowest temperatures not varying more than 10 degrees throughout the year.
Most weather patterns enter the country from the northeast coast; the warm air picks up moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and drops rain onto the mountain range in the northeast (Cordillera Septentrional). This still moist air then hits and rises above the tallest mountain range, the Cordillera Central, dropping a lot of rainfall to make lush mountains and rainforests. Because of this movement of weather and mountain ranges they hit, there is often little moisture remaining that falls in the southwest region of the country. In fact, the country is currently in a drought - a combination of a lack of rainfall this year and two weak hurricane seasons the past two years.
I wouldn't normally have thought of hurricanes as being useful, but they are very important to the environment here in the DR. The trees are built to withstand the hurricane-force winds - slender palm trees cut the wind and the Dominican pines (yes, the DR does in fact have pine forests) break off just the tips. The Caribbean pine, which was introduced years back in an attempt to reforest what had been deforested for agriculture, was not designed for hurricanes; unlike the Dominican pine, its tip doesn't break off, but the whole tree falls over. When a major hurricane hit, the reforest land with Caribbean pine was again deforested, and the area suffered severe flooding and erosion.
It isn't just the landscape that is diverse. At least one plant or animal you see out of every ten on the island is found only in the DR … for some lizards, that ratio can be as high as seven out of ten.
From the freezing rivers and waterfalls in the highest mountains to the warm saltwater of the turquoise-blue sea that surrounds the picturesque beaches, I'm in love with the medioambiente aquí en la República Dominicana.
Most weather patterns enter the country from the northeast coast; the warm air picks up moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and drops rain onto the mountain range in the northeast (Cordillera Septentrional). This still moist air then hits and rises above the tallest mountain range, the Cordillera Central, dropping a lot of rainfall to make lush mountains and rainforests. Because of this movement of weather and mountain ranges they hit, there is often little moisture remaining that falls in the southwest region of the country. In fact, the country is currently in a drought - a combination of a lack of rainfall this year and two weak hurricane seasons the past two years.
I wouldn't normally have thought of hurricanes as being useful, but they are very important to the environment here in the DR. The trees are built to withstand the hurricane-force winds - slender palm trees cut the wind and the Dominican pines (yes, the DR does in fact have pine forests) break off just the tips. The Caribbean pine, which was introduced years back in an attempt to reforest what had been deforested for agriculture, was not designed for hurricanes; unlike the Dominican pine, its tip doesn't break off, but the whole tree falls over. When a major hurricane hit, the reforest land with Caribbean pine was again deforested, and the area suffered severe flooding and erosion.
It isn't just the landscape that is diverse. At least one plant or animal you see out of every ten on the island is found only in the DR … for some lizards, that ratio can be as high as seven out of ten.
From the freezing rivers and waterfalls in the highest mountains to the warm saltwater of the turquoise-blue sea that surrounds the picturesque beaches, I'm in love with the medioambiente aquí en la República Dominicana.