Coronado home to a tropical dry forest
Coronado Panama is home to a section of untouched dry forest. In all of Latin America, only 40% of dry forest remain, the rest have been lost to development and cleared or pasture.
This is why it is so important to ensure that the dry forest in Coronado Panama is preserved. Tropical dry forests exist in areas with long dry seasons. The area surrounding Coronado Panama is called the dry arc of Panama as it is very dry compared to the rest of the country.
The two most extensive contiguous areas that remain intact are located in northeastern Brazil (Caatinga) and Costa Rica, in Panama, these forests are small and fragmented.
We are also unsure how these forests might respond to climate change and with little scientific data on dry forests, (for every 300 scientific papers on tropical rainforests published, just one was related to tropical dry forests), we might not be prepared to save them.
In the neotropical region of the American continent — which includes almost all of South America, Central America, Antilles, parts of the United States and Mexico — dry forests host at least 66 percent of water reservoirs. They provide important ecosystem services that regulate the water cycle and protect the soil from erosion.
Centuries ago in Panama, the Dry Arc extended across the Azuero Penninsula and southern Coclé, through Chame and into the Darién. However, the arrival of the Spaniards, the forest was completely destroyed. Only three small areas: a tiny sample on the unpopulated side of Taboga called Garachiné where pelicans now nest, a section of Darién, and this strip of Coronado.
To read more about the Coronado, Panama dry forest read these articles:
Tropical dry forest Part One
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