Turks and Caicos Islands National Vegetation and Mapping Project

15.3 Critical Habitats
The Bell Sound Nature Reserve and Boiling Hole Area of Historical Interest Protected Areas located at South Caicos.
The Bell Sound Nature Reserve is an area of tidal flats and mangroves that provides critical habitat for juvenile game fish and a small
TCI Rock Iguana population located on the small cays within the Nature Reserve.
The Boiling Hole Area of Historical Interest provides critical habitat for a number of species of interest. The now defunct salina rock
walls are habitat for the TCI endemic Limonium bahamense. And, as noted above, the defunct salina functions as critical habitat for
a resident West Indian flamingo population. Numerous other species of shoreline and wading bird populations have also been
recorded within this critical habitat for birds.
Palustrine formations including 534 and 334 (mixed herbaceous and mixed shrublands) are the critical habitat for the rare,
threatened, endangered and endemic species (including but not limited to) Marsilea nashii, Borreria capillaris, Euphorbia gymnonota
and Pedilanthus bahamensis. Palustrine habitats are also a vital seasonal source of fresh water for bird populations
The following table lists known critical habitats on South Caicos:
Area Significance
Bell Sound Nature Reserve Critical habitat for TCI rock iguana
Vital fisheries habitat
Boiling Hole Area of Historical Interest Critical habitat for West Indian flamingo population
Critical habitat for endemic flora and fauna
Critical habitat for numerous shoreline and wading bird populations
334 and 534 Palustrine Habitats Critical habitat for rare endemic Borreria capillaris
Critical habitat for endemic flora populations
Critical habitat for bird populations
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