Turks and Caicos Islands

Status of terrestrial habitats
There are two values widely reported for the country’s land area, 948 km 2 and 417 km 2 . Although no
definitive source could be found that explains the difference in these numbers it is believed that the smaller
number relates to actual land area and the larger number includes marshes and possibly wetlands.
Terrestrial vegetation in the Turks and Caicos can be grouped into three distinct classifications:
Upland – Terrestrial community formations sufficiently removed from marine and aquatic influences such
that species characteristics and compositions are not determined by proximity to the ocean or substrate
saturation.
Coastal – Coastal habitats include formations that are in close proximity to the marine environment where
exposure to salt spray, salty substrates and periodic tidal inundation determine species compositions and
characteristics.
Wetland – Community formations where hydrologic regimes determine species characteristics and
compositions. Environmental variables include substrates that are saturated with water either permanently
or seasonally. In the Turks and Caicos, wetland habitats can be saline, brackish or fresh and can be
recharged tidally (estuarine), by rainfall and groundwater recharge (palustrine). A third wetland formation,
lacustrine, represents permanent standing water ponds and karst formations.
Over 550 species of plants have been identified in the Turks & Caicos Islands, nine of which are endemic
and one plant, the West Indian Mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), is listed as endangered by the IUCN.
Terrestrial vegetation provide a range of services such as local climate regulation, prevention of soil
erosion, regulation of fresh water resources and provision of habitat for a diversity of animals such as the
Critically Endangered Rock Iguana that forages among the habitats of the Leeward Cays (Cyclura carinata)
(SWA Ltd.; Blue Dolphin Research and Consulting Inc.; EDSA, 2010).
The Department of Environment and Coastal Resources has undertaken the monumental task of
standardizing national vegetation classification and mapping terrestrial habitats for the purposes of
addressing the inconsistencies in existing habitat classifications. Based on standards developed by the
Nature Conservancy and United States Federal Geographical Data Committee, The Standardized National
Vegetation Classification for the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCINVC) describes seven terrestrial habitat types
for the islands and cays (see Table 4.5.1).
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