Laurisilva: What is, characteristics and examples

Laurisilva, a name coined by the Swiss phytogeographer Rübel, is a heterogeneous ecosystem formed by humid, leafy and thick forests, alwayscomposed of trees with lauroid leaves. That is to say, Trust species of perennial leaves of medium size and lustrous similar to that of the laurels and easy to confuse with them.

Laurisilva originally occupied much of the planet, but currently present a fragmented distribution in small relics that extend from Texas and Florida to the Valdivian jungles in Chile and missionary in Argentina, part of Africa, the Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. In turn, there are representative areas of them in the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands that together with Cabo Verde constitute the “Macaronesia”.

• Are cloud forests or tropical or subtropical mountain forests typical of climates without large seasonal changes with moderate temperatures and High presence of moisture. Here you can read about fog forests: what are and characteristics.
• It is formed in mountainous areas where moisture comes from oceans and precipitate in the form of rain or fog generating a hygrophilic environment.
• It is a heterogeneous ecosystem, since it presents a broad variety of environments and types of species in response to environmental variations as a consequence of differences in relief.
• Is characterized by the presence of species of Persistent and lauroid foliage That thanks to the presence of wax and the mucrón that favors the drip, the leaves remain dry even if there is a high percentage of moisture.
• Its soils are covered by a thick layer of organic matter.
• They provide refuge and food for biodiversity and those religators retain a great wealth of Flora and fauna endemismsthat is, they are not in another part of the world.
• They provide important ecosystem and socio -economic services such as, for example, they are valuable Water producers and hydrological cycle regulators and make up a tourist attraction for society.
• Has become a very deteriorated ecosystem Due to indiscriminate logging to obtain wood, intentional fires for the disposition of fields for crops or grasslands for cattle, the introduction of invasive exotic species, the progress of urbanization, among many other problems.
• The species that constitute the laurisilva are resistant, which allows the jungle to regenerate. However, its decrease is due to the continuous and strong pressures it receives from human beings.

Flora of Laurisilva forests

As we mentioned in the previous section, the plant species of the laurisilva are characterized by having lauroid leaves: wide, ovate, coriaceas and lustrous. Only Some species of Laurisilva forests belong to the Laurel familyalthough the aspect of most of them remind this species.

Many of the flora species are pollinated by insects (entomophilic), except some exceptions in which pollination is through wind (anemophilic).

The most important species (Laurus, ilex, Myrica, Ocotea, Picconia, Perseaamong many others) fructify throughout the year without apparent phenology because they are not subject to the seasonality of the climate and offer great diversity of fruits to birds and other animal species.

As it is a very humid cloud forest, there is a wide variety of boils and epiphytic plants, such as the briophytes that form large hanging curtains. They are added other species such as ferns, mosses and lichens.

Laurisilva forests fauna

The most abundant animals in laurisilva are invertebrates, and within them they stand out Insects. The moisture and the umbria of this ecosystem also favor the presence of worms, molluscs and arachnids.

As for the group of vertebrates, birds are the ones that have the greatest wealth, along with some amphibians and reptiles. Within the Endemic species We find the Paloma Turqué (Columba Bollii) and the Rabiche Paloma (Juniae Columba) of the Canary Islands and the reptile called giant gomera lizard (Bravoa gallotia). Some small mammals also appear, such as Musaraña de Tenerife (Canariensis crocidura).

We recommend you read this other article about the Flora and Fauna of the Canary Islands.

• Laurisilva de la Macaronesia: On the island of La Palma, the first World Biosphere Reserve of the Canarian archipelago and Unesco heritage was created with the aim of preserving the Ecosystem of the Macaronés Laurisilva. On the other hand, in the center of the island of La Gomera within the Garajonay National Park, there is one of Laurisilva’s largest relics. In the Macaronesia within the Snow Natural Park, wonderful sites can be visited in the Laurisilva de La Palma, such as the “Los Tilos Forest” and the waterfall that lies there.
• Valdivian laurisilva: It extends through the south of the American continent in southern Chile and Argentina and is characterized by possessing evergreen forests of various strata. Did you know that due to its isolation by the presence of the Andes mountain range and the Pacific Ocean is considered a biogeographic island? It presents a high number of endemisms and is one of the most biodiverse points on the planet.
• Laurisilvas de Australia, Nueva Caledonia and New Zealand: Present in ocean mountain strips, the laurisilvas of Australia, Nueva Caledonia and New Zealand have a large number of species related to those of the Valdivian laurisilva.
• African laurisilva: In Africa, Laurisilva is mainly in the region of the forests of the Crystal Montes, in Gabon, on the western coast of the African continent.

Now that you know better what Laurisilva, its characteristics, flora, fauna and examples, we encourage you to discover more types of forests reading this other ecology article.

If you want to read more articles similar to Laurisilva: What is, characteristics and exampleswe recommend that you enter our category of ecosystems.