GLOBAL FIRE INITIATIVE Technical Report Fire Management Overview of the Caribbean Pine (Pinus caribaea) Savannas of the Mosquitia, Honduras June 2006 GFI technical report 2006-1b Citation: Myers, R., J. O’Brien and Steven Morrison, Fire Management Overview of the Caribbean Pine (Pinus caribaea) Savannas of the Mosquitia, Honduras. GFI technical report 2006-1b. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA. The Nature Conservancy’s Global Fire Initiative acknowledges the financial support of the USDA Forest Service International Programs for the development of this assessment. For more information: Ronald L. Myers Fire Ecologist for Latin America Global Fire Initiative The Nature Conservancy Tall Timbers Research Station 13093 Henry Beadel Drive Tallahassee, FL 32312 USA 850-668-5569 [email protected] www.tncfuego.org Cover Photo: Wildfire in the Caribbean pinelands of the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras. ©Ronald Myers 2 contents contents Section Page Introduction . .1 Objectives & Focus . .1 Caribbean Pine Distribution . .2 General Ecology of the Pine Savannas . .3 Fire Regime . .4 Adaptations & Responses to Fire . .6 Observations . .12 Puerto Lempira-Mocorón-Pranza . .12 Laguna de Brus . .16 Tikales between Laguna de Brus and Laguna de Ibans . .18 Plaplaya and Pine Savannas of Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve . .20 Conclusions & Recommendations . .22 Integrated Fire Management . .22 Key Ecological Attributes Related to Fire . .22 Socio-Economic Necessities & Perceptions Related to Fire . .25 Fire Management . .26 Next Steps . .28 References . .29 iii introduction 1introduction Objectives & Focus Caribbean pine ecosystem and related During 2-10 March 2005, a three-person savannas. team of fire ecologists with expertise in fire applications—assembled by The (2) Assess current fire regimes and dis- Nature Conservancy’s (TNC’s) Global cuss whether they are significantly altered Fire Initiative—visited key locations within from what is believed to be appropriate to the Caribbean pine savannas of eastern maintain the integrity of the pine savanna Honduras. The purpose of the visit was to ecosystem. gain insight into the fire management issues facing the conservation of the (3) Develop a list of research needs and Caribbean pine savannas that are located information gaps. in and around the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve and other conservation areas in (4) Evaluate fire management planning the Department of Gracias Adios—an area and training needs. long known as the Mosquitia or Miskito Coast. The trip was coordinated by The (5) Assess how local communities and Nature Conservancy’s Honduras/ peoples might be integrated into fire man- Nicaragua Country Program and agement strategies. MOPAWI (Mosquitia Pawisa Apiska), an NGO focused on the development and (6) Identify key individuals who might conservation of the Mosquitia. participate in training courses, exchanges and mentoring programs. The objectives of the assessment were to: (7) Propose fire workshops that could be (1) Gather information on the fire man- held in the region to further address fire- agement needs and issues within the related issues. Team Members – Dr. Joseph O’Brien, Fire Ecologist, USDA Forest Service, Athens, Georgia, USA – Dr. Ronald L. Myers, Fire Ecologist for Latin America, Global Fire Initiative, The Nature Conservancy, Tallahassee, Florida, USA – Steven Morrison, Central Florida Preserves Manager, The Nature Conservancy, Lake Wales, Florida, USA The team was accompanied by representatives from MOPAWI, in particular, Carlos Molinero, and COHDEFOR (the Honduran Forest Service), and met with a number of representatives from the local communities in Puerto Lempira, Mocorón, Laguna de Brus, and Laguna de Ibans. 1 (8) Provide TNC Honduras and This assessment builds on, and draws MOPAWI with recommendations and next information from, The Nature steps. Conservancy’s years of experience working in the pine savannas of Florida, USA, On this trip, we were unable to assess fire which are ecologically similar to Caribbean management threats and issues affecting pine savannas, and its current work in the the tropical broadleaved forests of the Rio Caribbean pine forests of the Bahamas Platano Biosphere Reserve, although cur- (Myers et al. 2004) and the Caribbean introduction rent problems with land tenure and agri- pine savannas of Belize. Much in this cultural colonization in and around the report is based on inferences made about reserve suggest that there will be an the dynamics of the Honduran pine savan- increasing fire problem in these areas from nas from the extensive knowledge about land clearing burns and escaped agricultur- the dynamics and fire regimes of the eco- al fires. logically equivalent slash pine (Pinus elliot- tii var. densa) and longleaf pine (Pinus This assessment was conducted as part of palustris) savannas in Florida, and support- the Latin American & Caribbean Fire ed by recent observations, management Learning Network funded through The actions and monitoring in the Caribbean Nature Conservancy, with financial assis- pine forests and savannas of Belize and the tance from the U.S. Forest Service Bahamas. International Programs. Caribbean Pine Distribution The information in this report is based on Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis, the observations by, and discussions among, Central American variety of Caribbean the members of the Assessment Team and pine, ranges from the coastal plains of their Honduran hosts during two days of Belize and portions of the Mountain Pine meetings in Tegucigalpa and six days in the Ridge, through the eastern lowlands of Honduras, and northeastern Nicaragua. field in the Mosquitia. The Team’s obser- Outlying populations of the species occur vations were limited to the following areas: in Quintana Roo, Mexico, eastern 1) along the road from Puerto Lempira to Guatemala, and the Bay Islands the community of Mocorón, and from (Honduras). As elevation increases it is Mocorón to the community of Pranza, found to intermix with, and be replaced by, which is located on the Honduran side of Pinus oocarpa. Two other varieties of the Rio Coco; 2) commercial air flights Caribbean pine exist: Pinus caribaea var. from La Ceiba to Puerto Lempira and bahamenis in the Bahamas and the Turks from Puerto Lempira to Laguna de Brus, & Caicos, and Pinus caribaea var. caribaea which gave a broad overview of vegetation found in western Cuba and on the Isle of distribution and recent fires; 3) the savan- Youth (Farjon & Styles 1997). Ecologically nas west and north of the village of Laguna and taxonomically, Pinus elliottii var. densa de Brus accessed by boat and by foot; 4) the (South Florida slash pine) in central and inland waterway from Laguna de Brus to southern Florida is very similar to P. carib- Laguna de Ibans and Plaplaya; and 5) a aea in terms of morphology, habitat and chartered over-flight inland from Laguna response to fire. At one time they were de Ibans over the Rio Platano Biosphere considered the same species (Little & Reserve then east toward Laguna de Brus. Dorman 1952). 2 introduction General Ecology of the Pine Soils, however, are not limiting to either Savannas vegetation type. In the absence of fire, The lowland Caribbean pine savannas hardwoods can invade the pinelands, while cover approximately 6,000 sq km in east- repeated burning of the broadleaved forest ern Honduras and 10,000 sq km in can favor pines and associated fire- Nicaragua (Figure 1). The topography is dependent species (Taylor 1963). In many flat to gently undulating, less than 200 m places the boundary between broadleaved above msl. Closer to the coast, drainage is forest and pine savanna is abrupt; in other poor and pines are restricted to ridges and places a dense monte or brushline separates mounds derived from ancient sand bars the two vegetation types (Parsons 1955). imbedded in a matrix of seasonally flooded or waterlogged grassland and/or palm These boundaries are a function of the dif- thickets. Broadleaved tropical forests ferences in flammability between pine extend along water courses as narrow savanna vegetation and the fuels it creates riparian zones and may form islands in and the moister, less flammable areas protected from fire. Soils are nutri- broadleaved vegetation. Virtually all fires ent poor sands, gravels and clays overlying originate in the pinelands. Most of these heavy clays, with the clays predominating in fires go out when they reach the moister, poorly drained areas. Larger tracts of shaded fuels found in the forest. In the few broadleaved forest occur on alluvial soils. places along these boundaries that escape Plaplaya Laguna de Ibans Río Platano Biosphere Laguna de Brus Reserve Puerto Lempira Mocorón Pranza Figure 1. General location of Caribbean pine in eastern Honduras and Nicaragua (from Howell 1971), and approximate locations of places mentioned in this report. 3 fire for several years, broadleaved trees to something dominated by tropical hard- intermingle with pine. During severe wood trees, palms and shrubs—ecosystems droughts fires may cross the boundary and without significant adaptations to fire—i.e. damage the tropical hardwood forest. The fire-sensitive ecosystems. The pines, grass- forest will recover if it remains fire-free, es and herbaceous species would disappear but fire-caused changes in fuel characteris- (Munro 1966). There are likely many ver- tics make these areas more flammable and tebrate and invertebrate species that susceptible to future burns. depend on the open, frequently burned introduction pine savanna for habitat and food. The The annual rainfall in eastern Honduras is dominant species in the overstory, mid- 2,600 to 3,500 mm with a marked dry sea- story and ground cover of the pine ecosys- son starting in February and extending to tem have adaptations to both survive fire May. This rainfall amount is more than and to respond positively to it. Their flam- enough to maintain tropical forest vegeta- mability also facilitates the spread of fire. tion, thus pointing to fire interacting with soils as the primary factor maintaining A specific fire regime is required to main- savannas in the region rather than climate.