Forest Ecosystem Assessment for the Guava to Morant River & Moore Town Sites, Rio Grande Valley, Portland Prepared for the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust (JCDT) September 2018 Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................. 2 List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ 3 List of Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 5 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 The Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park ...................................................................... 6 1.2 Biodiversity ................................................................................................................................. 10 1.2.1 Plants ................................................................................................................................... 10 1.2.2 Animals ................................................................................................................................ 11 2 SCOPE OF WORK ................................................................................................................................. 14 3 Method for Forest Assessment ........................................................................................................... 15 3.1 Sample Sites ................................................................................................................................ 15 3.2 Sample Unit Distribution ............................................................................................................. 17 3.3 Sample Unit Size .......................................................................................................................... 17 3.4 Establishment of sample plots .................................................................................................... 18 3.5 Collection of Vegetation Data ..................................................................................................... 20 3.6 Forest Health Assessment ........................................................................................................... 21 3.7 Invasive alien species (IAS) Assessment...................................................................................... 21 3.8 Ecological Threat Assessment ..................................................................................................... 21 3.9 Calculation of Biodiversity Indices .............................................................................................. 22 3.9.1 Simpson’s Index of Diversity ............................................................................................... 22 3.9.2 Shannon’s Index of Diversity ............................................................................................... 22 3.9.3 Importance Value Index ...................................................................................................... 23 3.9.4 Margalef’s Index of species richness .................................................................................. 23 3.9.5 Pielou’s Evenness Index ...................................................................................................... 23 3.9.6 Total Basal Area .................................................................................................................. 23 4 Findings ............................................................................................................................................... 24 4.1 Morant to Guava River ................................................................................................................ 24 4.1.1 Trees .................................................................................................................................... 24 4.1.2 Regenerates and Saplings in the Guava to Morant River area. .......................................... 29 4.2 Moore Town ................................................................................................................................ 30 4.2.1 Trees .................................................................................................................................... 30 4.2.2 Regenerates and Saplings in the Guava to Moore Town. ................................................... 33 4.3 Comparison of the Guava to Morant River and the Moore Town. ............................................. 34 4.4 Forest Health Assessment ........................................................................................................... 36 4.5 Land Use – Forestry Department Satellite Analysis vs. on the ground ....................................... 36 4.6 Invasive Alien Species ................................................................................................................. 37 4.7 Giant Swallowtail Butterfly ......................................................................................................... 40 4.8 Jamaican Coney ........................................................................................................................... 42 4.9 Overview of Human Activities in the Study Area ........................................................................ 43 4.9.1 Harvesting of Non-forest produce ...................................................................................... 43 4.9.2 Subsistence Farming ........................................................................................................... 44 4.9.3 Animal Husbandry ............................................................................................................... 45 5 Recommendations .............................................................................................................................. 47 5.1 Reforestation (Planting) Proposal for Degraded Areas............................................................... 48 5.1.1 Land identification .............................................................................................................. 48 5.1.2 Reconnaissance and Surveying ........................................................................................... 48 5.1.3 Land Preparation ................................................................................................................. 49 5.1.4 Planting ............................................................................................................................... 49 6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 51 7 References .......................................................................................................................................... 53 8 Appendix I ........................................................................................................................................... 55 8.1 Plant Species List of Guava to Morant River Area ...................................................................... 55 8.2 Plant Species List of Moore Town area ....................................................................................... 58 9 Appendix II .......................................................................................................................................... 60 9.1 Terms of Reference ..................................................................................................................... 60 List of Tables Table 1: Comparison of various indices of Guava to Morant River and Moore Town. .............................. 34 Table 2: List of Invasive Alien Species Observed in the Study Areas. ......................................................... 37 2 | P a g e Table 3: Recommended plants for reforestation........................................................................................ 50 List of Figures Figure 1: A section of the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park .................................................... 6 Figure 2: Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park. ............................................................................. 7 Figure 3: Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park and possible areas for rehabilitation. .................. 8 Figure 4: Blue Mahoe (Hibiscus elatus) ....................................................................................................... 10 Figure 5: Hot-lips (Cephaelis elata) and Jamaican Rose (Blakea trinervia). ................................................ 10 Figure 6: Bromeliad observed in the BJCMP. .............................................................................................. 11 Figure 7: Jamaican Blackbird (Nesopsar nigerrimus). ................................................................................. 12 Figure 8: Jamaican Tody, Rufous-throated Solitaire and Mountain Witch. ................................................ 12 Figure 9: Jamaican Boa (Epicrates subflavus).