Tropical and Subtropical Coniferous Forest

Tropical and subtropical coniferous forest is one of the fourteen terrestrial biomes recognized in the World Wide Fund for Nature's global biome classification. It occurs mainly in North and Central America, from Mexico south to Nicaragua, with related forests in the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas and Bermuda, plus further ecoregions in Asia. The biome experiences comparatively low rainfall and moderately variable temperatures, conditions that favor conifers whose needle-shaped leaves cope well with the variability. Its thick, closed canopy blocks most light from reaching the ground, so the forest floor is dominated by fungi and ferns rather than a dense herb layer, with an understory of shrubs and small trees beneath the conifers. Mexico holds the richest and most structurally complex forests of this type anywhere in the world, and the forests of the Greater Antilles carry many species found nowhere else. The biome also serves as important winter habitat for migratory birds and butterflies traveling south from further north in the hemisphere.