Country

Bermuda: one ecoregion. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Bermuda constitutes its own ecoregion, the Bermuda subtropical conifer forests, a 15-square-mile Nearctic outpost of the tropical and subtropical coniferous forest biome and one of the smallest ecoregions in the world. It sits in the Nature Imperiled tier, which reflects how thoroughly the island's original cedar-dominated forest cover has been altered. The Gulf Stream setting gives Bermuda a mild oceanic subtropical climate, essentially frost-free, with salt wind as the constant stress. For gardeners that means a generous palette by mid-Atlantic standards, subtropical trees, palms, and flowering shrubs all viable, but with salt tolerance and wind resistance as the first filters, and native conifer restoration plantings carrying particular conservation weight on an island whose namesake forest is imperiled.