Editing Guadeloupe (section)

=== Flora ===
[[File:Pic de la Guadeloupe.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Guadeloupe woodpecker]] is endemic to the islands.]]
With fertile volcanic soils, heavy rainfall and a warm climate, vegetation on Basse-Terre is lush.<ref name="britannica">{{cite web |title=Guadeloupe |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Guadeloupe |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=12 December 2018 |archive-date=12 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212151457/https://www.britannica.com/place/Guadeloupe |url-status=live}}</ref> Most of the island's forests are on Basse-Terre, containing such species as [[mahogany]], [[ironwood]] and [[chestnut tree]]s.<ref name="britannica.com" /> [[Mangrove swamps]] line the Salée River.<ref name="britannica.com" /> Much of the forest on Grande-Terre has been cleared, with only a few small patches remaining.<ref name="britannica.com" />

Between {{convert|300|and|1,000|m}} of altitude, the [[rainforest]] that covers a large part of the island of Basse-Terre develops. Vegetation there includes the white gum tree, the [[acomat-boucan]] or chestnut tree, the marbri or bois-bandé or the oleander; shrubs and herbaceous plants such as the mountain palm, the balisier or ferns; many epiphytes: [[bromeliads]], philodendrons, [[orchids]] and [[lianas]]. Above {{cvt|1,000|m}}, the humid savannah develops, composed of mosses, [[lichen]]s, sphagnum or more vigorous plants such as mountain [[mangrove]], high altitude violet or mountain thyme.

The [[dry forest]] occupies a large part of the islands of Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, Les Saintes, [[La Désirade]] and also develops on the leeward coast of Basse-Terre. The coastal forest is more difficult to develop because of the nature of the soil (sandy, rocky), [[salinity]], sunshine and wind and is the environment where the sea grape, the [[Hippomane|mancenilla]] (a very toxic tree whose trunk is marked with a red line), the icaquier or the [[Coconut]] tree grow. On the [[cliffs]] and in the [[Arid]] zones are found cacti such as the cactus-cigar (Cereus), the prickly pear, the chestnut cactus, the "Tête à l'anglais" cactus and the aloes.

The [[Mangrove]] forest that borders some of Guadalupe's coasts is structured in three levels, from the closest to the sea to the farthest. On the first level are the [[Optediceros breviculum|red mangroves]]; on the second, about {{convert|10|metres}} from the sea, the [[black mangrove]]s form the shrubby mangrove; on the third level the white mangroves form the tall mangrove. Behind the mangrove, where the tide and salt do not penetrate, a swamp forest sometimes develops, unique in Guadeloupe. The representative species of this environment is the Mangrove-medaille.[[File:Artibeus jamaicensis.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A Jamaican fruit bats hanging from a tree|The [[Jamaican fruit bat]] can be found throughout the [[department of France|department]]. | 310x310px]]