Editing Bermuda (section)

===Flora and fauna===
{{Main|Wildlife of Bermuda}}
[[File:Juvenile Bermuda Cedar at Ferry Reach.jpg|thumb|Young Bermuda cedar tree at [[Ferry Reach, Bermuda|Ferry Reach]]]]
[[File:White-eyed vireo (Vireo griseus bermudianus) in Bermuda.jpg|thumb|White-eyed vireo (''Vireo griseus bermudianus'')]]

When discovered, Bermuda was uninhabited by humans and mostly dominated by forests of [[Juniperus bermudiana|Bermuda cedar]], with [[mangrove]] [[marsh]]es along its shores.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Britton |first=Lord Nathaniel |date=8 January 1918 |title=Flora of Bermuda |url=http://archive.org/details/floraofbermuda00brit |access-date=8 January 2021 |publisher=Scribner's sons |place=New York City |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> [[Forest cover]] is around 20% of the total land area, equivalent to 1,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, which was unchanged from 1990.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a6e225da-4a31-4e06-818d-ca3aeadfd635/content |title=Terms and Definitions FRA 2025 Forest Resources Assessment, Working Paper 194 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |year=2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Bermuda |url=https://fra-data.fao.org/assessments/fra/2020/BMU/home/overview |website=Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations}}</ref>

Only 165 of the island's current 1,000&nbsp;[[vascular plant]] species are considered [[indigenous (ecology)|native]]; fifteen of those, including the eponymous cedar, are [[endemism|endemic]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Endemic Species |website=The Department of Environment and Natural Resources |place=Bermuda |language=en-GB |url=https://environment.bm/endemic-species |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215135412/https://environment.bm/endemic-species |archive-date=15 February 2020 |access-date=15 February 2020}}</ref> The tropical climate of Bermuda allowed settlers to introduce multiple non-native species of trees and plants to the island.<ref name="z277">{{cite web | title=Bermuda » NNSS | website=Home » NNSS | url=https://www.nonnativespecies.org/overseas-territories/territory-pages/bermuda | access-date=18 February 2025}}</ref> Today, multiple types of palm trees, fruit trees, and bananas grow on Bermuda, though the cultivated [[coconut]] palms are considered non-native and may be removed.<ref name="y376">{{cite web | title=Coconut palm trees don't suit us | website=The Royal Gazette | date=12 February 2016 | url=https://www.royalgazette.com/letters-to-the-editor/article/20160212/coconut-palm-trees-dont-suit-us/ | access-date=18 February 2025}}</ref> The country contains the [[Bermuda subtropical conifer forests]] terrestrial ecoregion.<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal |last1=Dinerstein |first1=Eric |last2=Olson |first2=David |last3=Joshi |first3=Anup |last4=Vynne |first4=Carly |last5=Burgess |first5=Neil D. |last6=Wikramanayake |first6=Eric |last7=Hahn |first7=Nathan |last8=Palminteri |first8=Suzanne |last9=Hedao |first9=Prashant |last10=Noss |first10=Reed |last11=Hansen |first11=Matt |last12=Locke |first12=Harvey |last13=Ellis |first13=Erle C. |last14=Jones |first14=Benjamin |last15=Barber |first15=Charles Victor |last16=Hayes |first16=Randy |last17=Kormos |first17=Cyril |last18=Martin |first18=Vance |last19=Crist |first19=Eileen |last20=Sechrest |first20=Wes |last21=Price |first21=Lori |last22=Baillie |first22=Jonathan E.M. |last23=Weeden |first23=Don |last24=Suckling |first24=Kierán |last25=Davis |first25=Crystal |last26=Sizer |first26=Nigel |last27=Moore |first27=Rebecca |last28=Thau |first28=David |last29=Birch |first29=Tanya |last30=Potapov |first30=Peter |last31=Turubanova |first31=Svetlana |last32=Tyukavina |first32=Alexandra |last33=de Souza |first33=Nadia |last34=Pintea |first34=Lilian |last35=Brito |first35=José C. |last36=Llewellyn |first36=Othman A. |last37=Miller |first37=Anthony G. |last38=Patzelt |first38=Annette |last39=Ghazanfar |first39=Shahina A. |last40=Timberlake |first40=Jonathan |last41=Klöser |first41=Heinz |last42=Shennan-Farpón |first42=Yara |last43=Kindt |first43=Roeland |last44=Lillesø |first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow |last45=van Breugel |first45=Paulo |last46=Graudal |first46=Lars |last47=Voge |first47=Maianna |last48=Al-Shammari |first48=Khalaf F. |last49=Saleem |first49=Muhammad |display-authors=6 |year=2017 |title=An ecoregion-based approach to protecting half the terrestrial realm |journal=[[BioScience]] |volume=67 |issue=6 |pages=534–545 |doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |doi-access=free |issn=0006-3568 |pmc=5451287 |pmid=28608869}}</ref>

The only [[Indigenous (ecology)|indigenous]] [[mammal]]s of Bermuda are five species of bat, all of which are also found in the eastern United States: the silver-haired bat ''[[Lasionycteris noctivagans]]'', eastern red bat ''[[Lasiurus borealis]]'', hoary bat ''[[Lasiurus cinereus]]'', Seminole bat ''[[Lasiurus seminolus]],'' and tricolored bat ''[[Perimyotis subflavus]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Grady, F.V. |author2=Olson, S.L. |name-list-style=amp |year=2006 |title=Fossil bats from Quaternary deposits on Bermuda (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=148–152 |doi=10.1644/05-MAMM-A-179R1.1 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Other commonly known fauna of Bermuda include its national bird, the [[Bermuda petrel]] or cahow, which was rediscovered in 1951 after having been thought extinct since the 1620s.<ref>{{cite iucn |publisher=[[BirdLife International]] |date=2018 |title=''Pterodroma cahow'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22698088A132624115 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22698088A132624115.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> The cahow is important as an example of a [[Lazarus taxon|Lazarus]] species, hence the government has a programme to protect it, including restoration of its habitat areas. Another well-known species includes the [[white-tailed tropicbird]], locally known as the longtail. These birds come inland to breed around February to March and are Bermudians' first sign of incoming spring.<ref>{{cite web |title=Longtail (White Tailed Tropicbird) |website=The Department of Environment and Natural Resources |language=en-GB |url=https://environment.bm/longtail |url-status=live |access-date=16 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216042947/https://environment.bm/longtail |archive-date=16 February 2022}}</ref>

The [[Bermuda rock lizard]] (or Bermuda rock skink) was long thought to have been the only indigenous non-bird land vertebrate of Bermuda, discounting the marine turtles that lay their eggs on its beaches. However, scientists have recently discovered through genetic DNA studies that a species of turtle, the [[diamondback terrapin]], previously thought to have been introduced to the archipelago, actually pre-dated the arrival of humans.<ref>{{cite web |title=Diamondback Terrapin |website=The Department of Conservation Services |place=Bermuda |url=http://www.conservation.bm/diamondback-terrapin/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140807051136/http://www.conservation.bm/diamondback-terrapin/ |archive-date=7 August 2014}}</ref>

Only three [[bee]] species have been recorded on Bermuda. The western honey bee ''[[Western honey bee|Apis mellifera]]'' was introduced by English colonists around 1616,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kevan |first=D. Keith McE. |date=April 1981 |title=The terrestrial arthropods of the Bermudas: an historical review of our knowledge |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/anh.1981.10.1.1 |journal=Archives of Natural History |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=1–29 |doi=10.3366/anh.1981.10.1.1 |issn=0260-9541}}</ref> marking the beginning of beekeeping's cultural significance on the island. A second species, the sweat bee ''[[Lasioglossum semiviridie]]'', was last recorded in 1922. Recent DNA analysis has revealed that the leafcutter bee ''[[Megachile pruina]]'' in Bermuda constitutes a unique evolutionary lineage, distinct from ''M. pruina'' populations in the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rose |first1=Jennifer |last2=Gilbert |first2=M. Thomas P. |last3=Outerbridge |first3=Mark |last4=Morales |first4=Hernán E. |date=30 August 2024 |title=Evolutionary genomics analysis reveals a unique lineage of Megachile pruina found in an isolated population in Bermuda |journal=Insect Conservation and Diversity |volume=17 |issue=6 |pages=1143–1155 |language=en |doi=10.1111/icad.12776 |issn=1752-458X|doi-access=free }}</ref>