Editing Navassa Island (section)

===Ecology===
[[File:NavassaCoastAerialUSGS.jpg|thumb|Navassa Island has a steep and rocky coastline that rings the island.]]

Navassa Island's topography, ecology, and modern history are similar to those of [[Mona, Puerto Rico|Mona Island]], a small limestone island located in the [[Mona Passage]] between [[Puerto Rico]] and the [[Dominican Republic]]. These islands were once centers of [[guano]] mining and are now nature reserves for the United States.

Transient Haitian fishermen and others camp on Navassa Island. Still, it is uninhabited.<ref name="CoRIS"/> Navassa has no ports or harbors, only offshore anchorages, and its only natural resource is guano. Economic activity consists of subsistence fishing and commercial trawling activities.<ref name="CIA"/> A 2009 survey of fishermen in southwestern Haiti estimated some 300 fishermen, primarily from [[Anse d'Hainault Arrondissement]], regularly fished near the island.<ref>{{cite report|title=Rapid Survey of Haitian Fishing Villages Exploiting Resources at Navassa Island |date=August 2009 |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/oceans/coris/library/NOAA/CRCP/project/1056/rapid_survey_haiti_fish_villages_navassa.pdf |author=Fondation pour la Protection de la Biodiversité Marine |access-date=2022-12-19}}</ref>

There were eight species of native reptiles, all of which are believed to be, or to have been, [[Endemism|endemic]] to Navassa Island: ''[[Comptus badius]]'' (an [[Anguidae|anguid lizard]]), ''[[Aristelliger cochranae]]'' (a [[gecko]]), ''[[Sphaerodactylus becki]]'' (a gecko), ''[[Anolis longiceps]]'' (an [[anole]]), ''[[Cyclura cornuta onchiopsis]]'' (an endemic subspecies of the [[rhinoceros iguana]]), ''[[Leiocephalus eremitus]]'' (a [[curly-tailed lizard]]), ''[[Tropidophis bucculentus]]'' (a [[dwarf boa]]), and ''[[Typhlops sulcatus]]'' (a tiny snake).<ref name=reptiles>Powell, Robert (2003). ''[http://www.avila.edu/bobpowell/6pownav.htm Reptiles of Navassa Island.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725093035/http://www.avila.edu/bobpowell/6pownav.htm |date=July 25, 2013 }}'' Avila University.</ref> Of these, the first four remain common, with the next three likely [[extinct]], and the last being possibly [[extirpated]]<ref name=reptiles/> due to feral [[Feral cat|cats]], [[Free-ranging dog|dogs]] and [[feral pigs|pigs]] inhabiting the island.

In 2012, ''[[Acropora palmata]]'' (elkhorn coral), a common reef-building coral of the Caribbean, was located underwater near the island. The remaining coral was found to be in good condition.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2012/07/strangest-island-in-the-caribbean-may-be-a-sanctuary-for-critically-endangered-coral/ |title=Strangest island in the Caribbean may be a sanctuary for critically endangered coral |date=July 16, 2012 |access-date=2017-07-20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019183945/https://news.mongabay.com/2012/07/strangest-island-in-the-caribbean-may-be-a-sanctuary-for-critically-endangered-coral/ |archive-date=October 19, 2017 |df=mdy-all }} ''Strangest island in the Caribbean may be a sanctuary for critically endangered coral.'' Julian Smith. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2018.</ref>