How Many Species Are There In Bermuda?

Well-Known Local Species

How Did They Get Here?

Biodiversity Crisis

What You Can Do

Mission Statement

"..to gather, analyse and disseminate the biological information necessary
for the sustainable use of Bermuda's living resources."

Bermuda Biodiversity Project

It was in 1996 that Wolfgang Sterrer, Curator of the Natural History Museum at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo (BAMZ), put forward a proposal to ‘initiate and coordinate a comprehensive local and international effort to catalogue all of Bermuda's flora and fauna, with the goal of providing a basis for the sustainable use of the Island's living resources’. With a shoestring budget of $25,000, the Bermuda Biodiversity Project was launched, and now entering its eighth year, the project continues to mature and evolve its research focus in response to locally identified conservation needs.

The Bermuda Zoological Society has adopted the Bermuda Biodiversity Project as the umbrella name for all research at the BAMZ facility, including projects conducted in conjunction with other organisations. Our conservation and research programmes focus on Bermuda and are funded primarily by the Bermuda Government, U.K and U.S. Governments and private donations.

How Many Species Are There In Bermuda?

There’s the cedar, the palmettos, and palmetto bugs, of course; the cahow, the white-eyed vireo and the bluebird; and lots of flowering plants, and whistling frogs ... Plus groupers and turtles and calico clams. Not to forget cockroaches ... and people ...

While no one has ever actually counted all the species of plants and animals that occur in Bermuda, over 4,000 publications (now compiled in the Bermuda Natural History Bibliography) have described the island's natural history since the time of the first settlers in 1609. From these documents we know that there are at least 4,500 marine organisms, 1100 terrestrial insects and spiders, 350 birds, 750 fungi and over 1000 plants (most of which are introduced). This totals nearly 8,000 species; not bad for such a small island located over 1000km away from the nearest continent. Yet this may only be the visible tip of the iceberg once we start counting microscopic worms and bacteria, and all the cave-dwelling organisms, and deep sea creatures.

Well-Known Local Species Include:

Whistling Frog (Eleutherodactylus johnstonei)

Heard by all but rarely seen, Whistling Frogs create the symphony of Bermuda's summer nights. Introduced to Bermuda from the Lesser Antilles around 1880, this miniature amphibian sings at night whenever the temperature is over 70°F. Unlike most amphibians, the Whistling Frog doesn't lay its eggs in ponds, choosing instead the small pockets of water that are trapped at the base of such large-leafed plants as the banana. These moisture-loving amphibians seek out damp spots under stones or in plant debris to avoid water loss through their porous skin during the heat of the day.

Cahow (Pterodroma cahow)

The nocturnal cries of this once abundant endemic seabird so frightened early mariners that they named Bermuda 'The Isles of Devils'. Over-harvesting for food, clearing of land and the devastating impact of introduced cats, rats and pigs rapidly caused the Cahow population to crash. Indeed, as early as 1621, only 9 years after the colonisation of the islands, the species was believed to be extinct. Remarkably it took over 300 years for the species to be rediscovered. Today, through active conservation, approximately 35 breeding pairs survive to rear their single chicks who leave to spend their first 8 years of life on the open ocean, before returning as adults to complete the cycle on one of the few small islands where they can find safety from introduced species.

Eastern Blue Bird (Sialia sialis)

One of the more beautiful native birds, the Bluebird is said to 'carry the sky on its back and the earth on its breast'. Originally nesting in crevices in trunks of Bermuda's ancient cedar forests, the Bluebird adapted well to man-made habitat changes, finding abundant insects and worms in agricultural fields and lawns. The introduction of the hole-dwelling sparrow increased competition for choice nesting sites resulting in a reduction in breeding success. The subsequent arrival of the aggressive starling and the widespread use of deadly pesticides further threatened local Bluebirds. Today a reduced population of Bluebirds benefits from the establishment of artificial nesting boxes with an entrance 1 1/2" in diameter to exclude larger birds.

Bermuda Cedar (Juniperus bermudiana)

The endemic Bermuda Cedar, which probably evolved from a common ancestor of the closely related mainland and West Indian cedars, dominated the Island's landscape until the early 1940's. Well-suited to the limestone-derived soil, its roots were able to penetrate deeply enough to provide a strong anchor against hurricanes, whilst its foliage was remarkably tolerant of salt spray. However, in 1944, Bermuda's cedars came under attack by the Oyster-shell Scale insect and within ten years, 90% of the cedars were dead. During this time, elaborate efforts were made to try and curb the infestation using various predatory insects, but most of the trees could not be saved. Only 1% of the original cedar forest survived and demonstrated some resistance to the scale outbreak. Efforts are currently underway to plant resistant trees across the Island.

How Did They Get Here?

So how did all these plants and animals find their way to Bermuda, and where did they come from? Well, like most isolated islands, only those animals capable of swimming, rafting or flying from the continental United States, South America and Europe, and those plants whose seeds are dispersed by birds or are able to float and drift in the currents, were able to get here before human settlement. This excluded most mammals (except bats) and reptiles and all amphibians. Our marine flora and fauna largely originated from the West Indies, finding its way to Bermuda via the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, which flows up from the Caribbean past the Island. Indeed it is because of the Gulf Stream that Bermuda supports the most northerly coral reef system in the world.

Biodiversity Crisis

Over-exploitation from the days of the first settlers, the introduction of a host of foreign species, and the increasing pressure for development in order to acommodate a resident population of 60,000 entertaining 500,000 visitors a year, pose an escalating threat to the fragile ecology of the island and surrounding reefs. Many of our endemic species have become extinct, while surviving ones such as the cahow, skink and cedar have been severely threatened.

What You Can Do

If you care about the environment, wildlife and plants, then get involved in making the Earth a better place. Find out how to get involved at BAMZ to support vital conservation education and research programmes.

You can make Conservation Cents. BZS has a bathysphere replica in the Aquarium at BAMZ, which is sponsored by the Bermuda financial institution, Capital G. We ask visitors to the Aquarium to deposit spare change into the Bathysphere. The money is used to fund conservation projects, which makes Conservation Cents. Learn about the current Conservation Cents project, and how schools or businesses can contribute.