Aripo

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Aripo is the name of several places in Trinidad.

• The Heights of Aripo and the Aripo Massif are part of the Northern Range and include El Cerro del Aripo, the highest point in Trinidad and Tobago.
• The Aripo Valley, a valley in the Northern Range immediately to the west of the Arima Valley
• The Aripo River, which flows from the Aripo Massif, through the Aripo Valley and eventually joins the Caroni River
• The Aripo Savannas, a part of the Aripo Savannas Scientific Reserve, an area of lowlands bounded by the Aripo River. The Aripo Savannas are Pleistocene river terraces with highly leached soils and impeded drainage. They form on of the last remaining patches of natural savanna in Trinidad and Tobago. The savannas are sedge-dominated and are flooded during the wet season and extremely dry during the dry season. They support several endemic plant species and many other species that are not found elsewhere in Trinidad.

In the 1800 hectares that make up the Aripo Savannas Scientific Reserve, there are three distinct plant communities. These are the Marsh Forest which consists of Timite (Manicaria saccifera), Manac and the Palm Reale; the Palm Marsh consisting mainly of Moriche Palm (Mauritia setigera) and the Fat Pork (Crysobalanus icaco); and finally the savannas it self which consists of wild cashew, savanna serrett (Brysonima Crassifolia) and several grasses like paspalum. There are ten natural savannas in the Aripo area.

The soil in the Aripo Savannas is very infertile, consisting mostly of gravels and very sandy and silty soils which layer impermeable clays. The clay causes the Aripo Savannas to have an elevated water table which creates the hydrophitic or marsh forest which surround the natural savannas.

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