The Bajío dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

in western−central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Geography

The Bajío dry forests lie in the southwestern portion of the

Mexican Plateau The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano ( es, Altiplanicie Mexicana), is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. Averaging above sea level, it extends from the United States b ...

. They are bounded on the southeast, south, and southwest by the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests, which occupy the folded mountains and volcanoes of the

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ( es, Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks h ...

that form the southern edge of the Mexican Plateau. The

Sierra Madre Occidental pine-oak forests Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...

of the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...

bound the ecoregion on the northwest. The numerous mountains of the plateau which rise above the dry forests are occupied by sky islands of pine-oak forest. To the north, the Bajío dry forests transition to the drier, more temperate Central Mexican matorral. Most of the ecoregion lies within the basin of the

Lerma River The Lerma River ( es, Río Lerma) is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, nea ...

, and the dry forests extend around Lake Chapala at the eastern end of the region, and into the

endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

s of Lake Cuitzeo and

Lake Pátzcuaro Lake Pátzcuaro (Spanish: ''Lago de Pátzcuaro'') is a lake in the municipality of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. Lake Pátzcuaro lies in an endorheic basin, which does not drain to the sea. A watershed area of 929 square kilometres drains into ...

in the south. The cities of

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaj ...

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and lar ...

, and

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities. Its cap ...

lie within the ecoregion.

Fauna

Native mammals include Mexican wolf ''(Canus lupus baileyi)'' and

pocketed free-tailed bat The pocketed free-tailed bat (''Nyctinomops femorosaccus'') is a species of bat in the family Molossidae found in Mexico and in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States. They resemble the Brazilian free-tailed bat (''Ta ...

''(Nyctinomops femorosaccus).'' Birds include the black-throated magpie-jay ''(Calocitta colliei),''

thick-billed kingbird The thick-billed kingbird (''Tyrannus crassirostris'') is a large bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. Distribution and habitat This bird breeds from southeastern Arizona and extreme southwestern New Mexico in the United Sta ...

''(Tyrannus crassirostris),''

whiskered screech owl The whiskered screech owl (''Megascops trichopsis'') is a small screech owl found in North and Central America. Description Adults occur in 2 color morphs, in either brown or dark grey plumage. They have a round head with ear tufts, yellow eyes ...

''(Otus trichopsus),''

orange-fronted parakeet The orange-fronted parakeet or orange-fronted conure (''Eupsittula canicularis''), also known as the half-moon conure, is a medium-sized parrot that is resident from western Mexico to Costa Rica. Taxonomy The orange-fronted parakeet was Species ...

''(Aratinga caniculanis),''

dwarf vireo The dwarf vireo (''Vireo nelsoni'') is a species of bird in the family Vireonidae. It is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant commun ...

''(Vireo nelsoni)'', and black-polled yellowthroat ''(Geothlypis speciosa).''

Development

The ecoregion is densely populated, and centuries of human use have reduced the dry forests to small pockets. Dry deciduous forest used to be the dominant vegetation, but thorn scrub and subtropical matorral are now more common, interspersed with agricultural and pasture lands.

Protected areas

7.52% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include

Cerro de Las Campanas National Park The ''Cerro de las Campanas'' ("Hill of the Bells") is a hill and national park located in Querétaro City, Mexico. It is most noteworthy as the place where Emperor Maximilian I and Generals Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía were executed, defi ...

, El Cimatario National Park, Lago de Camécuaro National Park,

La Primavera Flora and Fauna Protection Area La Primavera Biosphere Reserve, also known as La Primavera Flora and Fauna Protection Area, is a protected natural area in western Mexico. It is located in the state of Jalisco, immediately west of the city of Guadalajara. Geography La Primaver ...

, Siete Luminarias Natural Monument, and Sierra del Águila Protected Area.

External links

References