The Chiapas montane forests is a

tropical moist broadleaf forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

in southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and extending into western

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. It includes the montane tropical forests on the northern and northeastern slopes of the Chiapas Highlands.

Geography

The Chiapas montane forests lie on the northern and northeastern slopes of the Chiapas highlands, between the lowland

Petén–Veracruz moist forests The Petén–Veracruz moist forests is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest biome found in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. Setting The Petén–Veracruz moist forests cover an area of , extending from central Verac ...

to the north and east and the

Central American pine–oak forests The Central American pine–oak forests is a tropical and subtropical coniferous forests ecoregion in the mountains of northern Central America and Chiapas state in southern Mexico. Setting The Central American pine–oak forests occupy an area ...

in the higher mountains to the south.

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is tropical and humid. The forests have a cooler climate than the adjacent lowlands, and average annual temperatures decrease with elevation.

Flora

The predominant plant community is mountain cloud forest. Characteristic tree species include majagua (''

Trichospermum mexicanum ''Trichospermum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae ''sensu lato'' or Tiliaceae or Sparrmanniaceae. Species are distributed in Malesia to the tropical Americas. Species ''Plants of the World Online'' lists: *''Trichospermum ...

''),

American sweetgum ''Liquidambar styraciflua'', commonly known as the American sweetgum among other names, is a deciduous tree in the genus ''Liquidambar'' native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central A ...

(''Liquidambar styraciflua'') and

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

(''Alnus'' sp). There are approximately 98,050 hectares of primary forest, and 272,991 hectares of second-growth forest.Wiken, Ed, Francisco Jiménez Nava, and Glenn Griffith. 2011. ''North American Terrestrial Ecoregions—Level III''. Commission for Environmental Cooperation, Montreal, Canada.

Fauna

Native animals include

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

(''Canis latrans'') and

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

(''Odocoileus virginianus''), mountain trogon (''Trogon mexicanus''),

Steller's jay Steller's jay (''Cyanocitta stelleri'') is a bird native to western North America and the mountains of Central America, closely related to the blue jay (''C. cristata'') found in eastern North America. It is the only crest (feathers), crested jay ...

(''Cyanocitta stelleri''),

Stuart's burrowing snake Stuart's burrowing snake (''Adelphicos veraepacis'') is a species of colubrid snake. It is endemic to the Guatemala, where it can be found in pine-oak and cloud forests on Sierra de las Minas, the Cuilco Mountains, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes ...

(''Adelphicos veraepacis''), and Godman's pit viper (''Bothrops godmani'').

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found 273 km², or 5%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include Nahá Flora and Fauna Protection Area,

Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve is a protected natural area in Chiapas state of southern Mexico. The reserve protects 3312 km2 of the Lacandon Jungle, a lowland tropical rainforest. Geography Montes Azules Biosphere reserve adjoins Lacan-T ...

, and

Lagunas de Montebello National Park Lagunas de Montebello, or Montebello Lakes, () is a national park in the Mexican state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, comprising 59 multi-colored lakes in a Central American pine–oak forests, pine forest and two Maya civilization, ...

."Chiapas montane forests". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 26 September 2021
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External links

References

{{coord missing, Mexico Chiapas Highlands Ecoregions of Mexico Ecoregions of Guatemala Montane forests Natural history of Chiapas Neotropical tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Cloud forests of Mexico