Cerro El Potosí is the highest mountain in the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range of northeast

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It is located in the state of Nuevo León, about 80 km (50 mi) south of Monterrey.

Flora and fauna

It is composed of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, and is noted for its very diverse flora including several endemic or near-endemic species, such as the

Potosi Pinyon ''Pinus culminicola'', commonly known as Potosí pinyon or Potosí Piñón, is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native and endemic to northeast Mexico. The range is highly localised, confined to a small area of high summits in the northern Sierra ...

. At the foot of the mountain, a series of springs and

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 were the only site in which the pupfish '' Cyprinodon alvarezi'' and '' Megupsilon aporus'', and the dwarf crayfish ''

Cambarellus alvarezi ''Cambarellus'' is a genus of small freshwater crayfish in the Family (biology), family Cambaridae. The 19 species are found in Mexico (subgenus ''Cambarellus'') and the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf States of the United States (subgenus ...

'' lived. The last two are entirely extinct, while ''Cyprinodon alvarezi'' is extinct in the wild (only survives in captivity).

Access

Access was very difficult in the past, but in the 1960s a microwave relay station was built on the summit, with the road built for this providing easy access from the east.

Protected areas

In 2000 the upper slopes of the mountain were designated an ecological reserve, covering 9.02 km².UNEP-WCMC (2021). Protected Area Profile for Cerro El Potosí from the World Database of Protected Areas. Accessed 7 September 2021

/ref> A northern portion of the mountain, including the actual summit, are in the Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 026 Bajo Río San Juan, a natural resources protection area.

References

External links

"Cerro el Potosí, Mexico" on Peakbagger
Potosi Landforms of Nuevo León Sierra Madre Oriental North American 3000 m summits Protected areas of the Sierra Madre Oriental Important Bird Areas of Mexico {{NuevoLeón-geo-stub

Flora and fauna

Access

Protected areas

See also

References

External links