The Tehuacán Valley matorral is a xeric shrubland

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 ...

, of the

deserts and xeric shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

, located in eastern

Central Mexico Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center (disambiguation), center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa ...

. Matorral is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

word, along with ''tomillares'', for shrubland,

thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in t ...

bushes A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

. The term is used alone for a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

ecosystem in Southern Europe.

Geography

The Tehuacán Valley matorral ecoregion occupies the

Tehuacán Valley "By faith and hope" , , image_map = , mapsize = 300 px , map_caption = Location of Tehuacán within the state of Puebla. , image_map1 = Puebla en México.svg , mapsize1 = 300 px , ma ...

Oriental Basin The Oriental Basin, also known as the Libres-Oriental Basin, Oriental-Serdán Basin or San Juan Plains (in Spanish, ''Llanos de San Juan'' or ''Cuenca de Libres-Oriental)'' is an endorheic basin in east-central Mexico. It covers an area of 4,958.60 ...

, and adjacent valleys, covering parts of the states of

Tlaxcala Tlaxcala (; , ; from nah, Tlaxcallān ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipaliti ...

, Puebla and

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

. The valleys lie in the rain shadow of the surrounding mountain ranges, and are drier than the surrounding ecoregions.

Adjacent ecoregions

The Tehuacán Valley matorral is bounded by the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests to the northwest, north, and northeast, the

Sierra Madre de Oaxaca 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 ...

to the east, and by the Balsas dry forests to the southeast, south, and southwest.

Flora

The Tehuacán Valley matorral is a center of plant diversity, with over 2700 species, of which approximately 30% are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

. It is a center of diversity for species of ''

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

'', ''

Hechtia ''Hechtia'' is a genus of plants in the family Bromeliaceae, and is the sole genus of the subfamily Hechtioideae, containing 75 species. Its species are native to Mexico, Central America, and Texas. The genus is named for Julius Gottfried Conr ...

'', ''

Salvia ''Salvia'' () is the largest genus of plants in the sage family Lamiaceae, with nearly 1000 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part of the tribe Mentheae within the subfamily Nepetoi ...

'', and

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

. The ecoregion has a number of distinct plant communities.

Fauna

The ecoregion is notable for its diversity of birds and bats. Of the 90 species of birds present, 10 are endemic, including the

ocellated thrasher The ocellated thrasher (''Toxostoma ocellatum'') is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is endemic to Mexico. Taxonomy and systematics The ocellated thrasher has two subspecies, the nominate ''T. o. ocellatum'' and ''T. o. villai''. ...

(''Toxostoma ocellatum''), and

bridled sparrow The bridled sparrow (''Peucaea mystacalis'') is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae. It is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland. The species are brown Brown is a color. It can be ...

(''Aimorphilla mystacalis''). 34 species of bats inhabit the ecoregion, of which 18 are endangered, vulnerable, or rare.

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 1,594 km², or 16%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b

/ref> Protected areas include the

Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán biosphere reserve is a protected natural area located in southeastern Mexico. Its name derives from its two main locations: Cuicatlán and Tehuacán, in the latter are their administrative offices, covers 490,186 hectares d ...

References

*Valiente-Banuet, Alfonso, Noe Flores-Hernandez, Miguel Verdu, Patricia Davila. "The chaparral vegetation in Mexico under nonmediterranean climate: the convergence and Madrean-Tethyan hypotheses reconsidered". ''

American Journal of Botany The ''American Journal of Botany'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal which covers all aspects of plant biology. It has been published by the Botanical Society of America since 1914. The journal has an impact factor of 3.038, as of 2019 ...

'', 1998 85: 1398-1408

External links

* *
Tehuacán-Cuicatlán_Biosphere_Reserve_(ParksWatch)_[PDF]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tehuacan_Valley_matorral Deserts_and_xeric_shrublands.html" ;"title="DF]">Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve (ParksWatch) [PDF]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tehuacan Valley matorral Deserts and xeric shrublands">DF]">Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve (ParksWatch) [PDF]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tehuacan Valley matorral Deserts and xeric shrublands Deserts of Mexico Ecoregions of Mexico Flora of Central Mexico, Flora of Puebla, Flora of Tlaxcala, Flora of Oaxaca, Neotropical ecoregions Tehuacán Valley matorral,