Campo Verde Flora and Fauna Protection Area is a
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...
in northern
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 ...
. It covers an area of 1080.67 km
2 in northwestern
Chihuahua, on the border with
Sinaloa
Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales.
It is located in northwest Mexic ...
. It is at the eastern edge 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 C ...
, where it meets the
Chihuahuan Desert.
[
]
Flora and fauna
According to the National Biodiversity Information System of (CONABIO) in Campo Verde Flora and Fauna Protection Area there are over 255 plant and animal species from which 32 are in at risk category and 4 are exotics. Quercus laeta
''Quercus laeta'' is an oak species in the white oak section, ''Quercus'' section ''Quercus'', in the beech family. It is widespread across much of Mexico from Sinaloa and Nuevo León south as far as Oaxaca.
Description
''Quercus laeta'' is a ...
'') is a characteristic oak species.["Campo Verde". Sistema de Información, Monitoreo y Evaluación para la Conservación (SIMEC) of the Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP). Accessed 4 September 2021]
/ref>
Native mammals include American black bear
The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), or simply black bear, is a species of medium-sized bear which is Endemism, endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. It is an omnivore, with ...
(''Ursus americanus''), 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''), puma (''Puma concolor''), Mexican big-eared bat
The Mexican big-eared bat (''Corynorhinus mexicanus'') is a species of vesper bat endemic to Mexico. They are nocturnal and insectivorous. Their very large ears are located across their foreheads, and when captured, the bats are observed to curl ...
(''Corynorhinus mexicanus''), Zacatecan deer mouse (''Peromyscus difficilis''), and Chihuahuan mouse
The Chihuahuan mouse (''Peromyscus polius'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is a species of the genus ''Peromyscus'', a closely related group of New World mice often called "deermice". It is found only in Mexico
Mexic ...
(''Peromyscus polius'').[
Native birds include the Gould's wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo mexicanus''), ]golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...
(''Aquila chrysaetos'') eared quetzal
The eared quetzal (''Euptilotis neoxenus''), also known as the eared trogon, is a near passerine bird in the trogon family, Trogonidae. It is native to streamside pine-oak forests and canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico from north ...
(''Euptilotis neoxenus''), thick-billed parrot
The thick-billed parrot (''Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha'') is a medium-sized parrot endemic to Mexico that formerly ranged into the southwestern United States. Its position in parrot phylogeny is the subject of ongoing discussion; it is sometimes ...
(''Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha''), Aztec thrush (''Ridgwayia pinicola''), and Bewick's wren
The Bewick's wren (''Thryomanes bewickii'') is a wren native to North America. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Thryomanes''. At about long, it is grey-brown above, white below, with a long white eyebrow. While similar in appearance ...
(''Thryomanes bewickii'').[
Native reptiles include the ]Mexican Plateau horned lizard
The Mexican Plateau horned lizard (''Phrynosoma orbiculare'') is a species of horned lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species, also known commonly as the Chihuahua Desert horned lizard, is endemic to Mexico. There are five recognized su ...
(''Phrynosoma orbiculare''), northern pigmy skink (''Plestiodon parviauriculatus''), Chihuahuan skink (''Plestiodon multilineatus''), Mexican wandering garter snake (''Thamnophis errans''), and blackbelly garter snake (''Thamnophis melanogaster'').[
Native amphibians include the ]Tarahumara salamander
The Tarahumara salamander (''Ambystoma rosaceum'') is a freshwater species of mole salamander in the family Ambystomatidae, endemic to Mexico.
Its natural habitats are temperate forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, subtropical or ...
(''Ambystoma rosaceum''), Mexican tiger salamander (''Ambystoma velasci''), Lemos-Espinal's leopard frog
Lemos-Espinal's leopard frog (''Lithobates lemosespinali'') is a species of frog in the family Ranidae endemic to the Sierra Madre Occidental of southwestern Chihuahua in northern Mexico. Its natural habitats are pine-oak forests. It is threat ...
(''Lithobates lemosespinali''), Tarahumara frog (''Lithobates tarahumarae''), pine toad ('' Incilius occidentalis''), plateau toad (''Anaxyrus compactilis
''Anaxyrus compactilis'' (common name: plateau toad) is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Mexico. It is a little known species associated with desert and shrubland.
It is threatened by habitat loss
Habitat destruct ...
''), and Mexican Madre toad ('' Anaxyrus mexicanus''),[
]
Conservation
The area was decreed a forest reserve and wildlife refuge by President Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...
in 1938.[ It was re-designated a flora and fauna protection area in 2003.][
]
References
{{reflist
Flora and fauna protection areas of Mexico
Protected areas of Chihuahua (state)
Protected areas of the Sierra Madre Occidental