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 o ...
in western
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 Guate ...
. It is the northernmost ecoregion of the
Neotropical realm
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In bi ...
.
Geography
The ecoregion covers an area of approximately
The dry forests lie in the coastal plain and foothills between the Pacific Ocean and the pine-oak forests 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 ...
, covering most of
Sinaloa
Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and ...
and
Nayarit
Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...
states and extending into portions of adjacent
Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...
Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal ...
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizon ...
. On the south, the dry forests transition to the coastal
Jalisco dry forests
The Jalisco dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in southwestern Mexico.
Geography
The Jalisco dry forests occupy the coastal lowlands and foothills of Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacán states. The ecoregion mostly lie ...
Bajío dry forests
The Bajío dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in western−central Mexico.
Geography
The Bajío dry forests lie in the southwestern portion of the Mexican Plateau. They are bounded on the southeast, south, and southwest by ...
to the southeast.
A number of rivers cross the ecoregion from origins in the Sierra Madre Occidental to empty into the Pacific. These include, from north to south, the Fuerte,
Sinaloa
Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and ...
,
Culiacán
Culiacán, officially Culiacán Rosales, is a city in northwestern Mexico, the capital and largest city of both the Culiacán Municipality and the state of Sinaloa. The city was founded on 29 September 1531, by the Spanish conquerors Lázar ...
,
San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Lorenzo, Santa Fe
* San Lorenzo Department, Chaco
* Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...
,
Elota
Elota is a municipality in the Mexican state of Sinaloa
Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrati ...
Presidio
A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th and 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Spanish Philippines in particular, were ce ...
Acaponeta
Acaponeta is both a municipality and a town in the northern part of the Mexican state of Nayarit. The town is located at the geographical coordinates of . The population of the municipality was 34,665 in the 2005 census, living in a total area of ...
, San Pedro Mezquital, and Grande de Santiago rivers. In the mountains the dry forests extend into the river canyons, and in the lowlands the rivers support riparian forests. Extensive lagoon and estuary systems along the coast are home to wetlands and mangroves.
Climate
The climate is semi-arid to semi-humid, generally drier near the coast and becoming more humid in the foothills. Rainfall is highly seasonal, with an October to June dry season.
Flora
Plant communities include thorn forests in the coastal lowlands, and dry deciduous forests in foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental.
Thorn forests are characterized by dense growth of scrubby trees and shrubs. Spiny leguminous trees, particularly ''
Acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus n ...
'', are predominant. High stands of trees, including species of '' Brosimum,
Ficus
''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending int ...
,'' and ''
Enterolobium
''Enterolobium'' is a genus of 12 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical and warm-temperate regions of the Americas. They are medium-sized to large trees.Germplasm Resources Information Network''Enterolobium''Inter ...
'', are found along stream bottoms.
The predominant plant community of the foothills is short-statured, seasonally deciduous forest. Common plants include ''
Handroanthus impetiginosus
''Handroanthus impetiginosus'', the pink ipê, pink lapacho or pink trumpet tree, is a tree in the family Bignoniaceae, distributed throughout North, Central and South America, from northern Mexico south to northern Argentina. It is the national ...
Bursera
''Bursera'' is a genus with about 100 described species of flowering shrubs and trees varying in size up to high. It is the type genus for Burseraceae. The trees are native (often for many species endemic) to the Americas, from the southern Un ...
,
Acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus n ...
Lysiloma
''Lysiloma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae.
The genus is native to the Americas, and species range from Arizona and New Mexico through Mexico and Central America to Costa Rica, and in Florida, Cuba, Hispaniola, the Baham ...
''. In the mountain canyons higher up are taller-statured forests, with '' Ceiba acuminata,
Bursera simaruba
''Bursera simaruba'', commonly known as gumbo-limbo, copperwood, chaca, West Indian birch, naked Indian, and turpentine tree, is a tree species in the family Burseraceae, native to the Neotropics, from South Florida to Mexico and the Caribb ...
,
Lysiloma divaricatum
''Lysiloma divaricatum'' is a flowering tree native to Mexico and Central America. Common names include mauto, quitaz, and tepemesquite in Mexico, quebracho in Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua, and quebracho negro, tepemisque, and yaje in El Salv ...
liana
A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ...
white-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...
(''Panthera onca''),
coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological ni ...
(''Canis latrans''),
ocelot
The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southw ...
(''Leopardus pardalis pardalis''),
jaguarundi
The jaguarundi (''Herpailurus yagouaroundi'') is a wild cat native to the Americas. Its range extends from central Argentina in the south to northern Mexico, through Central and South America east of the Andes. The jaguarundi is a medium-siz ...
(''Herpailurus yagouaroundi''),
gray fox
The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener (biology), congener, the diminutive island fox ...
(''Urocyon cinereoargenteus nigrirostris''),
raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight o ...
(''Procyon lotor mexicanus''), and
white-nosed coati
The white-nosed coati (''Nasua narica''), also known as the coatimundi (), is a species of coati and a member of the family Procyonidae (raccoons and their relatives). Local Spanish names for the species include ''pizote'', ''antoon'', and ''te ...
(''Nasua narica molaris'').
Native birds characteristic of the dry forests include the rufous-bellied chachalaca (''Ortalis wagleri''),
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 forma ...
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 State ...
Mexican woodnymph
The Mexican woodnymph (''Eupherusa ridgwayi'') is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae endemic to western Mexico. It lives in subtropical or tropical moist lowland/foothill forest and plantations, feeding on flower nectar and in ...
(''Eupherusa ridgwayi''),
Mexican parrotlet
The Mexican parrotlet (''Forpus cyanopygius''), also known as the turquoise-rumped parrotlet or the Mexican blue-rumped parrotlet, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae.
There are two subspecies: Grayson's parrotlet or the Tres Mari ...
(''Forpus cyanopygius''),
Sinaloa crow
The Sinaloa crow (''Corvus sinaloae'') is a crow native to western Mexico. Description
Visually, it is nearly identical to and the same length (34–38 cm) as the Tamaulipas crow (''Corvus imparatus''). It has the same purple-glossed, silky ...
black-throated magpie-jay
The black-throated magpie-jay (''Calocitta colliei'') is a strikingly long-tailed magpie-jay of northwestern Mexico.
Taxonomy
The black-throated magpie-jay was formally described in 1829 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors from a spe ...
blunthead tree snake
''Imantodes cenchoa'' (common names: blunthead tree snake, fiddle-string snake, ''mapepire corde violon'') is a species of mildly venomous, rear-fanged snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to in Mexico, Central America, and Sou ...
(''Imantodes gemmistratus''), Mexican moccasin, pichecuate or cantíl (''Agkistrodon bilineatus''), and Mexican west coast rattlesnake (''Crotalus basiliscus'')."Selected Wildlife of the Alamos Region". ''Research and Conservation in Southern Sonora, Mexico'', Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Accessed 28 August 2021 /ref>
Native amphibians include Smith's pygmy robber frog (''Craugastor hobartsmithi'').
Meseta de Cacaxtla Flora and Fauna Protection Area
Meseta de Cacaxtla Flora and Fauna Protection Area is a protected area in the state of Sinaloa in western Mexico. It covers an area of 508.62 km2.
Geography
It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, and on the east by Mexican Federal ...
List of ecoregions in Mexico
The following is a list of ecoregions in Mexico as identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). A different system of ecoregional analysis is used by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a trilateral body linking Mexican, Canadian ...