| Balsas dry forests | |
|---|---|
 | |
 location of the Balsas dry forests ecoregion | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Neotropical |
| Biome | tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests |
| Borders | |
| Geography | |
| Area | 37,384 km2 (14,434 sq mi) |
| Country | Mexico |
| States | |
| Conservation | |
| Conservation status | Critical/endangered |
| Global 200 | Mexican dry forests |
| Protected | 10.9%% [1] |
The Balsas dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion located in western and central Mexico.
The Balsas dry forests occupy the basin of the Balsas River. The ecoregion covers an area of 62,400 square kilometers (24,100 sq mi). The Balsas basin, and the Balsas dry forests, extend east and west between the ranges of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt to the north and the Sierra Madre del Sur to the south. [2]
The Balsas dry forests ecoregion extends across portions of the states of Michoacán, Guerrero Mexico, Morelos, Puebla, and Oaxaca.
The surrounding mountains are home to pine-oak forests: the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests to the north and northwest, the Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests to the south, and the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests to the east. The xeric Tehuacán Valley matorral lies to the northeast. The Balsas dry forests meet the coastal Southern Pacific dry forests where the Balsas breaks through the Sierra Madre del Sur on its way to the Pacific Ocean. [2]
The climate of the Balsas dry forests is tropical and subhumid. Rainfall is less than 120 centimeters (47 inches) per year and seasonal, with a dry season that can last up to eight months. [2]
Plant communities include tropical deciduous forest (selva baja caducifolia or bosque tropical caducifolio) and thorn forest (bosque espinoso), with tropical semideciduous forest (selva mediana subcaducifolia or subperennifolia) in drainages and other areas with deeper soils and more soil moisture. [3]
Characteristic trees include several species of Bursera – Bursera longipes, B. morelensis, B.odorata, etc. – commonly known as palo mulato, fragrant bursera ( Bursera fagaroides ), and chupandra ( Cyrtocarpa procera ). Other common trees include pochote ( Ceiba parvifolia ), brasiletto or mexican logwood ( Haematoxylum brasiletto ), Lysiloma microphylla , and cazahuate ( Ipomoea murucoides ). Cacti are common, including species of Pachycereus and Cephalocereus . [4]
The herbaceous layer is generally sparse, with the grasses sideoats grama ( Bouteloua curtipendula ), Rothrock's grama ( Bouteloua barbata var. rothrockii), and Hilaria semplei . [4]
The Balsas dry forests share many species in common with Mexico's Pacific coastal dry forests. Many plant species are endemic to the ecoregion. About 45% of the species at a site in Cañón del Zopilote, Guerrero, and 30% of species at a site in Infiernillo, Michoacán are found only in the Balsas basin. About half of the 45 species of Bursera found in the ecoregion are endemic. The ecoregion is also home to diverse species of Brongniartia , Desmodium , Ipomoea , and Mammillaria . [3] [4]
Native mammals include the jaguar (Pantera onca), jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu), coyote (Canis latrans), grey fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), white-nosed coati (Nasua narica), and silky pocket mouse (Perognathus flavus), California myotis (Myotis californicus), long-legged myotis (Myotis volans) and western yellow bat ( Dasypterus xanthinus ). [4]
The Balsas screech owl (Megascops seductus), banded quail (Philortyx fasciatus), black-chested sparrow (Peucaea humeralis), and dusky hummingbird (Phaeoptila sordida) are near-endemic bird species. [4] [5]
Portions of the ecoregion are part of several Important Bird Areas, including Sierra de Taxco–Nevado de Toluca, Cañón del Zopilote, Valle de Tehuacán–Cuicatlán, Cañón de Lobos, Sierra de Huautla, and Papalutla-Tecaballo. [5]
10.9% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. [1] A 2017 assessment found that 1,451 km2, or 4%, of the ecoregion was protected. [6]
Protected areas include:
The Sierra Madre Oriental is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of North America, Central America, South America, and Antarctica.
The Sierra Madre del Sur is a mountain range in southern Mexico, extending 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from southern Michoacán east through Guerrero, to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in eastern Oaxaca.
The Madrean pine–oak woodlands are subtropical woodlands found in the mountains of Mexico and the southwestern United States. They are a biogeographic region of the tropical and subtropical coniferous forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biomes, located in North America.
The Sierra de la Laguna dry forests are a subtropical dry forest ecoregion of the southern Baja California Peninsula in Mexico.
The Sierra Madre Occidental pine–oak forests are a Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the Sierra Madre Occidental range from the southwest USA region to the western part of Mexico. They are home to a large number of endemic plants and important habitat for wildlife.
The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine–oak forests is a tropical and subtropical coniferous forests ecoregion in Southern Mexico.
The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca is a mountain range in southern Mexico. It is primarily in the state of Oaxaca, and extends north into the states of Puebla and Veracruz.
The Sierra Madre Oriental pine–oak forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of northeastern and Central Mexico, extending into the state of Texas in the United States.
The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine–oak forests is a subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt of central Mexico.
The San Lucan xeric scrub is a xeric shrubland ecoregion of the southernmost Baja California Peninsula, in Los Cabos Municipality and eastern La Paz Municipality of southern Baja California Sur state, Mexico.
The Tehuacán Valley matorral is a xeric shrubland ecoregion, of the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, located in eastern Central Mexico.
The Central America bioregion is a biogeographic region comprising southern Mexico and Central America.
The Salado River is a river in the states of Puebla and Oaxaca in Mexico.
The Central Mexican matorral is an ecoregion of the deserts and xeric shrublands biome of central Mexico. It is the southernmost ecoregion of the Nearctic realm.
The Sierra Madre del Sur pine–oak forests is a subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range of southern Mexico.
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 distributed among 21 municipalities in the state of Puebla and Oaxaca.
The Jalisco dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in southwestern Mexico.
The Southern Pacific dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in southern Mexico.
The Sierra de Huautla is a mountain range and biosphere reserve in central Mexico. Located in southern Morelos, the Sierra de Huautla is a southern extension of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt range into the Balsas Basin. The dry forests of Sierra are home to a diverse community of animals and plants, and the reserve's outstanding biodiversity is recognized by UNESCO.
