Chimalapas, Mexico Photograph by WWF/ Jorge Lopez   Mexico: Oaxaca and Chiapas Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   800 square miles (2,100 square kilometers) -- slightly smaller than Rhode Island Relatively Stable/Intact

· Location and General Description
· Biodiversity Features
· Current Status
· Threats
· Ecoregion Justification
· References
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This montane forest are found in the Chimpalapas mountains of Mexico. The climate is tropical and subtropical, but varies with altitude. These forests are the largest undisturbed cloud forests in Mexico and Central America (WWF and IUCN 1997). An array of vegetation provides for high diversity of fauna. There are few protected areas in the ecoregion; land clearing for agriculture and human settlements is a major threat to the region.

Location and General Description

Biodiversity Features

Current Status

Types and Severity of Threats

Justification of Ecoregion Delineation

The delineation’s for these montane forests were derived from several sources. Initial linework follows current landcover maps of Mexico (INEGI 1996). In this case we traced existing montane mesophile forests, pine forests, and pine-oak forest of the NW Sierra Madre de Chiapas in Oaxaca and Chiapas states and lumped together all human modified landscapes which occur within this broader region. In general the linework follows the distributions of montane flora and fauna on an elevational gradient, which is distinct from the surrounding lowland and dry forests (Rzedowski 1978 and pers. comm.). Linework was reviewed and modified at an ecoregional priority setting workshops (CONABIO 1996 and 1997).

References

CONABIO Workshop, 17-16 September, 1996. Informe de Resultados del Taller de Ecoregionalización para la Conservación de México.

CONABIO Workshop, Mexico, D.F., November 1997. Ecological and Biogeographical Regionalization of Mexico.

INEGI Map. 1996. Comision Nacional Para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO) habitat and land use classification database derived from ground truthed remote sensing data Insitituto Nacional de Estastica, Geografia, e Informática (INEGI). Map at a scale of 1:1,000,000.

Rzedowski, J. 1978. Vegetación de Mexico. Editorial Limusa. Mexico, D.F., Mexico.

Rzedowski, J. pers.comm. at CONABIO Workshop, 17-16 September, 1996. Informe de Resultados del Taller de Ecoregionalización para la Conservación de México.

For more general information on this ecoregion, go to the WildWorld version of this description.