Satellite view of the montane forests (bottom left) in Veracruz, Mexico Photograph by USGS   Southern North America: Eastern Mexico Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   About 1,900 square miles (5,000 square kilometers) -- about the size of Delaware. Critical/Endangered

· Location and General Description
· Biodiversity Features
· Current Status
· Threats
· Ecoregion Justification
· References
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These forests are located in the Mexican state of Veracruz and are the northernmost occurrence of moist broadleaf montane forest in the Americas. The climate is characteristically temperate and with high annual rainfall. Its location along the eastern boundary between the neotropical and nearctic realms of influence contributes to the rich and diverse composition of flora and fauna.

Location and General Description

Biodiversity Features

Current Status

Types and Severity of Threats

Justification of Ecoregion Delineation

The deliniation for this ecoregion were derived from the INEGI current landcover maps (1996) by lumping montane mesophile forests classifications with human modified landscapes of the eastern flank of the Sierra Madre Oriental. Linework was then modified by experts at several ecoregion workshops (CONABIO 1996 and 1997) and according to Rzedowski (1978 and pers. comm.). This ecoregion represents the most northerly of the montane moist forests, and are a convergence zone for temperate and tropical flora and fauna – yet remain the northern extension of tropical broadleaf montane moist forests in the Americas.

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.