Veracruz montane forests

The Veracruz montane forests (Spanish: Bosques montanos de Veracruz) is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in eastern Mexico. It includes a belt of montane tropical forest on the eastern slope of the southern Sierra Madre Oriental and eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ranges. These forests lie between the lowland Veracruz moist forests and the pine-oak forests of the higher mountains.

Veracruz montane forests
Location of the Veracruz montane forests ecoregion
Ecology
RealmNeotropical
Biometropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
BordersSierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests, Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests and Veracruz moist forests
Geography
Area4,942 km2 (1,908 sq mi)
CountryMexico
StatesHidalgo, Puebla, and Veracruz
Conservation
Conservation statusCritical/endangered
Protected303 km² (6%)[1]

The Veracruz montane forests are the northernmost tropical montane moist forests in North America.[2]

Flora

The forests are composed of evergreen broadleaf trees, which form a closed canopy. Epiphytes, including orchids, bromeliads, mosses, and lichens, are abundant.[3]

The upper and lower montane forests vary somewhat in species composition. Lower montane forests predominate between 1,250 and 1,630 meters elevation. Characteristic trees are Clethra macrophylla, Liquidambar styraciflua, and Turpinia insignis, with Quercus sartorii, Quercus xalapensis, Carpinus tropicalis, and others.[3]

In the upper montane forests Prunus rhamnoides and Quercus corrugata are the predominant species from 1800 to 2250 meters elevation, together with Cleyera theaeoides, Ternstroemia sylvatica, Weinmannia intermedia, Clethra schlechtendalii, and others. Forests dominated by Fagus grandifolia also grow in the upper montane zone, mostly between 1800 and 1900 meters elevation, with Ternstroemia sylvatica, Vaccinium leucanthum, Persea americana, and Oreopanax xalapensis.[3]

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that about 40% of the ecoregion is still forested. 303 km², or 6%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.[1]

See also
  • "Veracruz montane forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

References
  1. Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b.
  2. "Veracruz montane forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  3. Williams-Linera, G., Toledo-Garibaldi, M. & Hernández, C.G. How heterogeneous are the cloud forest communities in the mountains of central Veracruz, Mexico?. Plant Ecology 214, 685–701 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-013-0199-5
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