The climate of the ecoregion is tropical and humid. The mountains intercept prevailing winds from the Pacific, creating clouds, fog, and orographic precipitation. The forests have a cooler and wetter climate than the adjacent lowlands. Average annual temperatures decrease with elevation.[2]
Flora
The main plant communities are montane tropical broadleaf evergreen forest.[2] The forests are of two types, lower montane rain forests and montane rain forests.[3]
Lianas and epiphytes are abundant, and are found in all the forest layers. The forest floor is dense with low-branched shrubs, spinescent palms, cycads, and lianas.[3]
Much of the ecoregion's forest has been cleared for agriculture and grazing.[4] The lower montane forests have mostly been cleared for coffee plantations.[3] Much of the remaining forest area is fragmented or degraded, and what remains is often on steep or inaccessible slopes. The ecoregion has a road density of 645 meters per square kilometers, the highest of Central America's ecoregions.[4]
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 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.
California mixed evergreen forest is a plant community found in the mountain ranges of California and southwestern Oregon.
The Sierra Madre is a major mountain range in Central America. It is known as the Sierra Madre de Chiapas in Mexico. It crosses El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras. The Sierra Madre is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of North America, Central America, and South America.
The Talamancan montane forests ecoregion, in the tropical moist broadleaf forest biome, are in montane Costa Rica and western Panama in Central America.
The Petén–Veracruz moist forests is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest biome found in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico.
Podocarpus matudae is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is found in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico.
The Veracruz moist forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion in eastern Mexico.
The Tamaulipan matorral is an ecoregion in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental range in northeastern Mexico. It is a transitional ecoregion between the Tamaulipan mezquital and the Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests to the west and the Veracruz moist forests to the south.
The Central American pine–oak forests is a tropical and subtropical coniferous forests ecoregion in the mountains of northern Central America and Chiapas state in southern Mexico.
The Central America bioregion is a biogeographic region comprising southern Mexico and Central America.
The Luzon rain forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion on the island of Luzon. Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines, and the Luzon rain forests is the most extensive rainforest ecoregion of the country. The ecoregion includes the lowlands of Luzon and neighboring islands below 1000 meters elevation. Very little of the original rainforest remains, and the status of this area is critical/endangered.
The Central American montane forests are an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund, located in mountains of Central America.
The Central American dry forests ecoregion, of the tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests biome, is located in Central America.
The Chiapas Depression dry forests form one of the ecoregions that belong to the tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund, in northwestern Central America.
The Veracruz montane forests 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.
The Oaxacan montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in eastern Mexico. It includes a belt of montane tropical forest on the eastern slope of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca and eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ranges. These forests lie between the lowland Petén–Veracruz moist forests and Veracruz moist forests, and the pine–oak forests of the higher mountains.
The Chiapas montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in southern Mexico and extending into western Guatemala. It includes the montane tropical forests on the northern and northeastern slopes of the Chiapas Highlands.
La Sepultura is a biosphere reserve in southern Mexico. It protects a portion of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas range in the state of Chiapas.
Quercus segoviensis is a species of oak native to southern Mexico and northern Central America. It is commonly known as k’antulán.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Breedlove, Dennis E. (1981). Introduction to the Flora of Chiapas. California Academy of Sciences. September 18, 1981. ISBN0-940228-00-9
1 2 3 Corrales, Lenin & Bouroncle, Claudia & Zamora Pereira, Juan. (2015). An overview of forest biomes and ecoregions of Central America.
1 2 "Sierra Madre de Chiapas Moist forests". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 3 October 2021.
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Falco rufigularis in Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, Guatemala
Progne chalybea in Jiquipilas, Mexico
Buteogallus urubitinga in Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, Guatemala
