Madrean pine–oak woodlands
The Madrean pine–oak woodlands are
Conservation International estimates the woodlands' original area at 461,265 km2. The woodlands are surrounded at lower elevations by other ecoregions, mostly tropical and subtropical deserts and xeric shrublands, forests, and grasslands. Woodland areas were isolated from one another and from the pine–oak woodlands of the Sierra Madre Occidental to the south by the warming and drying of the climate since the 1st century CE.
Distribution
Mexico
The Madrean pine–oak woodlands are found at higher elevations in Mexico's major mountain ranges, the
Madrean sky islands
There are also approximately 27 enclaves in southern
Flora
The pine–oak woodlands are composed of stands of
The pine–oak woodlands are home to one-quarter of Mexico's plant species, and Mexico is home to 44 of the 110 species of pine and over 135 species of oak, over 28% of the world's oak species.
Plant species descended from Madro-Tertiary flora, Madrean ancestor species, are an important element of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion.
Madrean pine–oak woodlands ecoregions
The
They include:
- Sierra Juárez and San Pedro Mártir pine–oak forests of the Sierra de Juárez and Sierra de San Pedro Mártir ranges of the northern Baja California peninsula.
- Sierra de la Laguna pine–oak forests of the Sierra de la Laguna in the southern Baja California peninsula.
- , and include the Madrean Sky Islands of Arizona and New Mexico.
- Sierra Madre Oriental pine–oak forests extend along the Sierra Madre Oriental ranges of Texas and Mexico, from mountaintop enclaves in west Texas through Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro and Guanajuato.
- Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine–oak forests
- Sierra Madre del Sur pine–oak forests
- Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine–oak forests
See also
External links
- Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands (Conservation International)
- "Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir pine-oak forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- "Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- "Sierra Madre Occidental pine-oak woodlands". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- "Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- Sierra Madre Occidental Pine-Oak Forests images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu (slow modem version)
- "Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- "Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- "Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.