South Rim of Santa Marta Crater, Mexico Photograph by John Rappole   Neotropical Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   1,500 square miles (3,900 square kilometers) -- about the size of Delaware Critical/Endangered

· Mexico’s Magnet of Diversity
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Mexico’s Magnet of Diversity

The Sierra de los Tuxtlas ecoregion includes one of the largest intact portions of moist forests in Mexico. Scientists have recorded 943 species of plants, 80 ferns, 1,272 insects, 122 reptiles and amphibians, 561 birds, and 128 mammals. Many plant and animal species here are unique to Mexico or to this ecoregion, occurring nowhere else in the world. Most of the reptiles and amphibians here are restricted to small isolated areas of montane forest. The region boasts the highest bird diversity in Mexico in terms of comparable area. It is also a refuge for many rare and threatened species that have been displaced from other areas of Mexico, including 19 endangered mammals.

Special Features

The Sierra de los Tuxtlas ecoregion is composed of seven volcanoes mixed with a variety of lakes, lagoons, and marshlands. This is the second wettest area in Mexico, with very heavy summer rains and an average precipitation of 185 inches (470 cm) per year.

	The quail dove's nest is globular, with side entrances placed low/high, and hangs form masses of vegetation, bromeliads, or mossy banks.

Wild Side

From magnificent jaguars that stalk the jungle in search of white-lipped peccaries and tapirs to northern ghost bats that fly the night skies in search of insects, this ecoregion is teeming with life. In addition to jaguars, some of the endangered species here include ocelot, tayra, jaguarundi, and Baird's tapir. The endemic Veracruz quail dove, long-tailed sabrewing, and Nava's wren are found nowhere else. Olive-backed euphonias build hanging nest in trees. Many migratory songbirds winter in these forests as well. Palms, ferns, orchids, bromeliads, and an extraordinary variety of fungi fill these dense forests.

Cause for Concern

Despite the fact that Los Tuxtlas is one of the most studied and well-known moist forests in Mexico, nearly 90 percent of these precious forests have been eliminated over the last 30 years. If the current deforestation rate of 4.3 percent per year continues, only 9 percent of the original forests will remain in the first decade of 2000, and more than half of the biodiversity of this region is expected to be lost. Unfortunately, forests are being cleared at a quick pace to make agricultural lands and roads, and local communities continue to extract parrots, hummingbird eggs, and other wildlife products from the forests. Three bird species--the king vulture, the harpy eagle, and the scarlet macaw--have already been extirpated from Los Tuxtlas.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.