Los Colorados, Mexico Photograph by WWF/ Ernesto Enkerlin   Neotropical Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   26,700 square miles (69,100 square kilometers) -- about the size of West Virginia Critical/Endangered

· Bridge of Vegetation
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Bridge of Vegetation

In southern Mexico, the Petén-Veracruz Moist Forests form a bridge of vegetation between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Overlapping the Mexico-Guatemala border, these moist forests have some of the highest levels of precipitation in Mexico--greater than 79 inches (200 cm) per year. These are the northernmost occurrences of what might be considered "rain forests." They are characteristically diverse, rich in orchids, epiphytes, lianas, and broad leaf trees. Some of the animals that make their homes in these large and uninterrupted moist forests include the spider monkey, toucan, macaw, kinkajou, and jaguar.

Special Features

Critical to conserve, these forests constitute the largest and most important fragments of tropical moist vegetation remaining in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. They contain an extremely high diversity of plants and animals, many of which are endemic. There are well over 2000 species of plants in the Mayan Biosphere alone! Many species of endemic reptiles inhabit these forests. The long-tailed sabrewing hummingbird is one of the few endemic birds.

	Unlike their raccoon relatives, kinkajous have special tails that allow them to grasp tree branches and hang upside down. They eat insects and small creatures, as well as pollen and honey, with their very long tongues.

Wild Side

Howler monkeys munch leaves in the canopy while spider monkeys throw fruit and branches at jaguars (and people) to keep them at bay. Woolly opossums get chased through vine tangles by tayra, carnivores related to weasels. Both are very agile in the canopy. Groups of 20-30 white-nosed coati clamber through the canopy and forest floor - picking insects and fruits out of bromeliads and from under leaf litter. Paca and agouti (large hopping rodents) are favorite food for ocelots and dart from under the cover of a bush to recover a fallen seed. Occasionally, the endangered scarlet macaw can be seen in flight or more likely heard as they roost in a giant kapok tree, gnawing on a palm nut. The keel-billed motmot is an endangered bird species on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) red list.

Cause for Concern

The forests of the western portion of the ecoregion, especially the hill forests of Veracruz and Oaxaca, have almost vanished. But as late as 1980, at least one half of the eastern forest remained intact. Human settlements, land clearing for agriculture, and major industrial developments severely threaten the region. The Mayan Biosphere Reserve protects some of the largest forest tracts.

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