Monte Cristo National Park, El Salvador Photograph by Steve Cornelius   Central America: Southern Mexico, southern Guatemala, into Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Tropical and Subtropical Coniferous Forests   About 43,000 square miles (111,400 square kilometers) -- about the size of Louisiana Critical/Endangered

· The Center of Biodiversity for Pines
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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The Center of Biodiversity for Pines

This ecoregion harbors a complex and diverse set of natural communities and represents a crossroads for groups of plants and animals from Mexico and Central America. Many of the plants that grow here are endemic, and this region supports one of the world's richest assortment of conifers. These forests cover a broad volcanic mountain range and contain scattered islands of broad-leaf evergreen cloud forests emerging at higher elevations. This ecoregion is dominated by a rich assemblage of pines and oaks, and it marks the southern limit of many groups of plants from North America.

Special Features

Variations in altitude and habitat type, and the isolation of peaks in this rugged mountain range, has led to many species having small ranges. At least 7 species of pine occur here, mixed with oaks and sweetgum. Some have very small distributions and are threatened. Many of the trees are covered with epiphytes, plants that live on the branches and trunks of trees. Bromeliads, ferns, orchids, and lichens are important epiphytes, orchids being particularly diverse in the area.

	Many bumblebee species live in these forests. Bumblebees pollinate a wide variety of non-specialist flowers, from herbs and shrubs to small trees and canopy emergents.

Wild Side

In these pine and oak forests you might hear the loud honking of the highland guan, a secretive bird that walks along tree branches. Southern flying squirrels glide among sweetgum trees, which are covered in lichens and moss. Guapinol trees, also called "stinking-toe trees," emerge above the oaks with their umbrella-crowned canopies and appear ornamented as their white flowers protrude through the leaves. White-tailed deer browse while common shrews scurry underfoot, sniffing the ground for insects, worms, snails, and other small animals. Guatemalan voles move through runways under pines and oaks. This area is considered an Endemic Bird Area and is an important wintering ground for many migratory warblers, including the threatened Golden-cheeked warbler. This is also an important habitat for bird and insect species that rely on migrations between high and low altitudes during certain times of the year.

Cause for Concern

Like much of Central America, this ecoregion is facing growing threats from expanding human populations. Major threats to this region range from the gathering of firewood and construction of roads to logging, cattle grazing, and agriculture. Some plants, such as Pinus chiapensis, may disappear due to traditional grazing, logging and burning practices. If current rates of deforestation continue, an estimated 600-800 species of plants from the sunflower family alone could be lost forever. Fragmentation is a growing concern as remnant patches of natural habitat become smaller and further apart.

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