The Alvarado Lagoon System is a large estuary and wetland complex in

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

state of eastern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It is located on the southern Gulf Coastal Plain, where the

Papaloapan The Papaloapan River () is one of the main rivers of the Political divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Veracruz (state), Veracruz. Its name comes from the Nahuatl ''papaloapan'' meaning "river of the Butterfly, butterflies". In 1517, Juan de Gri ...

and Blanco rivers meet the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

Geography

The lagoon system includes several brackish coastal lagoons, including Alvarado Lagoon, many tidal channels and interior lagoons, and extensive wetlands and coastal dunes.

Flora and fauna

Habitats include large areas of

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

, marshes of sedges ('' Cyperus'' spp.), and cattails (''

Typha ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in A ...

'' spp.), swamp forests or ''apompales'' of ''

Pachira aquatica ''Pachira aquatica'' is a tropical wetland tree in the mallow family Malvaceae, native to Central and South America where it grows in swamps. It is known by its common names Malabar chestnut, French peanut, Guiana chestnut, Provision tree, Saba n ...

'', palm forests of ''

Sabal mexicana ''Sabal mexicana'' is a species of palm tree that is native to far southern North America. Common names include Rio Grande palmetto, Mexican palmetto, Texas palmetto, Texas sabal palm, palmetto cabbage and palma de mícharos. The specific epith ...

, Attalea rostrata'', and '' Acrocomia mexicana'', and riparian oak forests of ''

Quercus oleoides ''Quercus oleoides'', with Spanish common names encina or encino, is a Mesoamerican species of oak in the live oak group (''Quercus'' sect. ''Virentes''). It grows in dry forests and pastureland of eastern and southern Mexico and much of Central ...

''. The Alvarado Lagoon System provides habitat for numerous waterfowl and wetland birds, and is designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

. The lagoons are also an important habitat for the

West Indian manatee The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the eastern US to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it feeds on un ...

(''Trichechus manatus). 346 species of birds have been recorded in the wetlands. 50% are year-round residents, 32% winter residents, 2% summer residents, 10% transitory, and the rest occasional visitors. The wetlands are a congregation area for waterbirds, including

northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding ra ...

(''Anas acuta'')

American white pelican The American white pelican (''Pelecanus erythrorhynchos'') is a large aquatic soaring bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Central America and South America, in winte ...

(''Pelecanus erythrorhynchos''), brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis''),

piping plover The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from e ...

(''Charadrius melodus''), and

least bittern The least bittern (''Ixobrychus exilis'') is a small heron, the smallest member of the family Ardeidae found in the Americas. Taxonomy The least bittern was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his re ...

(''Ixobrychus exilis'').

White-winged dove The white-winged dove (''Zenaida asiatica'') is a dove whose native range extends from the Southwestern United States through Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. They are large for doves, and can be distinguished from similar doves by th ...

(''Zenaida asiatica'') is plentiful. It is a breeding area for raptors, including the

snail kite The snail kite (''Rostrhamus sociabilis'') is a bird of prey within the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures. Its relative, the slender-billed kite, is now again placed in ''Helicolestes'', making the ...

(''Rostrhamus sociabilis''),

common black hawk The common black hawk (''Buteogallus anthracinus'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures. Description The adult common black-hawk is long and weighs on average. It has very ...

(''Buteogallus anthracinus''), great black hawk (''Buteogallus urubitinga'') and

black-collared hawk The black-collared hawk (''Busarellus nigricollis'') is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Busarellus''. It has a widespread range of presence, from western Mexico to Uruguay. Its natural hab ...

(''Busarellus nigricollis''). The

scissor-tailed flycatcher The scissor-tailed flycatcher (''Tyrannus forficatus''), also known as the Texas bird-of-paradise and swallow-tailed flycatcher, is a long-tailed bird of the genus ''Tyrannus'', whose members are collectively referred to as kingbirds. The kingbi ...

(''Tyrannus forficatus'') and eastern kingbird (''Tyrannus tyrannus'') are migrants. At-risk species include the snail kite, piping plover, least bittern,

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

(''Falco peregrinus''), and

lesser yellow-headed vulture The lesser yellow-headed vulture (''Cathartes burrovianus'') also known as the savannah vulture, is a species of bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae. It was considered to be the same species as the greater yellow-headed vulture unti ...

(''Cathartes burrovianus'').BirdLife International (2021). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Humedales de Alvarado. Accessed 12 October 2021

Conservation and threats

Threats to the wetlands include expansion of agriculture and cattle ranches, mangrove cutting, unsustainable fishing practices, and upstream erosion silting up the lagoons and wetlands. The lagoon system was designated a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Ramsar sites in Mexico Lagoons of Mexico Important Bird Areas of Mexico Gulf Coast of Mexico Protected areas of Veracruz Papaloapan River