The Alvarado mangroves

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

(WWF ID: NT1401) covers a series 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 ...

forest areas along 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 ...

coast of the states of

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

. they are the most northerly mangroves in the western Gulf. The largest tracts of mangrove swamps occur at the mouths of rivers, and nearby coastal lagoon.

Location and description

The Alvarado mangroves form in large areas at river mouths where fresh water from the interior mixes with saltwater from the Gulf in proportions that provide an advantage to salt-tolerant mangrove tree species. Depending on local conditions, mangroves in this ecoregion can occur from the US/Mexico border in the north, to the border between

state and

Tabasco Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It is located in ...

state 1,000 km to the south. Mangroves in this area are the farthest north, and are characterized by higher levels of freshwater than further south. The largest mangrove sites are (from north to south): *

Altamira Altamira may refer to: People * Altamira (surname) Places *Cave of Altamira, a cave in Cantabria, Spain famous for its paintings and carving *Altamira, Pará, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará * Altamira, Huila, a town and municipality in ...

, a port city north of Tampico, is on a coastal lagoon that connects the estuaries of several rivers for 50 km to the north. *

Tamesí River The Tamesí River is a river in northeast Mexico. It is a part of the Pánuco River basin, in which it converges about 16 km from its mouth in the Barra de Tampico, in the Gulf of Mexico. See also *List of rivers of Mexico This is a list of river ...

, river that enters the Gulf at the city of

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

, supports mangroves for 60 km upstream from the coast. *

Pánuco River The Pánuco River ( es, Río Pánuco, ), also known as the ''Río de Canoas'', is a river in Mexico fed by several tributaries including the Moctezuma River and emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. The river is approximately long and passes throug ...

, another major river that enters the Gulf at Tampico. * Tamiahua Lagoon, a long inlet behind Cape Roja, that starts about 50 km south of Tampico. The lagoon is a RAMSAR wetland of international importance. Just south of the lagoon is the mouth of the

Pantepec River The Pantepec River is a river of Mexico that belongs to the Tuxpan River basin, on the Gulf of Mexico slope. The Pantepec River is considered the upper course of the Tuxpan River. The Pantepec River begins in the mountains of the state of Hidalg ...

/ Tuxpan River. *

Tecolutla River The Tecolutla River is a river in the state of Veracruz in Mexico, and the main drainage of the historical and cultural region of Totonacapan. It is principally fed by four rivers that rise in the Sierra Norte de Puebla: from north to south, they ...

, a river estuary with coastal inlets and lagoons stretching 30 km north and south of the river mouth. *

Alvarado Lagoon The Alvarado Lagoon System is a large estuary and wetland complex in Veracruz state of eastern Mexico. It is located on the southern Gulf Coastal Plain, where the Papaloapan and Blanco rivers meet the Gulf of Mexico. Geography The lagoon system ...

, at the mouth of the

Papaloapan River 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 ...

. The lagoon is a RAMSAR wetland of international importance. * Sontecomapan Lagoon, a RAMSAR wetland of international importance. *

Coatzacoalcos River The Coatzacoalcos is a large river that feeds mainly the south part of the state of Veracruz; it originates in the Sierra de Niltepec and crosses the state of Oaxaca in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, flowing for toward the Gulf of M ...

, which enters the Gulf at the city of

Coatzacoalcos Coatzacoalcos () is a major port city in the southern part of the Mexican state of Veracruz, mostly on the western side of the Coatzacoalcos River estuary, on the Bay of Campeche, on the southern Gulf of Mexico coast. The city serves as the munic ...

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is '' Tropical savanna climate - dry winter'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

(Aw)). This climate is characterized by relatively even temperatures throughout the year, and a pronounced dry season. The driest month has less than 60 mm of precipitation, and is drier than the average month. The summer is the wet season, and precipitation ranges from 1,200 to 2,500 mm/year.

Flora and fauna

The most common mangrove tree species are red mangrove (''

Rhizophora mangle ''Rhizophora mangle'', the red mangrove, is distributed in Estuary, estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics. Its Vivipary, viviparous "seeds", in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree. Th ...

''), which can reach 17 meters in height and is typically found along the margins of channels with other Rhizophora species, black mangrove ('' Avicennia germinans''), and white mangrove (''

Laguncularia racemosa ''Laguncularia racemosa'', the white mangrove, is a species of flowering plant in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae. It is native to the coasts of western Africa from Senegal to Cameroon, the Atlantic Coast of the Americas from Bermuda and ...

'').

Epiphytes An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

are common, and a common associated plant is the golden leather fern (''

Acrostichum aureum ''Acrostichum aureum'', the golden leather fern, is a large species of fern that grows in mangrove swamps and other wet locations. Other common names include swamp fern and mangrove fern. Description The golden leather fern has large fronds ...

''). Characteristic birds of the area include the keel-billed toucan ('' Ramphastos sulfuratus''), the Townsend's solitaire ('' Myadestes townsendi''), bare-throated tiger heron (''

Tigrisoma mexicanum The bare-throated tiger heron (''Tigrisoma mexicanum'') is a wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, found from Mexico to northwestern Colombia, with one recorded sighting from the United States in Hidalgo County, Texas.Egretta tricolor''), the near-threatened reddish egret ('' Egretta rufescens''), the jabiru ('' Jabiru mycteria''), the wood stork (''

Mycteria americana The wood stork (''Mycteria americana'') is a large American wading bird in the family Ciconiidae (storks), the only member of the family to breed in North America. It was formerly called the "wood ibis", though it is not an ibis. It is found ...

''), that swallow-tailed kite ('' Elanoides forficatus''), the zone-tailed hawk ('' Buteo albonotatus''), the amazon kingfisher (''

Chloroceryle amazona The Amazon kingfisher (''Chloroceryle amazona'') is a species of "water kingfisher" in subfamily Cerylinae of family Alcedinidae. It is found in the lowlands of the American tropics from southern Mexico south through Central America to norther ...

''), and the prothonotary warbler ('' Protonotaria citrea'').

Protected areas

There are officially protected areas in the largest mangrove areas, including the RAMSAR sites: *

Laguna de Tamiahua Tamiahua Lagoon (Spanish: ''Laguna de Tamiahua'') is a long coastal lagoon in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico that extends 65 miles south from Tampico. The peninsula of Cape Rojo separates the lagoon from the sea ...

. * Sistema Lagunar Alvarado. * Manglares y humedales de la Laguna de Sontecomapan.

References

{{reflist Neotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Mexico Mangrove ecoregions Gulf Coast of Mexico