Cerro El Potosí is the highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

in the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...

mountain range of northeast

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 in the state of

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

, about 80 km (50 mi) south of

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

Flora and fauna

It is composed of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, and is noted for its very diverse

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

including several

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

or near-endemic species, such as the

Potosi Pinyon ''Pinus culminicola'', commonly known as Potosí pinyon or Potosí Piñón, is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native and endemism, endemic to northeast Mexico. The range is highly localised, confined to a small area of high summits in the north ...

. At the foot of the mountain, a series of springs and

endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

s were the only site in which the pupfish '' Cyprinodon alvarezi'' and '' Megupsilon aporus'', and the dwarf crayfish ''

Cambarellus alvarezi ''Cambarellus'' is a genus of small freshwater crayfish in the Family (biology), family Cambaridae. The 19 species are found in Mexico (subgenus ''Cambarellus'') and the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf States of the United States (subgenus ...

'' lived. The last two are entirely extinct, while ''Cyprinodon alvarezi'' is

extinct in the wild A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as known only by living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range due ...

(only survives in captivity).

Access

Access was very difficult in the past, but in the 1960s a

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ran ...

relay station was built on the summit, with the road built for this providing easy access from the east.

Protected areas

In 2000 the upper slopes of the mountain were designated an ecological reserve, covering 9.02 km².UNEP-WCMC (2021). Protected Area Profile for Cerro El Potosí from the World Database of Protected Areas. Accessed 7 September 2021

/ref> A northern portion of the mountain, including the actual summit, are in the

Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 026 Bajo Río San Juan The Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 026 Bajo Río San Juan is a protected area in northeastern Mexico. It extends over part of the northern Sierra Madre Occidental, near the cities of Monterrey and Saltillo. Geography The pro ...

, a natural resources protection area.

References

External links

"Cerro el Potosí, Mexico" on Peakbagger
Potosi Landforms of Nuevo León Sierra Madre Oriental North American 3000 m summits Protected areas of the Sierra Madre Oriental Important Bird Areas of Mexico {{NuevoLeón-geo-stub

Flora and fauna

Access

Protected areas

See also

References

External links