The Ciénegas del Lerma is a wetland in central

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 consists of three lakes in the

Toluca Valley The Toluca Valley is a valley in central Mexico, just west of the Valley of Mexico (Mexico City), the old name was Matlatzinco. The valley runs north–south for about , surrounded by mountains, the most imposing of which is the Nevado de Toluca Vo ...

, the upper basin of the

Lerma River The Lerma River ( es, Río Lerma) is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, near ...

, near the city of

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in M ...

. The wetlands cover 3,023 hectares. The three lakes are the what remains of a much larger wetland, which covered 27,000 ha at the end of the 19th century. The wetlands include open-water lakes more than 5 meters deep, marshes with floating and bottom-rooted vegetation, and riparian forests. The lakes are home to many aquatic animals and plants, including endemic and threatened species. The wetlands are an important stopover for migratory waterbirds.

Flora and fauna

According to the National Biodiversity Information System of

Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad The Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO; en, National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity) is a permanent inter-ministerial commission of the Federal Mexican government, created in 1992. It ...

(CONABIO) in Ciénegas del Lerma Flora and Fauna Protection Area there are over 425 plant and animal species from which 31 are in at risk category and 26 are exotics.

References

{{reflist Flora and fauna protection areas of Mexico Ramsar sites in Mexico Geography of the State of Mexico Wetlands of Mexico Protected areas of the State of Mexico Protected areas of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Important Bird Areas of Mexico Lerma River