Cumbres del Ajusco National Park is one of many national parks near
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
,
DF. The
Ajusco
Ajusco is a lava dome volcano located just south of Mexico City, Mexico, in the Tlalpan borough of the city. It is the highest point in the city.
Etymology
Ajusco is a Náhuatl word variously translated as "source of waters" or "watered grove", ...
is known for its high elevations reaching 3,900 meters (12,795 ft) above sea level and is visible from any part of Mexico city. The park is characterized by pine-oak forests and high mountain grassland. Cumbres del Ajusco means "watered grove peaks", an appropriate name for this mountainous region covered with lush green forest with many flowers due to a fair amount of precipitation. The Balsas and Lerma rivers begin in the heart of the Cumbres del Ajusco.
This range accounts for approximately half of the area of the Mexican Federal District, the rest of which is occupied by Mexico City. The area is key to the conservation of the ecosystem, and is important to endemic species. Urbanization of Mexico city has posed several environmental concerns over the preservation of the habitats and ecosystems of the park.
History
![VolcanAjuscoDesdeNarvarte](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/VolcanAjuscoDesdeNarvarte.jpg)
The Cumbres del Ajusco has attracted humans since approximately 1200 BC;
Otomíes are thought to have been the first to inhabit the Ajusco area. During the pre-Columbian Era, an area now known as
Tlalpan
Tlalpan ( nci, Tlālpan, , place on the earth, ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. It is the largest borough, with over eighty percent under conservation as forest and other ecologically sensitive area. The rest, almost ...
was inhabited by natives known as
Tepaneca
The Tepanecs or Tepaneca are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the late 12th or early 13th centuries.The dates vary by source, including 1152 CE in Anales de Tlatelolco, 1210 from Chimalpahin, and 1226 from Ixtlilxoch ...
s along the
San Buenaventura River.
During the 17th century, the
Viceroyalty of New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...
made it a state policy to find all rural indigenous populations living in the mountainous areas of the Cumbres del Ajusco., and resettle them in a smaller area so that they could be converted to Christianity. Today there still remains many old Spanish missions and churches along the edge of the Cumbres del Ajusco.
Cumbres del Ajusco National Park was created by decree on September 23, 1936 by the Mexican federal government. The park was later expanded to its current state of on May 19, 1947.
Geography
![Cumbres del Ajusco](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Cumbres_del_Ajusco.jpg)
Cumbres del Ajusco National Park is one of many national parks near
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
,
DF. The park is known for its high elevations reaching 3,900 meters (12,795 ft) above sea level which are part of the ''
Sierra de Ajusco-Chichinauhtzin
The Sierra del Ajusco-Chichinauhtzin, (Ajusco-Chichinautzin Mountain Range) also known as ''Serranía del Ajusco'' or ''Sierra de Chichinauhtzin'', is a Mexican mountain range located between Mexico City and the states of Morelos and Mexico. It m ...
'' mountain range. All of the mountain systems in the area are part of the ''
Cordillera Neovolcanica
A cordillera is an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope').
The term is most commonly u ...
'' that crosses the center part of Mexico.
Cerro La Cruz del Marqués towers 1,400 meters (4,600 ft) above Mexico City and is the highest peak within the park reaching 3,930 meters above sea level.
The Highest Peaks in the Cumbres del Ajusco National Park
*
Cruz del Marqués: 3,930 m (12,795 ft) above sea level
*
Pico del Águila
Pico del Águila is a peak of the mountain range called Ajusco Volcano 3,937 mt, located in Cumbres del Ajusco National Park (other Volcanoes that form part of the same area are: Malinali, Mezontepec, Pelado, Oyameyo, Malacatepec, Couepil, Cicton ...
: 3,880 m (12,730 ft) above sea level
*
Santo Tomás: 3,710 m (12,172 ft) above sea level
*
Mezontepec: 3,480 m (11,417 ft) above sea level
The park also includes part of the
Valley of Mexico
The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico wa ...
bordering the
Tlalpan
Tlalpan ( nci, Tlālpan, , place on the earth, ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. It is the largest borough, with over eighty percent under conservation as forest and other ecologically sensitive area. The rest, almost ...
borough of
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. The park is characterized by pine-oak forests and high mountain grassland.
Cumbres del Ajusco means "watered grove peaks", an appropriate name for this mountainous region covered with lush green forest with many flowers due to a fair amount of precipitation. The
Balsas River
The Balsas River (Spanish Río Balsas, also locally known as the Mezcala River, or Atoyac River) is a major river of south-central Mexico.
The basin flows through the states of Guerrero, México, Morelos, and Puebla. Downstream of Ciudad Al ...
and
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 ...
begin in the heart of the Cumbres del Ajusco.
The mountains are constituted of perforated volcanic rock inhibiting surface rivers to form, but there are many subterranean rivers that feed fresh water springs in the lower areas of the park and in the surrounding valleys. The best known springs are
Xochimilco
Xochimilco (; nci, Xōchimīlco, ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') of Mexico City. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the ...
Springs,
Nativitas
Nativitas is a municipality in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala in south-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 th ...
Springs, and
Las Fuentes Brotantes. Xochimilco Springs are important water source for Mexico City. The ''Sierra de Ajusco-Chichinauhtzin'' is part a mountainous forest area known as the ''Gran Bosque de Agua'' (Great Water Forest) because it meets the demands of one of the largest population centers in the world located in Central Mexico.
Climate
There are three different climate zones in the park according to the
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 ...
: the Cwb subtropical highland climate zone, with a wet season during summer and a winter dry-season, occurring at elevations under 2,000 meters. From 2,000 meters to 3,000 meters the Cfc upper subtropical highland climate is present, it is characterized by year round precipitation somewhat fairly distributed, although usually only the summer months carry truly heavy rains. And finally the Tropical Alpine tundra which is found at elevations of 3,000 meters or higher. Deforestation heavily affects the upper slopes, therefore the artificially created "tundra" continues to expand. Snow may be present during the winter months. Average annual temperature of the Ajusco is 13 °C (55 °F) with extreme temperatures rising to 26 °C (78 °F) in lower elevations and falling to -4 °C (26 °F) in elevations higher than 3, 000 meters.
Flora and fauna
![Field-pines-mountain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Field-pines-mountain.jpg)
Even though the park is considered an area in jeopardy of being negatively affected by urban expansion, the Cumbres del Ajusco has a great diversity of flora and fauna endemic to ''Cordillera Neovolcanica'' that goes through the center of Mexico. The park consists primarily of various species of trees from the following genera: ''
Pinus
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
'', ''
Abies
Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to ...
'', ''
Quercus
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' ...
'', ''
Juniperus
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...
'', and ''
Arbutus
''Arbutus'' is a genus of 12 accepted speciesAct. Bot. Mex no.99 Pátzcuaro abr. 2012.''Arbutus bicolor''/ref> of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, the Canary Islan ...
''. Throughout the park the fauna changes due to various physical geographic features like: elevation, steep slopes (with differences in facing direction), canyons, and valleys.
''
Abies religiosa
''Abies religiosa'', the oyamel fir or sacred fir, (known as in Spanish) is a fir native to the mountains of central and southern Mexico (Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, Sierra Madre del Sur) and western Guatemala. It grows at high altitudes of ...
'', locally known as oyamel from
Náhuatl
Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...
origin, is one of the many ''
Abies
Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to ...
'' species located in the park. At altitudes between 2,700 and 3,500 meters (8,850-11,480 ft) above sea level, ''Abies'' are the most abundant; ''Abies'' grow most proficiently in rich organic soils with abundant moisture all year. The pine forests are most common at elevations between 2,350 and 4,000 meters (7,700 to 12,700 ft); the most common ''
Pinus
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
'' species are: ''
Pinus leiophylla
''Pinus leiophylla'', commonly known as Chihuahua pine, smooth-leaf pine,''Pinus leiophylla'' was originally described and published in ''Linnaea'' 6:354. 1831. and yellow pine (in Mexico, tlacocote and ocote chino), is a tree with a range prima ...
'', ''
Pinus montezumae
''Pinus montezumae'', known as the Montezuma pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae.
It is native to Mexico and Central America, where it is known as ocote. The tree grows about 35 m high and 80 cm in diameter; occasion ...
'', ''
Pinus rudis
''Pinus hartwegii'' ( syn. ''P. rudis'', ''P. donnell-smithii''), Hartweg's pine or pino de las alturas, is a pine native to the mountains of Mexico and Central America east to Honduras. It is named after Karl Theodor Hartweg
Karl Theodor Hart ...
'', ''
Pinus teocote
''Pinus teocote'' (teocote) is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae.
It is endemic to Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern p ...
'', and ''
Pinus hartwegii
''Pinus hartwegii'' ( syn. ''P. rudis'', ''P. donnell-smithii''), Hartweg's pine or pino de las alturas, is a pine native to the mountains of Mexico and Central America east to Honduras. It is named after Karl Theodor Hartweg, who described it in ...
''. ''Pinus hartwegii'' is one of the ''Pinus'' species that have become endangered.
The following oak species are the most common in the park: ''
Quercus rugosa
''Quercus rugosa'', commonly known as the netleaf oak, is a broad-leaved tree in the beech and oak family Fagaceae. It is native to southern North America.
Description
''Quercus rugosa'' is an evergreen shrub or tree. The bark is brown and ...
'', ''
Quercus laeta
''Quercus laeta'' is an oak species in the white oak section, ''Quercus'' section ''Quercus'', in the beech family. It is widespread across much of Mexico from Sinaloa and Nuevo León south as far as Oaxaca.
Description
''Quercus laeta'' is a ...
'', ''
Quercus laurina
''Quercus laurina'' is a species of oak. It is native primarily to Mexico (from Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region ...
'', ''
Quercus deserticola
''Quercus deserticola'' is a Mexican species of oaks in the beech family. It grows in central Mexico in the States of Guanajuato, México, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Querétaro, Oaxaca, Sinaloa, Puebla, and Michoacán.
Description
''Quercus deserti ...
'', and ''
Quercus crassipes''. Junipers can be found in open species in gentle slopes and lower elevations like in some valleys.
The park's fauna consists of many mammals like:
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
s,
shrew
Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different fa ...
,
opossum
Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...
,
volcano rabbit
The volcano rabbit (''Romerolagus diazi''), also known as teporingo or zacatuche, is a small rabbit that resides in the mountains of Mexico.Hoth, J., A. Velázquez F. Romero, L. León, M. Aranda and D. Bell, 1987. The Volcano Rabbit- a Shrinking ...
,
squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...
,
least weasel
The least weasel (''Mustela nivalis''), little weasel, common weasel, or simply weasel is the smallest member of the genus '' Mustela,'' family Mustelidae and order Carnivora. It is native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa, and has bee ...
,
skunk
Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginge ...
,
coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
, and
bobcat
The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...
. There are three common snake species in the park:
milk snake
The milk snake or milksnake (''Lampropeltis triangulum''), is a species of kingsnake; 24 subspecies are currently recognized. ''Lampropeltis elapsoides'', the scarlet kingsnake, was formerly classified as a 25th subspecies (''L. t. elapsoides'') ...
,
rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small anim ...
, and
plain-bellied water snake.
The bird species in the park sometimes have been known to feed in the Mexico City metropolitan area due to its proximity to the park. The main bird species observed in the park are:
house sparrow
The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of and a mass of . Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, a ...
,
barn swallow
The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it appears to have the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometres globally. ...
,
lark
Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occu ...
,
woodpecker
Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...
,
blue jay
The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations are a ...
,
black vulture
The black vulture (''Coragyps atratus''), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote, urubu, or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the northeastern United States to Peru, Cen ...
, and
golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...
.
Gallery
Mustela nivalis -British Wildlife Centre-4.jpg, Least weasel
The least weasel (''Mustela nivalis''), little weasel, common weasel, or simply weasel is the smallest member of the genus '' Mustela,'' family Mustelidae and order Carnivora. It is native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa, and has bee ...
Chalk-browed Mockingbird, northern Argentina.jpg, Chalk-browed mockingbird
The chalk-browed mockingbird (''Mimus saturninus'') is a bird in the family mimidae. It is found in Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Suriname, and Uruguay.
Taxonomy and systematics
The chalk-browed mockingbird has four subspecies, the n ...
Rotluchs2.jpg, Bobcat
The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...
Red milk snake.JPG, Milk snake
The milk snake or milksnake (''Lampropeltis triangulum''), is a species of kingsnake; 24 subspecies are currently recognized. ''Lampropeltis elapsoides'', the scarlet kingsnake, was formerly classified as a 25th subspecies (''L. t. elapsoides'') ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumbres Del Ajusco National Park
Biosphere reserves of Mexico
Forests of Mexico
Grasslands of Mexico
National parks of Mexico
Parks in Mexico City
Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt