La Sepultura is a
biosphere reserve in southern
Mexico. It protects a portion of the
Sierra Madre de Chiapas
The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is a major mountain range in Central America. It crosses El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras. The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges that consists of an almos ...
range in the state of
Chiapas
Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...
.
Geography
La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve covers the western end of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas. The
Zona de Protección Forestal en los terrenos que se encuentran en los municipios de La Concordia, Angel Albino Corzo, Villa Flores y Jiquipilas, a
natural resources protection area, lies east of la Sepultura, covering the northern slopes of the Sierra.
[
The northern slopes of the Sierra descend to the Chiapas Depression, which is drained by the Grijalva River and its tributaries, including the La Venta River, which eventually empty into the Gulf of Mexico. The southern slopes are drained by numerous smaller rivers and streams which descend to the narrow coastal plain and empty into the Pacific Ocean.
]
Flora and fauna
La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve is home to a range of ecosystems, which vary with elevation, exposure, and soils. These include lowland deciduous forest or tropical dry forest, mid-elevation evergreen tropical forest, including areas of humid cloud forest, and montane pine–oak forests, which include pine–oak, pine–oak–liquidambar, and pine savanna. Native trees include '' Ulmus mexicana, Manilkara zapota, Triplaris melaenodendron, Cedrela odorata
''Cedrela odorata'' is a commercially important species of tree in the chinaberry family, Meliaceae, commonly known as Spanish cedar or Cuban cedar; it is also known as cedro in Spanish.
Classification
The genus ''Cedrela'' has undergone two m ...
, Liquidambar styraciflua, Haematoxylum brasiletto'', and '' Croton guatemalensis''.["La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve, Mexico". UNESCO, October 2018. Accessed 1 October 2021]
/ref>
The ecoregion is home to five species of cats, including jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
(''Panthera onca''), puma
Puma or PUMA may refer to:
Animals
* ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae
** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat
Businesses and organisations
* Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company
* Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...
(''Puma concolor''), jaguarundi
The jaguarundi (''Herpailurus yagouaroundi'') is a wild cat native to the Americas. Its range extends from central Argentina in the south to northern Mexico, through Central and South America east of the Andes. The jaguarundi is a medium-sized ...
(''Herpailurus yagouaroundi''), ocelot
The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southwes ...
(''Leopardus pardalis''), and oncilla (''Leopardus tigrinus''). Other mammals include spider monkey, Baird's tapir
The Baird's tapir (''Tapirus bairdii''), also known as the Central American tapir, is a species of tapir native to Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America. It is the largest of the three species of tapir native to the Americas, as ...
(''Tapirus bairdii''), brocket deer
Brockets or brocket deer are the species of deer in the genus ''Mazama''. They are medium to small in size, and are found in the Yucatán Peninsula, Central and South America, and the island of Trinidad. Most species are primarily found in forest ...
(''Mazama'' sp.), and northern tamandua anteater (''Tamandua mexicana''). Resident birds include the white-fronted parrot
The white-fronted amazon (''Amazona albifrons'') also known as the white-fronted parrot, or spectacled amazon parrot, is a Central American species of parrot. They can imitate a range from 30 to 40 different sounds. Like other large parrots, th ...
(''Amazona albifrons'') and yellow-naped parrot
The yellow-naped amazon or yellow-naped parrot (''Amazona auropalliata'') is a widespread amazon parrot sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the yellow-crowned amazon (''Amazona ochrocephala'').. It inhabits the Pacific coast of southern M ...
(''Amazona auropalliata''), and the raptors gray hawk (''Buteo plagiatus''), Swainson's hawk (''Buteo swainsoni''), solitary eagle
The solitary eagle or montane solitary eagle (''Buteogallus solitarius'') is a large Neotropical eagle. It is also known as the black solitary eagle.
Range and habitat
The solitary eagle is native to Mexico and Central and South America. It i ...
(''Buteogallus solitarius''), king vulture (''Sarcoramphus papa''), and 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''). 90 species of migratory birds visit the reserve.[
]
Conservation
In 1995 the Mexican government designated a portion of La Sepultura as a strict nature reserve, covering an area of 18.12 km2,[UNEP-WCMC (2021). Protected Area Profile for La Sepultura from the World Database of Protected Areas. Accessed 1 October 2021]
/ref> and an area of 112.14 km2 was designated for ecological conservation.[UNEP-WCMC (2021). Protected Area Profile for La Sepultura from the World Database of Protected Areas. Accessed 1 October 2021]
/ref>
The biosphere reserve was designated by UNESCO in 2006. It covers 1673.1 km2, which includes the strict nature reserve (known as the core zone or ''zona nucleo''), the ecological conservation area, and a portion of the Zona de Protección Forestal.[
Portions of the reserve are inhabited, often with traditional forms of land ownership and management. Local economic activities include animal husbandry, agriculture (maize, beans, and other crops), coffee growing, and timber harvesting. Local people also harvest forest products like pine resin and xate palm leaves ('']Chamaedorea
''Chamaedorea'' is a genus of 107 species of palms, native to subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas.Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, palms checklist''Chamaedorea''/ref>Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan ...
'' spp.).[
]
References
{{reflist
Biosphere reserves of Mexico
Protected areas of Chiapas
Sierra Madre de Chiapas
Important Bird Areas of Mexico
Central American pine–oak forests
Southern Pacific dry forests