The Mexican South Pacific Coast mangroves ecoregion (WWF ID: NT1422) covers the mangrove sites along the coast of the Pacific Ocean coast of Mexico, across the states of

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

, Guerrero, and Oaxaca. These mangrove forests are mostly around lagoons, typically those fed by rivers from the interior in the

Sierra Madre del Sur The Sierra Madre del Sur is a mountain range in southern Mexico, extending from southern Michoacán east through Guerrero, to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in eastern Oaxaca. Geography The Sierra Madre del Sur joins with the Eje Volcánico Transv ...

Mountains. The ecoregion is small: collectively, it covers only 1,295 km2.

Location and description

The ecoregion stretches across 1,000 km of the coast, primarily around the margins of river deltas and lagoons. Major mangrove sites are found at: * Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, at the mouth of the Balsas River. A RAMSAR wetland of international importance. This are affected by the port of Lazaro Cardenas, the largest seaport in Mexico. * Zihuatanejo, a city on the coast of Guerrero state, *

Barra de Potosí Barra de Potosí is a small fishing village in the Mexican state of Guerrero, that is located in the municipality of Petatlan. Situated at the edge of Laguna Potosí, the village itself consists of three main streets crossed by two streets and as ...

, a lagoon behind a small fishing village in the municipality of

Petatlán Petatlán is a city in Petatlán Municipality located along the Pacific Coast of the state of Guerrero in Mexico. It is part of the Costa Grande of Guerrero, Costa Grande region between Zihuatanejo and Acapulco. The city is known for the Sanctuar ...

San Luis de la Loma San Luis de la Loma is a town in the municipality of Tecpán de Galeana in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. San Luis de La Loma is the second most populous town in Tecpán de Galeana; it has 11,090 inhabitants. For this town the road passes Acapu ...

, a town on the coast in the municipality of

Tecpán de Galeana Tecpán may refer to: *Tecpán Guatemala, a municipality in Chimaltenango *Tecpán de Galeana (municipality) Tecpan de Galeana is one of the 81 municipalities of Guerrero, in south-western Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Tecpan de Galeana. ...

* Atoyac de Álvarez, a town behind two coastal lagoons in Guerrero state *

Puerto Marqués Puerto Marqués is a bay located on the Pacific Coast in the Mexican State of Guerrero. Approximately 10 kilometers (6.5 miles) south of the city of Acapulco, it is the second closest Pacific port to Mexico City, approximately three hundred kilomet ...

, 10 km south of

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

* Papagayo River delta, and nearby lagoons * Ometepec River delta and nearby lagoons * Laguna de Corralero on the coast of the municipality of

Pinotepa Nacional Pinotepa Nacional (formally: Santiago Pinotepa Nacional; in Mixtec, ''Ñuu Ñoko'', which means Twenty-House Town) is a city and seat of the municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the Jamiltepec District in ...

in Oaxaca *

Lagunas de Chacahua National Park The Lagunas de Chacahuan National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Lagunas de Chacahua), created in 1937, is a national park located in the Municipality of ChineseVilla de Tututepec de Melchor Ocampo in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, about 54 km we ...

, at the mouth of the Río Verde (Oaxaca) * Lagoons north and south of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca * The coastal strip south of Salina Cruz

Climate

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

Flora and fauna

The characteristic trees species are red mangrove ('' Rhizophora mangle''), white mangrove ('' Laguncularia racemosa''), black mangrove ('' Avicennia germinans'') and buttonwood (''

Conocarpus erectus ''Conocarpus erectus'', commonly called buttonwood or button mangrove, is a mangrove shrub in the family Combretaceae. This species grows on shorelines in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Range Locations it is known from inc ...

''). Aquatic plants in the lagoons include water hyacinth ('' Eichhornia'').

Protected areas

Officially protected areas in the ecoregion include: *

References

{{reflist Neotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Mexico Mangrove ecoregions Tropical Eastern Pacific