The Sierra de Chiconquiaco is a coastal mountain range in

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

state of eastern Mexico.

Geography

The Sierra extends generally east–west. It is bounded on the north by the plain of the

Nautla River The Nautla River is a river of Mexico. The River rises on the northern slope of Cofre de Perote volcano, and flows northeastwards to empty into the Gulf of Mexico. The Bobos River is a tributary. See also *List of rivers of Mexico This is a lis ...

, which empties eastwards into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. On the west the canyon of the Bobos River, a northward-flowing tributary of the Nautla, separates the Sierra from the eastern end of the

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ( es, Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks h ...

. On the northeast and east a narrow portion of the

Gulf Coastal Plain The Gulf Coastal Plain extends around the Gulf of Mexico in the Southern United States and eastern Mexico. This coastal plain reaches from the Florida Panhandle, southwest Georgia, the southern two-thirds of Alabama, over most of Mississippi, wes ...

lies between the Sierra and the Gulf of Mexico. On the south it is bounded by the Actopan basin, which includes the state capital,

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which ...

. The Misantla and Colipa rivers originate in the range, and flow northeastwards to empty into the Gulf of Mexico.Lascurain Rangel, M., Avendaño-Reyes, S., Cházaro-Basañez, M., Geissert-Kientz, D., Villegas-Patraca, R., Gallo-Gómez, C. A., & Gutiérrez-Báez, C. (2017). Floristic, vegetational and geographic characteristics of the Sierra de Chiconquiaco, Veracruz, Mexico. Botanical Sciences, 95(4), 610-659. https://doi.org/10.17129/botsci.1111 The Sierra includes the Naolinco volcanic field.

Climate

The Sierra intercepts moisture-bearing winds from the Gulf of Mexico, and northern and eastern slopes are generally wetter. Rainfall is generally higher in the summer, except at higher elevations where it is plentiful year-round.

Ecology

The

Veracruz moist forests The Veracruz moist forests ( es, Bosques húmedos de Veracruz) is a tropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion in eastern Mexico. Geography The Veracruz moist forests cover an area of , occupying a portion of Mexico's Gulf Coastal Plain betwee ...

ecoregion covers lower elevations, while the Oaxacan montane forests, with cloud and pine–oak forests, covers the higher elevations of the range. The drier Veracruz dry forests lie in the lowlands to the south, in the rain shadow of the Sierra. Most of the range has been converted to pasture or agriculture, and little undisturbed natural vegetation remains.

References

{{reflist Landforms of Veracruz Veracruz moist forests