The Sierra Madre del Sur is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in southern

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 ...

, extending from southern

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 ...

east through

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

, to the

Isthmus of Tehuantepec The Isthmus of Tehuantepec () is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major overland transport route known simply as the Te ...

in eastern

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

Geography

The Sierra Madre del Sur joins with the Eje Volcánico Transversal (Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt) of central Mexico in northern Oaxaca, but is separated from this range further west by the valley of 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 its tributary the Tepalcatepec River. The mountains' highest point is Cerro Nube – , in southern Oaxaca, and just one major highway crosses the range between Acapulco and Mexico City. Although separated from the main part of the Sierra Madre del Sur by the deep canyon of the lower Río Balsas, the mountains of southern

around Coalcomán are usually considered part of the Sierra Madre del Sur.

Ecology

The range is noted for its very high

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

and large number of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

species. The

Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

occupies the higher reaches of the range. These forests are part of a chain of

Mesoamerican pine-oak forests Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Withi ...

that stretch from the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

along the

American Cordillera The American Cordillera is a chain of mountain ranges (cordilleras) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of North America, Central America and South America, with Aconcagua as the h ...

. Lower elevations of the range are covered by

tropical dry forests The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

. Tropical dry forests include closed-canopy forests, woodlands, and thorn scrub, and many trees and shrubs lose their leaves during the winter dry season. The

Jalisco dry forests The Jalisco dry forests is a Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in southwestern Mexico. Geography The Jalisco dry forests occupy the coastal lowlands and foothills of Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, ...

ecoregion occupies the western end of the range's Pacific slope. The

Southern Pacific dry forests The Southern Pacific dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in southern Mexico. Geography The Southern Pacific dry forests occupy the coastal lowlands and foothills along the Pacific coast of Southern Mexico. The Balsas River m ...

occupy most of the Pacific slope of the range, from Michoacan in the west through Guerrero and Oaxaca. The basin of the Balsas River, north of the Sierra, is home to the

Balsas dry forests The Balsas dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion located in western and central Mexico. Geography The Balsas dry forests occupy the basin of the Balsas River. The ecoregion covers an area of . The Balsas basin, and the Balsa ...

Protected areas

Protected areas in the Sierra include the

Sierra de Manantlán Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and " saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain rang ...

, Zicuirán-Infiernillo, and Tehuacán-Cuicatlán

biosphere reserves Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments. MAB's work engag ...

, General Juan Álvarez National Park, Boquerón de Tonalá Flora and Fauna Protection Area,

Omiltemi Ecological State Park Omiltemi Ecological State Park is a protected area in southern Mexico. It is located in the Sierra Madre del Sur of Guerrero. The park includes well-preserved pine–oak forests and cloud forests. Geography Omiltemi Ecological State Park is locat ...

, Los Olivos and El Nanchal state reserves, and the Campo Verde, Iliatenco, Cafetal San Juanito (Pluma Hidalgo), Cafetal Soconusco, Cerro Azul, Concepción Vista Hermosa, El Corozal, and El Borbollón, La Pandura y La Yerbabuena voluntary conservation areas."Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 15 September 2021

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References

External links

* * {{Authority control Sierra Madre del Sur, Madre del Sur Landforms of Guerrero Landforms of Michoacán Landforms of Oaxaca Geography of Mesoamerica North American Cordillera Pacific Coast of Mexico Physiographic provinces