The Sierra Madre Oriental pine–oak forests are a Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

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 ...

of northeastern and Central

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 into the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the United States.

Setting

The Sierra Madre Oriental pine–oak forests are found at elevations of above sea level in the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...

range, which runs north and south between the Gulf Coastal Plain to the east along the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, 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 ...

, and the Mexican Plateau to the west. They are also found in the

Sierra Norte de Puebla The Sierra Norte de Puebla is a rugged mountainous region accounting for the northern third of the state of Puebla, Mexico. It is at the intersection of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and the Sierra Madre Oriental, between the Mexican Plateau ...

, adjacent to the southern Sierra Madre Oriental. The ecoregion covers an area of . The southernmost forests transition to the

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine–oak forests The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine–oak forests is a subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt of central Mexico. Setting The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine–oak forests occupy an area of , extending from ...

in central

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

state, near the southern end of the Sierra Madre Oriental. The forests extend almost continuously along the range through the states of

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 ...

, Hidalgo,

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and i ...

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

, and northern Puebla. North of

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

, the forests become discontinuous, extending as a series of sky islands through the states of Nuevo León and

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

, and on into the

Chisos The Chisos Mountains, also known as the Chisos, are a mountain range located in the Big Bend area of the Trans-Pecos region of Texas, United States. The mountain system covers 40 square miles (104 square km) and is contained entirely within the ...

and

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...

mountains of the Big Bend region of western Texas. Other sky islands can be found on the higher peaks of the mountain ranges rising from the Mexican Plateau to the west. The pine–oak forests extend along a discontinuous line of folded mountains, including the Sierra de Arteaga, Sierra de Zapalinamé, Sierra La Concordia, Sierra de Parras, and Sierra de Jimulco that reach westwards across the plateau. The Sierra del Rosario, west of

Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2021, the city's population was 735,340. The metropolitan population as of 2015 was 1,497,734, making it the ninth-biggest metropolitan area in the ...

, is the westernmost extent of ecoregion. Enclaves of pine–oak forest also occur at the highest elevations of the

Sierra de San Carlos Sierra de San Carlos, also known as the Sierra Chiquita, is an isolated mountain range in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. The climate is semi-arid. The highest point is ''Cerro El Hongo'' with an elevation of at a location of 24° 34′ 20″ ...

and

Sierra de Tamaulipas The Sierra de Tamaulipas is an isolated, semi-tropical mountain range in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Its highest point is . There are no cities or towns in the Sierra and the small population is largely agricultural. The higher elevations o ...

, smaller ranges which rise from the Gulf Coastal Plain east of the main line of the Sierra.

Flora

The dominant species are many species of

pine 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 ...

including Nelson pinyon ('' Pinus nelsonii''), Mexican pinyon (''P. cembroides''), smooth-bark Mexican pine ('' P. pseudostrobus''), and

Arizona pine ''Pinus arizonica'', commonly known as the Arizona pine, is a medium-sized pine in northern Mexico, southeast Arizona, southwest New Mexico, and western Texas in the United States. It is a tree growing to 25–35 m tall, with a trunk diameter of ...

(''P. arizonica''), and the oaks ''

Quercus castanea ''Quercus castanea'' is a species of oak tree. It is widespread across much of Mexico, from Sonora to Chiapas, and in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.Q. affinis''. On the wetter slopes facing the ocean the most common trees are Mexican pinyon and ''

Juniperus deppeana ''Juniperus deppeana'' (alligator juniper or checkerbark juniper) is a small to medium-sized tree reaching in height. It is native to central and northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Description The tree reaches , rarely , in he ...

'', while on the drier western slopes weeping pinyon ('' Pinus pinceana'') is more common. The forests are home to a great variety of other flora including agave and traditional food plants. The Sierra Madre Oriental is home to Mexico's greatest diversity of oaks. There are 55 native species, including 19 endemic species. 32 are red oaks (section ''Lobatae''), of which 14 are endemic, and 23 are white oaks (section ''Quercus''), with 5 endemic species. Endemic species include ''

Quercus ariifolia ''Quercus ariifolia'' is a species of oak native to the Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico. Description ''Quercus ariifolia'' belongs to the ''Quercus rugosa'' group of species. The species of this group are characterized by obovate, occasionally b ...

, Q. edwardsiae, Q. flocculenta, Q. furfuracea, Q. galeanensis, Q. hirtifolia, Q. hypoxantha, Q. miquihuanensis, Q. runcinatifolia, Q. rysophylla'', and '' Q. verde''. ''

Quercus canbyi ''Quercus canbyi'' (Canby oak, Sierra oak), synonyms including ''Quercus graciliformis'', is a North American species of oak tree. Description ''Quercus canbyi'' is a semi-evergreen - evergreen tree, up to tall in cultivation. Although, it can ...

'' is native to the northern Sierra, with an outlier population in the Chisos Mountains of Texas. ''

Quercus germana ''Quercus germana'', the Mexican royal oak, is a species of oak tree in the family Fagaceae. It is native to mountain cloud forests in eastern Mexico. Description ''Quercus germana'' is a small to medium-sized tree, and can reach in height. A ...

'' and '' Q. pinnativenulosa'' are endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental and the northern Sierra Madre de Oaxaca. Several species, including ''

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 ...

'' and '' Q. xalapensis'', reach northern limits of their ranges in the Sierra.Valencia Avalos, Susana (2010). "Notes on the Genus ''Quercus'' in Mexico". ''International Oak Journal'' No. 21 Spring 2010

Fauna

Mammals that inhabit this ecoregion include the

American black bear The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), also called simply a black bear or sometimes a baribal, is a medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bear ...

(''Ursus americanus''), which migrate along the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

from northern Coahuila to the Chisos Mountains in Texas, mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus''),

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

(''Puma concolor''), cliff chipmunk (''Tamias dorsalis''), collared peccary (''Pecari tajacu''),

white-nosed coati The white-nosed coati (''Nasua narica''), also known as the coatimundi (), is a species of coati and a member of the family Procyonidae (raccoons and their relatives). Local Spanish names for the species include ''pizote'', ''antoon'', and ''te ...

(''Nasua narica''),

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'') and

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 ...

(''Canis latrans''). The maroon-fronted parrot (''Rhynchopsitta terrisi'') is endemic to this ecoregion. The

Colima warbler The Colima warbler (''Leiothlypis crissalis'') is a New World warbler. It is mainly found in the Sierra Madre Occidental and Oriental mountains of central Mexico, though its range just barely extends into adjacent southwestern Texas in the Chisos ...

(''Vermivora crissalis'') breeds only in the Sierra Madre Oriental.

Wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an Upland game bird, upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic ...

s (''Meleagris gallapavo''),

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 ...

s (''Falco peregrinus'') 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 ...

(''Aquila chrysaetos'') are also resident. Pine–oak forests in Coahuila are part of the migration route of monarch butterflies ('' Danaus plexippus'').

Protected areas

32.22% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include El Chico National Park,

El Potosí National Park El Potosí National Park is a protected area in northwestern Mexico. It is located in San Luis Potosí.It has an area of 20 km2. The park was established in 1936 by president Lázaro Cárdenas. Geography The park is located in the Serrania de R ...

Cumbres de Monterrey National Park The Cumbres de Monterrey ( es, Parque Nacional Cumbres de Monterrey, ; English: "Summits of Monterrey") is a national park of Mexico located in the northern portion of the Sierra Madre Oriental in the states of Nuevo León and Coahuila, near the c ...

Los Mármoles National Park Los Mármoles National Park is a protected natural area in northeastern Mexico. It is located in the western Sierra Madre Oriental of northern Hidalgo. Geography The national park has an area of 231.5 km2. It is located in the municipality of Zi ...

Big Bend National Park Big Bend National Park is an American national park located in West Texas, bordering Mexico. The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States, and was named after ...

, Cerro de la Silla Natural Monument, El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, Sierra de Tamaulipas Biosphere Reserve, Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Sierra Gorda de Guanajuato Biosphere Reserve,

Barranca de Metztitlán Biosphere Reserve Barranca (Spanish for "canyon" or "ravine"), may refer to: Geography Argentina * Barranca Yaco, Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, Argentina Chile * Barrancas, Pichilemu, a village in Pichilemu Colombia * Barrancas, La Guajira, town and ...

, Maderas del Carmen Flora and Fauna Protection Area,

Cañón de Santa Elena Flora and Fauna Protection Area The Cañón de Santa Elena Flora and Fauna Protection Area (Spanish: ''Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Cañón de Santa Elena'') is a protected area for plants and wildlife in the Mexican municipalities of Manuel Benavides and Ojinaga, in th ...

Sierra de Álvarez Flora and Fauna Protection Area Sierra de Álvarez Flora and Fauna Protection Area is a protected natural area in northeastern Mexico. It is located in the Sierra Madre Oriental of San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Pot ...

Serranía de Zapalinamé The Serranía de Zapalinamé, also known as the Sierra de Zapalinamé is a mountain range and protected area of northeastern Mexico. The city of Saltillo lies immediately north of the mountains. The range is a westward extension of the Sierra Mad ...

ecological reserve,

Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 026 Bajo Río San Juan The Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 026 Bajo Río San Juan is a protected area in northeastern Mexico. It extends over part of the northern Sierra Madre Occidental, near the cities of Monterrey and Saltillo. Geography The pro ...

, and Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 004 Don Martín.

References

External links