The Mapimí Biosphere Reserve ( es, Reserva de la Biósfera de Mapimí) (established 1977) is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

located in the state of Durango in northern Mexico. It is one of three biosphere reserves representing the

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lo ...

(along with Big Bend Biosphere Reserve and National Park in western Texas and Jornada Biosphere Reserve in New Mexico). The reserve is situated between the

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

and

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

biogeographic realm A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions. De ...

s, in the Bolsón de Mapimí above sea level. It contains three core areas in the ''Sierra de la Campana'', the ''Laguna de las Palomas'', a salt lagoon, and a desert habitat called ''Dunas de la Soledad''. It comprises fragile warm desert and semi-desert

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s and rich, highly adapted but vulnerable plant systems, mainly

xerophytic A xerophyte (from Greek ξηρός ''xeros'' 'dry' + φυτόν ''phuton'' 'plant') is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water, such as a desert such as the Sahara or places in the Alps or t ...

matorral scrub, and animal species such as the puma (''Puma concolor''),

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...

(''Odocoileus hemionus''),

sandhill crane The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on ...

(''Grus canadensis'') and the

kit fox The kit fox (''Vulpes macrotis'') is a fox species that inhabits arid and semi-arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern and central Mexico. These foxes are the smallest of the four species of ''Vulpes'' occurring in North Amer ...

or ''zorrita del desiert'' (''Vulpes macrotis'') along with scrub and desert grasslands. The site is administered by the municipalities of Tlahualillo and Mapimí in Durango, Jiménez in Chihuahua and Sierra Mojada in Coahuila.

Ecological characteristics

This biosphere reserve includes the desert ecosystems of the central part of the Chihuahua Desert, where there is a predomination of

scrubland and chaparral with various compositions forming mosaics of

halophyte A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. Th ...

vegetation in the lower parts. Biologically rich, it includes 403 plant species. Noteworthy are the 39 cactus species and 200 species of birds, 5 species of amphibians, 36 species of reptiles and 28 species of mammals. Endemic species identified are nine for the family

Cactaceae A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

, one for the family Cochlospermaceae and one for the family Fouqueriaceae. Particularly charismatic are the Bolson tortoise (''Gopherus flavomarginatus''), the

(''Vulpes macrotis''), the Mexican

fringe-toed lizard Fringe-toed lizards are lizards of the genus ''Uma'' in the family Phrynosomatidae, native to deserts of North America. They are adapted for life in sandy deserts with fringe-like scales on their hind toes hence their common name. Description ...

(''Uma paraphigas''), the

(''Odocoileus hemionus''), the

American badger The American badger (''Taxidea taxus'') is a North American badger similar in appearance to the European badger, although not closely related. It is found in the western, central, and northeastern United States, northern Mexico, and south-cent ...

(''Taxidea taxus''), the puma (''Puma concolor''); and birds such as the

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 birds of ...

(''Aquila crhysaetos'').

Human activities

, 72,600 inhabitants live in the reserve, mainly engaged in extensive cattle raising, salt exploitation and in agriculture.

Flora and fauna

According to the National Biodiversity Information System of

Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad The Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO; en, National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity) is a permanent inter-ministerial commission of the Federal Mexican government, created in 1992. It ...

(CONABIO) in Mapimí Biosphere Reserve there are over 815 plant and animal species from which 44 are in at risk category and 25 are exotics.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mapimi Biosphere Reserve Biosphere reserves of Mexico Protected areas of Durango Protected areas of the Chihuahuan Desert Protected areas established in 1977 1977 establishments in Mexico Protected areas of Chihuahua (state) Protected areas of Coahuila