The Tamaulipan matorral is an

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 ...

in the

deserts and xeric shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this ...

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

on the eastern slopes of 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 in northeastern

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 ...

. It is a transitional ecoregion between the

Tamaulipan mezquital The Tamaulipan mezquital ( es, Mezquital Tamaulipeco) is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It covers an area of , encompassing a portion of the Gulf Coastal Plain in southern Texas, no ...

and the

Sierra Madre Oriental 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 ...

to the west and 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 between ...

to the south. The Tamaulipan matorral is a desert shrubland where the flora mainly consists of woody shrubs, small trees, cacti, and succulents. Piedmont scrub occurs in shallow hollows and montane

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

occurs above about . There are a number of resident bird species and the mammals include

Mexican prairie dog The Mexican prairie dog (''Cynomys mexicanus'') is a diurnal burrowing rodent native to Mexico. Treatment as an agricultural pest has led to its status as an endangered species. They are closely related to squirrels, chipmunks, and marmots. ' ...

Saussure's shrew Saussure's shrew (''Sorex saussurei'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae, that is found in Mexico. There is also a disjointed population of shrews in Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, Repú ...

yellow-faced pocket gopher The yellow-faced pocket gopher (''Cratogeomys castanops'') is a species of pocket gopher that is native to shortgrass prairies in the south-western United States and northern Mexico. It is the species that lives north of the Southern Coahuila Fi ...

Allen's squirrel Allen's squirrel (''Sciurus alleni'') is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' endemic to northern Mexico. It has no recognised subspecies. References

Endemic mammals of Mexico Sciurus Mammals described in 1898 Taxonomy articles crea ...

collared peccary The collared peccary (''Dicotyles tajacu'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed) mammal in the family Tayassuidae found in North, Central, and South America. It is the only member of the genus ''Dicotyles''. They are commonly referred to as ' ...

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 ...

Setting

The Tamaulipan

matorral 300px, Springtime in Chilean matorral a few kilometers north of Santiago along the Pan-American Highway Matorral is a Spanish language, Spanish word, along with ''tomillares'', for shrubland, thicket or bushes. It is used in naming and describin ...

extends along the eastern slopes of the

range in northeastern Mexico, extending from central

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 ...

state across central

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 ...

. The

covers an area of . The humid

lie to the southeast, on the Gulf Coastal Plain of southern Tamaulipas and Veracruz states; the

lies in 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 ...

lowlands to the east and northeast. The

occupy higher elevations of the Sierra Madre Oriental range to the west.

Flora

The ecoregion is predominantly a desert shrubland made up of woody shrubs, small trees,

cacti 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 Greek ...

, and

succulents In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

. Dominant plant species include '' Cylindropuntia leptocaulis'', ''Opuntia engelmannii'' var. ''lindheimeri'', ''

Prosopis juliflora ''Prosopis juliflora'' ( es, bayahonda blanca, Cuji Venezuela, Trupillo Colombia, Aippia Wayuunaiki and long-thorn kiawe in Hawaii) is a shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae, a kind of mesquite. It is native to Mexico, South America and th ...

'', '' P. laevigata'', '' Yucca treculeana'', '' Salvia ballotiflora'', '' Jatropha dioica'', cenizo (''

Leucophyllum frutescens ''Leucophyllum frutescens'' is an evergreen shrub in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, native to the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the official "State Native Shrub of Texas", and to the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas in ...

''), '' Mammillaria heyderi hemisphaerica'', tepeguaje ('' Leucaena pulverulenta'') and ''Mimosa aculeaticarpa'' var. ''biuncifera''. Piedmont scrub is found in shallow soils derived from sedimentary rocks at the base of the Sierra Madre (below ) and receives of annual rainfall. It is composed of relatively short plants ( in height) such as ''

Helietta parvifolia ''Helietta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the citrus family, Rutaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as barettas, barretas, or barrettas. The generic name honors French physician Louis Théodore Hélie (1802–1867). Selected spe ...

'', '' Neopringlea integrifolia'' and ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' spp. Montane

is a distinct plant community found above in the Sierra Madre Oriental, composed of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s (''Quercus'' spp.), ''

Arbutus ''Arbutus'' is a genus of 12 accepted speciesAct. Bot. Mex no.99 Pátzcuaro abr. 2012.''Arbutus bicolor''/ref> of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, the Canary Islan ...

'',

Yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flo ...

, '' Cercocarpus'', and ''

Bauhinia ''Bauhinia'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Cercidoideae and tribe Bauhinieae, in the large flowering plant family Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution. The genus was named after the Bauhin brothers Gaspard and Jo ...

''.

Fauna

Mammals present in this ecoregion include the

(''Cynomys mexicanus''),

(''Sorex saussurei''),

(''Pappogeomys castanops''),

Allen's squirrel Allen's squirrel (''Sciurus alleni'') is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' endemic to northern Mexico. It has no recognised subspecies. References

Endemic mammals of Mexico Sciurus Mammals described in 1898 Taxonomy articles crea ...

(''Sciurus alleni''),

(''Pecari tajacu'') and

(''Canis latrans''). Birds such as the

burrowing owl The burrowing owl (''Athene cunicularia''), also called the shoco, is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or an ...

(''Athene cunicularia''),

hooded oriole The hooded oriole (''Icterus cucullatus'') is a medium-sized New World oriole. The male of this species ranges in color from a bright orange to a paler yellow, with a black back, face, tail and bib, with the wing containing two white bars. The fe ...

(''Icterus cucullates''),

eastern meadowlark The eastern meadowlark (''Sturnella magna'') is a medium-sized blackbird (family: Icteridae), very similar in appearance to sister species western meadowlark. It occurs from eastern North America to northern South America, where it is also most w ...

(''Sturnella magna''),

long-billed thrasher The long-billed thrasher (''Toxostoma longirostre'') is a medium-sized resident songbird of South Texas and eastern Mexico. It bears a strong resemblance to its close relative the brown thrasher in appearance, calls, and various other behavio ...

(''Toxostoma longirostre''), hooded yellowthroat (''Geothlypis nelsoni''),

blue bunting The blue bunting (''Cyanocompsa parellina'') is a species of passerine in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Taxonomy and systematics ...

(''Cyanocompsa parellina'') and olive sparrow (''Arremonops rufivirgatus'') are resident.

Protected areas

6.15% of the ecoregion is in

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

s. Protected areas include

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 ...

, Cerro de la Silla Natural Monument, and the Cerro El Topo, Cerro La Mota, Parras de la Fuente, Sierra Cerro de la Silla, Sierra El Fraile y San Miguel, Sierra Las Mitras, and Sierra Picachos ecological conservation areas."Tamaulipan matorral". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 15 October 2021

/ref>

References

External links