Iztaccíhuatl–Popocatépetl National Park, also known as Izta-Popo Zoquiapan National Park, is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

on the border of the

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

México Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

, and

Morelos Morelos, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos, is a landlocked state located in south-central Mexico. It is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Mun ...

. The park protects , surrounding Mexico's second- and third-highest peaks, the Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

es (respectively and ) as well as the area of the Hacienda de Zoquiapán, and its annexed areas (''anexas'') of Zoquiapan, Ixtlahuacán, and the Frío de Juárez River.

Geography

The park extends north and south, following a line of volcanic peaks. Popocatépetl is the southernmost peak, the highest in the park at , and the second-highest in Mexico. It is volcanically active, with the latest eruptive period extending from 2005 to the present. Iztaccíhuatl () is north of Popocatépetl, and together form a range known as the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

. The valley of Río Frío, where Mexican Federal Highway 150 between Mexico City and Puebla passes through the park, is the northern end of the Sierra Nevada. The northern portion of the park covers the Sierra de Río Frío, made up of three volcanic peaks – Mount Tláloc at (4,120 m), Telapón (4060 m), and Papayo (3,600 m) Tláloc and Telapón, the northern and middle peaks, formed between 5 and 2 million years ago. Papayo, the southernmost peak in the Sierra de Río Frío, formed more recently. Rain and snowfall and glacial melt give rise to many mountain streams. The northern and western slopes drain into Lake Texcoco in the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico (; ), sometimes also called Basin of Mexico, is a highlands plateau in central Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations including Teotihuacan, ...

. The eastern slopes drain into the upper

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 Alt ...

, also known as the Atoyac. The southernmost portion of the park is drained by the Cuautla and Nexapa rivers, which are tributaries of the Balsas. The Balsas empties southwards into the Pacific Ocean. The surface waters and groundwater from the park are important sources of fresh water for the Mexico City metropolitan area, to the west in the Valley of Mexico, and the cities of Puelbla and

Tlaxcala Tlaxcala, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala, is one of the 32 federal entities that comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tlaxcala, 60 municipalities and t ...

to the east in the upper basin of the Balsas.

Flora and fauna

The predominant plant communities in the park are montane conifer forests and alpine grasslands."Programa de Manejo Parque Nacional Iztaccíhuatl Popocatépetl". National Commission on Natural Protected Areas (''Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas''), Government of Mexico. December 2013. Accessed 17 November 2021

/ref> Conifer forests extend from the lower limits of the park up to 4000 meters elevation. These include pine-fir forests and pine forests. Pine-fir forests are found from 3000 to 3700 meters elevation. Characteristic trees are oyamel fir (''Abies religiosa'') and the pines ''

Pinus ayacahuite ''Pinus ayacahuite'', also called ayacahuite pine and Mexican white pine, (family Pinaceae) is a species of pine native to the mountains of southern Mexico and western Central America, in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains and the eastern end o ...

Pinus montezumae ''Pinus montezumae'', known as the Montezuma pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is native to Mexico and Central America, where it is one of many pines known as ocote. Description The tree grows about 35 m high and 80& ...

'', and '' Pinus hartwegii''. Pine forests grow between 3400 and 4000 meters elevation. '' Pinus hartwegii'' is the predominant tree, with '' Ribes ciliatum, Lupinus montanus, Acaena elongata'', and the grasses ''

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on ...

'' spp. and ''

Calamagrostis ''Calamagrostis'' (reed grass or smallweed) is a genus of flowering plants in the grass family Poaceae, with about 260 species that occur mainly in temperate regions of the globe. Towards equatorial latitudes, species of ''Calamagrostis'' general ...

'' spp. in the understory. Alpine and sub-alpine grassland, known as Zacatonal, is found between 3500 and 4350 meters elevation. It consists of grasses and herbaceous plants with occasional woody junipers, growing no more than 50 cm high. Characteristic species include the grasses ''Festuca'' spp., '' Calamagrostis tolucensis'', '' Muhlenbergia quadridentata'', and '' Agrostis tolucensis'', together with '' Juniperus monticola''. Areas above 4350 meters, which include the peaks of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl, are mostly barren rock and permanent ice and snow. 48 species of wild mammals have been recorded in the park, including

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...

s (''Lynx rufus'') coyotes (''Canis latrans''), foxes, American badgers (''Taxidea taxus berlandieri''), skunks, racoons, bats, rabbits, gophers, squirrels, mice, and shrews. The endangered volcano rabbit (''Romerolagus diazi'') lives in high-elevation grasslands on four central Mexican volcanic peaks, including Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl. Other limited-range species include the Orizaba long-tailed shrew (''Sorex orizabae'') and Phillips's kangaroo rat (''Dipodomys phillipsii''). 161 species of birds have been recorded in the park. 75% of the birds are resident, while the remaining 25% are migratory or occasional visitors. Resident birds include the

red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members of ...

(''Buteo jamaicensis formosus''),

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

(''Falco peregrinus''), long-tailed wood partridge (''Dendrortyx macroura''), white-naped swift (''Streptoprocne semicollaris''), Aztec thrush (''Ridgwayia pinicola''), Sierra Madre sparrow (''Xenospiza baileyi''), bumblebee hummingbird (''Selasphorus heloisa''), gray-barred wren (''Campylorhynchus megalopterus''), spotted wren (''Campylorhynchus gularis''), russet nightingale-thrush (''Catharus occidentalis''),

rufous-backed thrush The rufous-backed thrush (''Turdus rufopalliatus'') is a songbird of the thrush family. It is endemic to the Pacific slope of Mexico. It is also known as the rufous-backed robin. Description This species resembles its widespread relative the ...

(''Turdus rufopalliatus''), ocellated thrasher (''Toxostoma ocellatum''), blue mockingbird (''Melanotis caerulescens''), and Striped sparrow (''Oriturus superciliosus'').BirdLife International (2021) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Volcanes Iztaccíhuatl - Popocatépetl. Accessed 20 November 2021

/ref> Native

amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

s include the ridged tree frog (''Dryophytes plicatus'') and four salamanders – '' Pseudoeurycea leprosa'', '' Pseudoeurycea cephalica'', common splayfoot salamander (''Chiropterotriton chiropterus''), and mountain stream salamander (''Ambystoma altamirani'').

History

A decree by President

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...

on November 8, 1935 established a national park on Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. The decree established the park's lower boundary at the 3000-meter contour, excluding the town of

Río Frío de Juárez Río Frío de Juárez, originally Río Frío (Cold River), a Mexican populated place, is located in the municipality of Ixtapaluca in the State of Mexico. Río Frío de Juárez is located at the highest point on the highway between Mexico City to ...

. A second decree on 13 March, 1937 confirmed that the forest lands of the Hacienda of Zoquiapan, in what is now the northern part of the park, were included in the park. On February 11, 1948, President

Miguel Alemán Valdés Miguel Alemán Valdés (; 29 September 1900 – 14 May 1983) was a Mexican politician who served a full term as the President of Mexico from 1946 to 1952, the first civilian president after a string of revolutionary generals. His administ ...

issued a decree that reset the boundary of the park at the 3,600 meter contour, decreasing the park in size. The Mexican Government created an industrial unit for forest exploitation (''Unidad Industrial de Explotación Forestal'') to supply wood pulp to the San Rafael paper factory from trees harvested in the former park lands. A secretarial agreement abolished the unit on February 11, 1992. The park is administered by the

National Commission of Protected Natural Areas National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(CONANP), a federal agency of the

Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources The Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (in Spanish: ''Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, SEMARNAT'') is Mexico's environment ministry. Its head, the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources, is a member ...

. The park was closed to the public from March 2020 to March 2021 because of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico The COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to hav ...

Geography

Flora and fauna

History

See also

Notes

References

Further reading