La Michilía Biosphere Reserve is a protected area in northwestern

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 Guate ...

. It is located in the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...

range in southern

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated i ...

state.

Geography

The reserve covers an area of 350 km². The reserve spans two ranges, the Sierra Michis and the Sierra Urica, which are part of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Between the two sierras is a landscape of hills and plateaus, threaded through by valleys and canyons.UNESCO (2018), "La Michilia Biosphere Reserve, Mexico". Biosphere reserves in Latin America and the Caribbean, UNESCO. Accessed 28 August 2021

/ref> The valley of the

San Pedro Mezquital River The San Pedro Mezquital River ( es, Río San Pedro Mezquital) is a river of Nayarit, Mexico. The river originates in the Sierra Madre Occidental, and flows through Durango and Nayarit states to empty into the Pacific Ocean in Marismas Nacionales ...

lies west of the reserve, and the

Mexican Plateau The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano ( es, Altiplanicie Mexicana), is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. Averaging above sea level, it extends from the United States b ...

to the north and east. The reserve adjoins the

Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 043 Estado de Nayarit The Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 043 Estado de Nayarit is a protected natural area in west-central Mexico. It extends across portions of southern Sierra Madre Occidental and the westernmost Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. It ha ...

on the northwest and southwest.

Ecology

There reserve is in the

Sierra Madre Occidental pine–oak forests The Sierra Madre Occidental pine–oak forests ( es, Bosques de pino-roble de la Sierra Madre Occidental) are a Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the Sierra Madre Occidental range from the southwest USA region to the western p ...

ecoregion. It is home to several distinct plant communities. Conifer forests prevail at higher elevation, with species of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

(''Pinus''),

Mexican Douglas-fir ''Pseudotsuga menziesii var. lindleyana'', commonly known as the Mexican Douglas-fir, is a conifer in the genus ''Pseudotsuga'' that is endemic to Mexico. DNA sequence and morphological evidence suggests it is most closely related to Rocky Mount ...

(''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''lindleyana''),

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the la ...

(''Cupressus''), and

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

(''Juniperus''), along with pine–oak forests. Oak (''Quercus'' spp.) forests and woodlands are found at middle elevations. Other plant communities include grasslands, dry shrubland, and wetlands. The reserve is home to 770 species of vascular plants. Large mammals include the

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

(''Odocoileus virginianus mexicanus''),

puma Puma or PUMA may refer to: Animals * ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae ** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat Businesses and organisations * Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company * Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...

(''Puma concolor''), and

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of 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 ecological ni ...

(''Canis latrans''). The

Mexican gray wolf The Mexican wolf (''Canis lupus baileyi''), also known as the lobo,; nah, Cuetlāchcoyōtl is a Subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of gray wolf native to southeastern Arizona and southern New Mexico in the United States, and northern Mexico ...

(''Canis lupus baileyii'') and

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 bea ...

(''Ursus americanus'') had been extirpated from the reserve, but have been successfully reintroduced. Native birds include 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 ...

(''Aquila chrysaetos''),

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

(''Meleagris gallopavo''), and

thick-billed parrot The thick-billed parrot (''Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha'') is a medium-sized parrot endemic to Mexico that formerly ranged into the southwestern United States. Its position in parrot phylogeny is the subject of ongoing discussion; it is sometimes ...

(''Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha''). The

imperial woodpecker The imperial woodpecker (''Campephilus imperialis'') is a woodpecker species endemic to Mexico. If it is not extinct, it is the world's largest woodpecker species, at long. Researchers have discovered that the imperial woodpecker has slow cli ...

(''Campephilus imperialis'') once inhabited the area but is now thought to be extinct.

Conservation

It was designated an international biosphere reserve by

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. I ...

in 1977, and designated a Mexican national biosphere reserve in 2000.

References

{{reflist Biosphere reserves of Mexico Protected areas of Durango Protected areas of the Sierra Madre Occidental Important Bird Areas of Mexico