Pico de Tancítaro, also known as Volcán Tancítaro, is a volcanic mountain in

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 ...

. It is located in

Tancítaro Tancítaro is a city and municipality in the western part of the Mexican state of Michoacán, in southwestern Mexico. Its municipal seat is the City of Tancítaro. The area has been called "the avocado capital of the world." An Avocado Festiva ...

municipality in

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

state. It is the highest peak in Michoacán.

Geology

Pico de Tancítaro is an

andesitic Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

dacitic Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

. It was active from 800,000 to 237,000 years ago, and is currently believed to be extinct. It is part of the much larger Michoacán–Guanajuato volcanic field. Portions of the volcanic field are still active.

Parícutin Parícutin (or Volcán de Parícutin, also accented Paricutín) is a cinder cone volcano located in the Mexican state of Michoacán, near the city of Uruapan and about west of Mexico City. The volcano surged suddenly from the cornfield of loca ...

is a young volcano located 11 km northeast of Pico de Tancítaro. It first erupted in 1943 and remained active and grew in size until 1952.

Ecology

Plant communities on the mountain include pine-oak forest, open pine forest, and montane mesophyll or cloud forest, with alpine grasslands, known as Zacatonal, at higher elevations."El Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Pico de Tancítaro, proveedora de agua de al menos a 82 comunidades". Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, Government of Mexico. Published 19 August 2018. Accessed 14 December 2020

Pine-oak forest is the predominant plant community from the base of the mountain to 3450 meters elevation. Common pine species include ''

Pinus pseudostrobus ''Pinus pseudostrobus'', known in English as the smooth-bark Mexican pine and in Spanish as ''chamite'' or ''pacingo'', is a tree found in forests of Mexico and Central America. It is 8 to 25 m tall with a dense and round top.It is threatened b ...

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& ...

Pinus devoniana ''Pinus devoniana'' is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is found in more than 15 states of Mexico - from S. Sinaloa to Chiapas - and Guatemala in montane, relatively open pine or pine-oak forests at altitudes from .Farjon et al. 19 ...

'', and ''

Pinus teocote 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. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

'', with '' Pinus gordoniana'' and ''

Pinus maximinoi ''Pinus maximinoi'', commonly known as thinleaf pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico at elevations of . ''P. maximinoi'' reaches a height of and has smooth bark when y ...

'' less common. Oaks, including ''

Quercus crassipes ''Quercus crassipes'' is a species of oak tree. It is widespread across much of Mexico from Sonora and Hidalgo south to Chiapas.

Quercus laurina ''Quercus laurina'' is a species of oak. It is native primarily to Mexico (from Tamaulipas to Chiapas) and has also been found in Guatemala and El Salvador.Quercus rugosa ''Quercus rugosa'', commonly known as the netleaf oak, is a broad-leaved tree in the beech and oak family Fagaceae. It is native to southern North America. Description ''Quercus rugosa'' is an evergreen shrub or tree. The bark is brown and scaly ...

'', occur between 2100 and 2800 meters elevation, either dominant or co-dominant with pines. The broadleaf trees and shrubs ''

Alnus acuminata Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species e ...

Arbutus xalapensis ''Arbutus xalapensis'', commonly known as the Texas madrone, Amazaquitl, or Texas madroño, is a species of flowering plant in the heather family. It is native to Central America, the southwestern United States (western Texas and New Mexico), an ...

, Berberis moranensis, Ageratina mairetiana'', and '' Lippia umbellata'' are also found among the oaks and pines. Forests of oyamel fir (''

Abies religiosa ''Abies religiosa'', the oyamel fir or sacred fir, (known as in Spanish) is a fir native to the mountains of central and southern Mexico ( Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, Sierra Madre del Sur) and western Guatemala. It grows at high elevations o ...

'') occur in well-watered areas between 2450 and 3400 meters elevation, in pure stands or mixed with pines and oaks. ''

Pinus hartwegii ''Pinus hartwegii'' ( syn. ''P. rudis'', ''P. donnell-smithii''), Hartweg's pine, the Mexican mountain pine, or pino de las alturas, is a pine native to the mountains of Mexico and Central America east to Honduras. It is named after Karl Theodor ...

'' becomes dominant around 3400 meters elevation.Ruiz, Ignacio. (2002). Flora del Parque Nacional Pico de Tancítaro, Michoacán. Secretaria de Urbanismo y Medio Ambiente, Gobierno del Estado de Michoacan de Ocampo. Mountain mesophilic forest, or cloud forest, is found on slopes between 2000 and 2600 meters elevation with high year-round humidity and frequent fog, particularly in ravines which offer year-round water and protection from drying winds and sun. Typical trees include '' Quercus calophylla,

Carpinus tropicalis ''Carpinus tropicalis'' is a species of tree native to central and southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Description ''Carpinus tropicalis'' is small to medium-sized tree which grows up to tall, with a trunk up to i ...

, Alnus acuminata,

Crataegus mexicana ''Crataegus mexicana'' is a species of hawthorn known by the common names , , and Mexican hawthorn. It is native to the mountains of Mexico and parts of Guatemala, and has been introduced in the Andes. The fruit of this species is one of the mo ...

'', and species of ''

Meliosma ''Meliosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sabiaceae, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. It is traditionally considered to contain about 100 species; some botanists take a ...

Symplocos ''Symplocos'' is a genus of flowering plants in the order Ericales. It contains about 300 species distributed in Asia and the Americas. Many species grow in humid tropical regions. This is sometimes considered to be the only genus in family Sympl ...

Prunus ''Prunus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs from the family (biology), family Rosaceae. The genus includes plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots and almonds (collectively Drupe, stonefruit). The genus has a cosm ...

Cinnamomum ''Cinnamomum'' is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of ''Cinnamomum'' have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains approximately 234 species, distributed in ...

Styrax ''Styrax'' (common names storax or snowbell) is a genus of about 130 species of large shrubs or small trees in the family Styracaceae, mostly native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the majority in eastern ...

Tilia ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperateness, temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Great Bri ...

Viburnum ''Viburnum'' is a genus of about 150–175 species of flowering plants in the moschatel family, Adoxaceae. Its current classification is based on molecular phylogeny. It was previously included in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. The memb ...

'', and ''

Xylosma ''Xylosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Salicaceae. It contains around 100 species of evergreen shrubs and trees commonly known as brushhollies, xylosmas, or, more ambiguously, " logwoods". The generic name is derived from the G ...

''. Creepers and lianas include species of ''

Archibaccharis ''Archibaccharis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. ; Species ''Archibaccharis'' is native to Mexico and Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bo ...

Celastrus ''Celastrus'', commonly known as staff vine, staff tree or bittersweet, is the type genus of the family Celastraceae; it contains over 40 species of shrubs and vines, which have a wide distribution in East Asia, Australasia, Africa, and the Ame ...

Philadelphus ''Philadelphus'' () (mock-orange) is a genus of about 60 species of shrubs from 3–20 ft (1–6 m) tall, native to North America, Central America, Asia and (locally) in southeast Europe. They are named "mock-orange" in reference to their ...

Smilax ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. They are climbing flowering plants, many of which are woody and/or thorny, in the monocotyledon family (biology), family Smilacaceae, native through ...

'', and ''

Vitis ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...

''. epiphytes are abundant, including ferns, orchids, bromeliads, and species of

Piperaceae The Piperaceae (), also known as the pepper family, are a large family (biology), family of flowering plants. The group contains roughly 3,600 currently accepted species in five genera. The vast majority of species can be found within the two mai ...

and

Crassulaceae The Crassulaceae (, from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the crassulas, the stonecrops or the orpine family, are a diverse Family (biology), family of dicotyledon angiosperms primarily characterized by succulent leaves and a form of phot ...

. Subalpine grasslands, known as Zacatonal or zacatal, occur as low as 3000 meters elevation on outcrops of volcanic sandstone, and become predominant above 3400 meters elevation. Woodlands of ''

Juniperus monticola ''Juniperus monticola'', or mountain juniper, is a species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is found only in Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Lat ...

'' with a subalpine grassland understory are common around 3500 meters elevation. Typical grasses are '' Muhlenbergia cenchroides, Bouteloua purpurea, Bromus exaltatus, Festuca amplissima, Festuca breviglumis, Muhlenbergia macroura,

Poa annua ''Poa annua'', or annual meadow grass (known in America more commonly as annual bluegrass or simply poa), is a widespread low-growing turfgrass in temperate climates. Notwithstanding the reference to annual plant in its name, perennial bio-types ...

Piptochaetium ''Piptochaetium'', or speargrass, is a genus of plants in the grass family, native to North and South America. ''Piptochaetium'' is a bunchgrass genus in the tribe Stipeae.Clayton, W. D., et al. (2006 onwards)''Piptochaetium''.GrassBase - The On ...

'' sp., '' Peyritschia virletii'', and ''

Zeugites americanus ''Zeugites americanus'', synonyms including ''Zeugites pringlei'', is a species of grass found from Mexico through Central America and northern and western South America to Bolivia, and in the Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region ...

''. Herbs and shrubs include species of '' Arenaria,

Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of over 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family (biology), family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of ge ...

Cerastium ''Cerastium'' is a genus of annual, winter annual, or perennial flowering plants belonging to the family Caryophyllaceae. They are commonly called mouse-ears or mouse-ear chickweeds. There are 214 accepted species, found nearly worldwide but wi ...

Cirsium ''Cirsium'' is a genus of Perennial plant, perennial and Biennial plant, biennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known commonly as thistles. They are more precisely known as plume thistles. These differ from other thist ...

Draba ''Draba'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, commonly known as whitlow-grasses (though they are not related to the true grasses). Species There are over 400 species: *'' Draba abajoensis'' Windham & Al-Shehbaz *'' D ...

Eryngium ''Eryngium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. There are about 250 species. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with centres of diversity in the western Mediterranean, South America and Mexico.Calviño, C.I., Martíne ...

Gnaphalium ''Gnaphalium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, commonly called cudweeds or (formerly) chafeweeds. They are widespread and common in temperate regions, although some are found on tropical mountains or in the subtropical re ...

Juniperus 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 as far south ...

Luzula ''Luzula'' is a genus of flowering plants in the rush family Juncaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species occurring throughout the world, especially in temperate regions, the Arctic, and higher elevation areas in the tropic ...

Phacelia ''Phacelia'' (phacelia, scorpionweed, Heliotropium, heliotrope) is a genus of about 200 species of annual plant, annual or perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plant, plants in the borage family, native to North Ameri ...

Plantago ''Plantago'' is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, commonly called plantains or fleaworts. The common name plantain is shared with the unrelated cooking plantain. Most are herbaceous plants, though a ...

Potentilla ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 500 species of Annual plant, annual, Biennial plant, biennial and Perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the rose family (biology), family, Rosaceae. Potentillas m ...

Ranunculus ''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about 1750 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots. The genus is distributed worldwide, primarily in temperate an ...

Senecio ''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels. Variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus ''Senecio'' is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Description Mo ...

'', and ''

Trisetum ''Trisetum'' is a genus of plants in the Poaceae, grass family, widespread in temperate, subarctic, and alpine habitats in much of the world. Oatgrass is a common name for plants in this genus. Species ''Trisetum'' formerly included over 70 spec ...

''. The mountain is home to about 207 species of animals, including

Cooper's hawk Cooper's hawk (''Astur cooperii'') is a medium-sized hawk native to the North American continent and found from southern Canada to Mexico. This species was formerly placed in the genus ''Accipiter''. As in many birds of prey, the male is small ...

(''Accipiter cooperii''),

Brown-backed solitaire The brown-backed solitaire (''Myadestes occidentalis'') is considered a thrush and is placed in the family Turdidae. It is a medium-sized bird about 21 centimeters (8 inches) long. It is a mostly grayish bird with brown flight feathers (hence th ...

(''Myadestes occidentalis''), blunt-headed salamander (''Ambystoma amblycephalum''), Pátzcuaro peeping frog (''Eleutherodactylus angustidigitorum''), Montezuma leopard frog (''Lithobates montezumae''),

mud turtle ''Kinosternon'' is a genus of small aquatic turtles from the Americas known commonly as mud turtles. Geographic range They are found in the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. The greatest species richness is in Mexico, ...

s (''Kinosternon'' sp.), Popocatepetl alligator lizard (''Barisia imbricata''), and Baird's patchnose snake (''Salvadora bairdi''), among others.

Pico de Tancítaro Flora and Fauna Protection Area

Pico de Tancítaro Flora and Fauna Protection Area covers 23,405 ha, ranging from 2,200 to 3,840 meters in elevation.Paredes, Julián & Cervantes-Martínez, Rosalinda & Trucíos, Ramón. (2013). "Reconstruction of Severe Droughts in "Pico de Tancíntaro" National Park, Michoacán". Revista Chapingo Serie Zonas Áridas. XII. 57-62. 10.5154/r.rchsza.2012.06.026. The area was designated a national park on 27 July 1940, and redesignated a flora and fauna protection area on 19 August 2009. It is still widely known as Pico de Tancítaro National Park. The protected area includes both Pico de Tancítaro and Parícutin.

References

{{Reflist Volcanoes of Michoacán Landforms of Michoacán Mountains of Mexico Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Flora and fauna protection areas of Mexico Important Bird Areas of Mexico Protected areas of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Protected areas of Michoacán Michoacán–Guanajuato volcanic field North American 3000 m summits