The Tehuacán Valley matorral is a xeric shrubland

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

, of 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 'dry') shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this habitat ...

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

, located in eastern Central Mexico.

Matorral 300px, Springtime in Santiago.html" ;"title="Chilean matorral a few kilometers north of Santiago">Chilean matorral a few kilometers north of Santiago along the Pan-American Highway Matorral is a Spanish language, Spanish word, along with ''tomil ...

is a Spanish word, along with ''tomillares'', for

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

, thicket or bushes. The term is used alone for a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

ecosystem in Southern Europe.

Geography

The Tehuacán Valley matorral ecoregion occupies the Tehuacán Valley, Oriental Basin, and adjacent valleys, covering parts of the states of

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 ...

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

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

. The valleys lie in the

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

of the surrounding mountain ranges, and are drier than the surrounding ecoregions.

Adjacent ecoregions

The Tehuacán Valley matorral is bounded by the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests to the northwest, north, and northeast, the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests to the east, and by the Balsas dry forests to the southeast, south, and southwest.

Flora

The Tehuacán Valley matorral is a center of plant diversity, with over 2700 species, of which approximately 30% are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

. It is a center of diversity for species of ''

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the arid regions of the Americas. The genus is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large Rosette (botany), rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Many plan ...

'', '' Hechtia'', ''

Salvia ''Salvia'' () is the largest genus of plants in the sage family Lamiaceae, with just under 1,000 species of shrubs, Herbaceous plant, herbaceous Perennial plant, perennials, and Annual plant, annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part o ...

'', and

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

. The ecoregion has a number of distinct plant communities.

Fauna

The ecoregion is notable for its diversity of birds and bats. Of the 90 species of birds present, 10 are endemic, including the ocellated thrasher (''Toxostoma ocellatum''), and bridled sparrow (''Aimorphilla mystacalis''). 34 species of bats inhabit the ecoregion, of which 18 are endangered, vulnerable, or rare.

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 1,594 km², or 16%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b

/ref> Protected areas include the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve.

References

*Valiente-Banuet, Alfonso, Noe Flores-Hernandez, Miguel Verdu, Patricia Davila. "The chaparral vegetation in Mexico under nonmediterranean climate: the convergence and Madrean-Tethyan hypotheses reconsidered". ''

American Journal of Botany The ''American Journal of Botany'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal which covers all aspects of plant biology. It has been published by the Botanical Society of America since 1914. The journal has an impact factor of 3.038, as of 20 ...

'', 1998 85: 1398-1408

External links

* *
Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve (ParksWatch) [PDF]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tehuacan Valley matorral Deserts and xeric shrublands">DF]">Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve (ParksWatch) [PDF]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tehuacan Valley matorral Deserts and xeric shrublands Deserts of Mexico Ecoregions of Mexico Flora of Central Mexico, Flora of Puebla, Flora of Tlaxcala, Flora of Oaxaca, Neotropical ecoregions Tehuacán Valley matorral,