The rainforest in Mexico it constitutes the extreme north to which these vegetal formations reach in America. In this country there are dry tropical forests and humid tropical forests with warm rain forests in plains, low flood forests and cloudy montane forests.
These jungles extend in the southern half of the country, especially in Oaxaca, southern Veracruz, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. Dry rainforests have a low rainfall period, so half or more of the trees lose their foliage to survive.
On the other hand, in the humid tropical forests the precipitations are abundant allowing an evergreen vegetation. In Mexico, tropical forests develop both on flat terrain and in high mountain areas.
Dry tropical forests are found in the plains of the Mexican Pacific coast of general flat relief. Likewise, in the lower parts of the slopes of the mountains that extend from north to south of the country.
The humid tropical forests are located in the coastal plains of the Gulf of Mexico and Tabasco. As well as in the plains of the Yucatan peninsula and in the high mountains of the Sierra de Chiapas.
The Mexican rainforests are home to numerous species of plants and animals. In the dry forests there are species of trees such as the copal and the tepehuaje, while in the humid forest the ceiba and the crawler inhabit..
Among the fauna present in the jungles of Mexico include the jaguar, tapir and tamanduá or arboreal anteater. Likewise, they are inhabited by monkeys such as the howler and the spider monkey, various species of snakes and numerous species of birds and insects..
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The Mexican territory constitutes the transition between North America and Central America, whose limit is in the Transversal Volcanic Sierra. Therefore, Mexico has a vegetation that is influenced by both the northern and southern flora..
Thus, it has coniferous and angiosperm forests typical of the Holoartic vegetation (north) and forests typical of the neotropical vegetation (south). Due to this, there are even mixed formations such as the mountain mesophyll forest in the upper parts of the Sierra Madre.
Species from both phytogeographic kingdoms coexist here, with temperate pines and oaks along with podocarp, bromeliads and tropical orchids..
The Tropic of Cancer marks the dividing line between the arid and semi-arid climate of the north of the country and the humid and semi-humid climate of the south. The latter influenced by the oceanic incidence of the Atlantic, the trade winds and cyclones, forming a tropical climate with a regime of summer rains..
It is in this area where the Mexican tropical forests develop with fairly stable annual temperatures during the year, with averages of 25 ºC. They have two seasons depending on rainfall, one dry and the other rainy..
The dry season lasts from February to May when moderate to little rains can occur and from June to November the rainy season occurs..
In the rainy season, around 80% of the annual rainfall is concentrated, which for the humid forests reaches over 2,500 mm per year. While in dry forests rainfall is much lower, not exceeding 600 mm.
These jungles are characterized because due to the lack of water, a large part of the species that compose them lose their foliage in the dry season. In these cases, there may be 50% or less of species that lose their foliage (sub-deciduous forests), or most of the plants present may be deciduous (deciduous forest).
These plant formations receive less precipitation than humid forests and withstand higher temperatures.
To the south is the evergreen or evergreen humid forest, with a warm and rainy tropical climate. They can vary in the height of the canopy, presenting tall forests with canopies up to 40 m high and one or two lower strata, with abundant epiphytism and climbing..
Another type of humid forests are the medium ones, where the canopy does not exceed 30 m and even low humid forests with an upper canopy of up to 15 m.
This jungle is located in the south of Mexico in the Sierra de Chiapas and represents about 50% of the humid tropical virgin Mexican forest. It is a warm high mountain forest with average temperatures of 22 ºC and rainfall of around 3,000 mm per year..
This rainforest originally covered 1.8 million hectares, but today it has been reduced by almost 75%. It has a canopy of 25 m high on average with emerging trees up to 50 m high..
More than 350 species of birds and about 70 species of mammals inhabit it. In terms of flora, tree ferns abound, as well as numerous species of trees such as the ceiba (Ceiba pentandra) and the Mayan walnut (Brosimum alicastrum).
There are also many epiphytic species, that is, they live on other plants, such as orchids, bromeliads and araceae. Like climbing plants in the form of lianas or by sticky roots.
In some areas of Lacandona there are low-canopy forests located in depressions, which suffer from periods of waterlogging or flooding..
The line that establishes the Tropic of Cancer crosses Mexico at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Therefore, the Mexican tropical zone extends from this imaginary line to the south, covering approximately half of the national territory..
These jungles extend along the entire Pacific coast from southern Sonora and southwest Chihuahua to Chiapas, continuing through Guatemala. However, most of it is heavily intervened to establish pastures for livestock production.
In general, the lower areas of the Sierra Madre are also occupied by dry forests. Likewise, it finds dry forest in the Tampico region on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and in the north of the Yucatan peninsula. Dry or sub-humid forests occupy an area of just over 20 million hectares.
They extend through the east and southeast of the country, from the southeast of San Luis de Potosí and the north of Veracruz to the north and northeast of Chiapas. They occupy the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and to the south and northeast of the Yucatan Peninsula.
There are also large areas in the south of the country on the border with Guatemala and Belize. These jungles constitute around 10 million hectares in Mexico.
The evergreen forests in the best state of conservation are those of Chiapas and those of Campeche in the Yucatan peninsula. Followed by those of Veracruz and Oaxaca, all in southern Mexico.
In Chiapas there are two biosphere reserves, the Lacan-tún biosphere reserve and the Montes Azules reserve in the Lacandon jungle. While in Veracruz is the Los Tuxtlas biosphere reserve.
In this peninsula there is a succession of tropical jungle vegetation, where the humid jungle is located to the south and east. Then, to the center and north a sub-deciduous forest develops and to the north the tropical deciduous forest.
Rainforests are distributed in the coastal lowlands on both the Pacific coast and the Atlantic. Most of the rainforest is found in the Tabasco plain and on the platform of the Yucatan Peninsula..
While in the Sierra de Chiapas to the south there are mainly humid mountain forests at altitudes of up to 3,500 meters above sea level..
The dry forests are in the Pacific coastal plain, with a generally flat relief. Dry forests also develop in the lower parts of the mountain ranges, below 700 meters above sea level in the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Sierra Volcánica Transversal and the Sierra Madre del Sur..
Mexico is a megadiverse country and much of that biological diversity is in its tropical forests in the southern half of the territory.
Timber species abound here such as red cedar (Cedrella sp.), mahogany (Swietenia spp.) and the xochicauil or white laurel (Cordia alliodora). Also of economic interest is the chicozapote (Manilkara zapota), which is used to make chewing gum.
In addition, the southern jungles are part of the center of origin of Persecute, a genus of lauraceae to which the avocado belongs (Persea americana). There are other species such as the tempisque (Sideroxylon capiri), the crawling (Astronium graveolens) and the huanacaxtle (Enterolobium cyclocarpum).
Giant herb species such as heliconia (Heliconia spp.), small palms and shrubs of various families.
There are species such as the pucté (Bucida busera). As well as the Campeche stick (Haematoxylum campechianum) and palms like Acoelorrhaphe wrightii.
In the dry forests there are species such as the pochote or ceiba (Ceiba pentandra) as well as the copales and palos mulatos (Bursera spp.). The species of Bursera are dominant in these forests, with more than 100 species in the country that is considered the center of diversity of this genus.
There are also legumes such as tepehuaje (Lysiloma acapulcense) and convolvulaceae such as the hunt (Ipomoea arborescens).
The rainforests of Mexico are rich in fauna, with species such as the jaguar (Panthera onca), which finds its northern limit here. There are also many species of primates such as the howler or saraguato monkey (Alouatta palliata) and the spider monkey (Ateles geoffrogyi).
Other animal species typical of the Neotropics that reach their northern limit in Mexico are the arboreal anteater (Mexican tamandua) and the tapir (Tapirus bairdii). While others are typical of the Holarctic (North America) as is the case of the raccoon (Procyon lotor).
In the Mexican rainforests there are species of birds from the Neotropics such as the royal toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus) and the scarlet macaw (Ara macao). Some species are threatened with extinction, such as the Hocofaisan (Crax rubra) that inhabits the jungles of both plains and high mountains.
An endemic bird to Central America, including the cloud forests of Mexico, is the quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno). An even more restricted distribution is the horned peacock bass (Oreophasis derbianus) that inhabits only the jungles of southern Mexico and northern Guatemala.
In the Mexican rainforests there are numerous species of snakes, most of them non-poisonous like the Boa constrictor. Among the poisonous snakes are various species of corals or corals of the genus Micrurus.
There are also about 20 species of nauyacas or pit vipers belonging to different genera. Among them are the velvet (Bothrops asper) and the Mexican horned viper (Ophryacus undulatus).
Another reptile that inhabits these tropical forests is the green iguana (Iguana iguana), feeding on leaves between tree branches. On the other hand, rivers and swamps are located the Mexican crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) that can reach up to 3 m in length.
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