GAPS AND OMISSIONS IN CONSERVATION OF MOUNTAIN ECOREGIONS IN MEXICO

Abstract

Mountains are ecosystems that harbor great biodiversity and represent important source of environmental services to society. In the present study it was determined for the class 5 mountains (Kapos classification) of Mexico in level IV ecoregions, their level of representation in protected areas and their vegetation and land use coverage, following the methodology developed by the gap analysis program (GAP) of the USA. In 45 of the 99 ecoregions of Mexico exist mountains which cover 20,109,804 hectares, representing 10.3% of the country. The mountains are present in the seven categories of level I ecoregions of Mexico: Great Plains, North American Deserts, California Mediterranean, Southern Semi-Arid, Temperate Sierras, Tropical Dry Forests and Tropical Humid Forests. The 30.1% of Temperate Sierras ecoregions surface are mountains, while they cover only 2.1% of the Great Plains ecoregion territory. In Mexico, only 14.4% of protected areas surface corresponds tomountains, while worldwide, 32% of protected areas are located in these ecosystems. The natural vegetation of mountains represents1.9% of this type in Mexico and 1.5% of primary vegetation, while areas with anthropic uses represent only 2.9%, well below the 13.3% recorded worldwide. Ecoregions of the Sierra Madre del Sur are the second largest covered mountains of Mexico with 20.5%, after those in the Sierra Madre Occidental (25.3%). This situation is alarming, given the high rate of deforestation recorded in southeastern Mexico, where only 21.4% of its territory has primary vegetation, compared to 49.3% for Mexico. Actions are needed to adequately protect mountain ecosystems in Mexico, given special attention to southeast region of the country.