Central Mexican matorral
The Central Mexican matorral is an ecoregion of the deserts and xeric shrublands biome of central Mexico: the southernmost ecoregion of the Nearctic realm.
Geography
The Central Mexican matorral covers an area of on the southern portion of the Mexican Plateau.The Mexican Plateau is bounded on the east by the Sierra Madre Oriental, on the south by the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, and on the west by the Sierra Madre Occidental. The Central Mexican matorral covers much of the southern portion of the plateau, extending from the Valley of Mexico in the southeast to the Bolaños River in the northwest.
The Central Mexican matorral is bounded by the Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests to the east and northeast, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests to the southeast, and the Sierra Madre Occidental pine-oak forests on the northwest. An isolated enclave of the Central Mexican matorral occupies the Valley of Toluca. The higher mountain ranges of the plateau are home to sky islands of pine-oak forest, isolated by matorral at lower elevations.
To the southwest, the Central Mexican matorral is bounded by tropical dry forests; the Bajío dry forests in the Lerma River basin, and the Sinaloan dry forests in the lower reaches of the Río Grande de Santiago and its tributaries.
To the northwest, the Central Mexican matorral transitions to the Meseta Central matorral, which covers the middle portion of the Mexican Plateau.
The eastern portion of the Central Mexican matorral is drained by the Pánuco River and its tributaries, the central portion by the Lerma River and its tributaries, and the eastern portion by the northern tributaries of the Río Grande de Santiago, including the Rio Verde and Bolaños. The Valley of Mexico is an endorheic basin, which drains into central lakes.
The ecoregion is home to Mexico City, the largest metropolis in North America. Other cities in the ecoregion include Toluca, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, San Miguel de Allende, Dolores Hidalgo, San Juan del Rio, Pachuca, and Actopan.
Climate
The climate is subtropical and semi-arid, with warm summers and occasional summer rains. Winters are cool, particularly at higher elevations.Flora
The characteristic vegetation is dry shrubland, called matorral. Cactus and rosette plants are prominent. Cactus include species of prickly pear cactus.Fauna
Native mammals include white-tailed deer, coyote, collared peccary, nine-banded armadillo, Virginia opossum, southern spotted skunk, Mexican cottontail, desert cottontail, and rock squirrel.Native birds include great-tailed grackle, mourning dove, Stygian owl, red-tailed hawk, northern harrier, prairie falcon, Harris's hawk, barn owl, hooded oriole, and common raven.