The flora and fauna of Guadalajara is protected, mainly, in a conservation area called La Primavera, located in the Zapopan municipality of the Metropolitan Area.
This Mexican city, the second largest in the country, is the capital of the state of Jalisco. Guadalajara is located almost 644 km west of Mexico City.
The city is located on a plain at an altitude of 1,570 m, surrounded by mountains. This elevation and its proximity to Lake Chapala contribute to a temperate and dry climate.
During most of the year, the city has temperatures of 24 to 29 ° C. However, in April and May they can reach 32 ° C.
Most representative species of the flora and fauna of Guadalajara
Being an almost entirely urbanized municipality, the flora and fauna of Guadalajara is practically non-existent.
However, this and other municipalities make up the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. In total, there are seven protected natural areas: Barranca del Río Santiago, Bosque El Nixticuil, Barranca Oblatos-Huentitán, Bosque la Primavera, Cerro Viejo, Los Colomos and Bosque Colomos III. Except for the last two, they are all on the urban periphery.
That said, the most representative species of the flora and fauna of Guadalajara are found in the La Primavera forest.
This is located at the confluence of the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Transversal Neovolcanic Axis.
This protected area has an extension of 36,200 hectares in the middle of the municipalities of Zapopan, Tlajomulco and Tala.
Flora
The La Primavera Forest has more than 1000 species of plants, making it one of the spaces with the most diversity of fl ora not only in Guadalajara, but in the entire state of Jalisco.
In this area there are four characteristic types of vegetation: oak forest, oak-pine, pine and tropical deciduous forest. Likewise, you can see ceibas, oyameles, orchids and fungi.
On the other hand, there are several endemic species in the region. Among them, the maguey (or Agave Guadalajara), the Dalia, the Mammillaria jaliscana (also known as Biznaga de Jalisco) and the Populus primaveralepei (a species of white poplar).
For its part, in the Los Colomos urban forest, the Michoacan pine, catarina, eucalyptus and cedar stand out.
Furthermore, the flora is diverse in the other preservation zones of Guadalajara. For example, in the deciduous forest of the Santiago River ravines, you can see cuachalalates, Chinese copals, papelillos, copales, lechemarías, canelillas, cacalosuchitls, carnations, pitayos, ironwood and others.
Fauna
The fauna of the La Primavera flora and fauna protection area is made up of 60 species of mammals, more than 49 of reptiles, 20 of amphibians, more than 205 of birds and 7 of fish.
In addition, there are rodents and invertebrates. Among them are the white-tailed deer, collared peccary, cougar, lynx, coyote, gray fox, badger, hare, raccoon, opossum mouse, armadillos, shrews, hawk, eagle, heron, thrush, quail, roadrunner, woodpecker, beetles, butterflies, bees and various species of bats.
References
- Griffin, J. (2002). Guadalajara Jalisco. In L. Stacy (editor), Mexico and the United States, pp. 381. New York: Marshall Cavendish.
- Guajadajara. (s / f). Encyclopedia of the Municipalities and Delegations of Mexico
State of Jalisco. Retrieved on October 30, 2017, from inafed.gob.mx.
- De la Mora, G. (2017). Urban socio-ecological systems and protected natural areas: characterization of the metropolis of Guadalajara, Mexico. In O. Miramontes, I. Lugo and L. Sosa (editors). Complexity and Urbanism: From the organism to the city, pp. 91-102. Mexico City: CopIt ArXives.
- Zalapa, SS; Godinez, EG and Guerrero, S. (2014). Mastofauna from the La Primavera flora and fauna protection area, Jalisco, Mexico. Acta Zoológica Mexicana, 30 (1). pp. 18-31.
- Flora. (s / f). In Bosque la Primavera. Retrieved on October 30, 2017, from bosquelaprimavera.com.
- Jimenez Gonzalez, VM (Editor). (2014). Jalisco, Mexico in your pocket. Madrid: Solaris Communication.
- Los Colomos forest. (s / f). In Municipal Government of Guadalajara. Retrieved on October 30, 2017, from transparency.guadalajara.gob.mx.
- Acevedo-Rosas, R.; Hernández-Galaviz, M. and Cházaro-Basáñez, M. (2008). Vascular plant species described from the ravines surrounding the city of Guadalajara and Río Blanco, Jalisco, Mexico. Polybotany, No. 26, pp. 1-38.
- Flora. (s / f). In Bosque la Primavera. Retrieved on October 30, 2017, from bosquelaprimavera.com.