Lacandon jungle: flora and fauna

We begin by locating where this region of the planet is and talking about its main characteristics, to better understand the types of ecosystems it houses and, therefore, the flora and fauna it contains.

Location of the Lacandon jungle

The Lacandon jungle is located in the eastern part of the state of Chiapas and extends to its extreme north-west, southeast of Mexico, and covers an area of ​​1.5 million hectares that are delimited by the Tulijá River and the border of Guatemala. . It is one of the most significant tropical rain forests in America and whose name comes from a group of indigenous descendants of the Mayans who inhabited the region before the Spanish conquest, known as Lacandones.

Characteristics of the Lacandon jungle

• Climate, temperature and rainfall: a humid climate prevails in this jungle with average annual temperatures between 18ºC and 22ºC. However, we can differentiate two large thermal zones, one towards the border with Guatemala with a temperature that varies between 24ºC and 26ºC and the other towards the Sierra with a variable temperature between 20ºC and 24ºC, low annual thermal variation and constant cloud cover. Average rainfall in the jungle varies between 2,000 and 3,000 mm, although there are areas with more than 3,000 mm per year. Summer and part of autumn are the rainiest times. In addition, there are waterfalls with blue and very crystalline water, like more turbulent waterfalls, with faster and more disturbed waters.
• Soils and reliefs: the soils in this jungle are clayey and rich in magnesium, calcium and humus. They are generally very fragile soils since they present high degrees of erodibility. A characteristic of this forest is that the great diversity of soils and topographic differences allow the existence of a great diversity of ecosystems and ecotones. Broadly speaking, in the Lacandon jungle we can distinguish three classes of reliefs that are the western and northeastern slopes with medium jungle vegetation (between 15 and 25 meters), tables of mountainous elevations and plains and depressions in the southeastern part with vegetation of medium and low jungle (less than 15 meters). The average height of the region is less than 1,500 meters above sea level and the most important elevations reach 2,200 meters above sea level.
• Types of tropical rain forest: in the Lacandon jungle it is possible to find different subtypes of tropical rain forest , with high and medium evergreen forests, sub-evergreen forests and low reed forests, subtypes of temperate coniferous and broadleaf forests, mountain mesophilic forests and other types of vegetation. In 1970, the upper and medium forest predominated in 80% of the forest, with the presence of areas of mesophilic forest and agriculture. By 1996, the induced and cultivated pasture spread in large areas of the north of the jungle.
• Fauna: among its fauna it is calculated that there are about 40 species of birds, 300 of diurnal butterflies, 20 species of mammals and over 5,000 more of other invertebrates.

The Lacandon jungle includes more plant species than all the northern states of Mexico combined. According to estimates, in just one hectare of this place it is possible to find up to 265 species of plants, of which about 160 correspond to trees. This makes this jungle the place with the highest density of plants in the world. Among the flora of the Lacandon jungle we highlight:

Mahogany

It is an evergreen or deciduous tree from intertropical areas that can grow to between 35 and 50 cm. Other of its denominations are Aguano or Zopilote.

Cedars

Cedars are a genus of pinnaceous conifers that can reach a large size, reaching between 25 and 50 meters in height.

Rosewood

Also known as tipuana, they are trees of the genus Fabaceae that are fast growing, stout and that reach an average height of 18 meters.

Bromeliads

It is a genus of American tropical plants of the Bromeliceae family with flowers that have a very deep calyx. In addition, it is a genus of plants that is quite common to have in homes, which is why we tell you in this other AgroCorrn article about the care of bromeliad plants .

Orchids

Numerous species of orchids inhabit the Lacandon jungle. It is one of the plant families with the largest number of species and they are especially abundant in tropical areas. They are characterized by the complexity of their flowers and by being very attractive to pollinators.

Epiphytic plants

In the Lacandon jungle there are a large number of epiphytic plants such as mosses, lichens, ferns and even some bromeliads and orchids, mentioned above.

In the Lacandon jungle, spider monkeys, sarahuatos and opossums live among the branches of the trees. Among the hollows of the trunks and branches we can find birds such as toucans, parakeets, parrots or scarlet macaws and among the plants live beetles, ants, butterflies or amphibians such as frogs.

Tapirs

They are medium-sized perissodactyl mammals with a length between 1.3 and 2.5 meters and between 100 and 300 kg in weight. It is one of the species at risk in this area of ​​the world. Learn more in this other article about Why the tapir is in danger of extinction .

Sarahuato or howler monkey

Also known as the black howler monkey, it is a species of primate typical of the tropical jungles of southeastern Mexico.

Spider monkey

This is another type of monkey that lives in this area with the previous species. It is a primate of the Atelidae family , which lives in tropical forests from Mexico to Brazil.

Opossums or opossums

In this area of ​​Mexico they are also called clacuache, tacuache or tacuacín. These are opossums, which are marsupial mammals.

Ocelot

It is a carnivorous mammal of the Felidae family . Its appearance is similar to that of a jaguar and in the image in this section you can see one.

If you want to know more about this feline, we recommend reading this other post about Why the ocelot is in danger of extinction .

Jaguar

It is a felid carnivore, being the largest feline in America and the third largest in the world. In this other article we teach the Differences between leopard, cheetah and jaguar .

In addition, to know it much better, we recommend reading this other article about the reasons why the jaguar is in danger of extinction .

White-bearded or white-lipped peccary

They belong to the Tayasuidae family (Tayassuidae), so they are related to wild boars, but these artiodactyl mammals only exist in America. They are also called tatabro, báquira or cafuche.

Macaw or scarlet macaw

The largest parrots that currently exist are the macaws or macaws and some of the most common are the red ones, but there are fewer and fewer in the wild. However, in the Lacandon jungle, red macaws can still be seen in the wild, flying in flocks. Here we talk more about the reasons why the macaw is in danger of extinction .

Sadly, almost all of these species are also part of the endangered fauna in the Lacandon jungle .

The Lacandon jungle has been fighting for decades against devastation and the threat of human beings due to the natural wealth of this place. Thus, factors such as deforestation or illegal trafficking of species have led certain animals to imminent danger of extinction.

Some of the endangered animals in the Lacandon jungle are:

• Scarlet macaw
• Tapir
• White-lipped or white-bearded peccary
• Jaguar
• Ocelot
• Howler monkey
• Spider monkey