NATURE WATCH

By Fulvio Eccardi

From windswept meadows on the upper slopes of volcanoes more than 4,000-meters-high, to lowland plains covered with a dense mantle of tropical jungle, the Mundo Maya is a mosaic of environments, climates, flora and fauna. A series of geological faults runs through the region and frequent earthquakes have changed the face of the landscape.

    During the summer and fall months, tropical storms, called cyclones, often blow into the area, and during the winter and spring there is a constant battle between the hot and dry counter trade winds and polar air masses called nortes (north winds). Furthermore, a small area may feature several different natural habitats, for example: thorn scrub, dense jungle, swamps, mangroves, mountain forest, volcanic crater lakes and coral reefs.

    Botanists have identified around 8,000 species of flowering plants; 600 bird species, more than in all Europe; and approximately 1,200 kinds of butterflies. This abundance can be found in an area half the size of Texas.

    For almost 100 million years, the Mundo Maya developed in isolation, leading to the evolution of endemic life forms; different to those found in neighboring regions. It was also a land bridge between North and South America, and, to this day, temperate and tropical plants and animals from both subcontinents are found in the area.

    We invite you to click on the images below to learn more about some of the fauna of the Mundo Maya: