Sierra Madre de Chiapas moist forests

The moist forests ecoregion lies on the southern slope of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, between the Central American pine-oak forests which cover the mountains' higher elevations to the north, and the Central American dry forests in the Pacific coastal lowlands to the south.[2]

The climate of the ecoregion is tropical and humid. The mountains intercept prevailing winds from the Pacific, creating clouds, fog, and orographic precipitation. The forests have a cooler and wetter climate than the adjacent lowlands. Average annual temperatures decrease with elevation.[2]

The main plant community is montane tropical broadleaf evergreen forest.[2]

The ecoregion has over 300 species of birds. It is a center of endemism for salamanders and butterflies.[2]

Much of the ecoregion's forest has been cleared for agriculture and grazing. Much of the remaining forest area is fragmented or degraded. The ecoregion has a road density of 645 meters per square kilometers, the highest of Central America's ecoregions.[3]

A 2017 assessment found 1,787 km², or 16%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.[1] In 2000 7% of the ecoregion's area was protected.<ref>Corrales, Lenin & Bouroncle, Claudia & Zamora Pereira, Juan. (2015). An overview of forest biomes and ecoregions of Central America.[3] La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve and El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas protect portions of the ecoregion.

• List of ecoregions in El Salvador
• List of ecoregions in Guatemala
• List of ecoregions in Mexico

• "Sierra Madre de Chiapas moist forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.