Espinazo del Diablo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Espinazo del Diablo (Devil's Backbone) is a region of the Sierra Madre Occidental in the states of Sinaloa and Durango in northwestern Mexico. The region is known its natural beauty and biodiversity, including rare cloud forests, and for a stretch tortuous mountain highway (part of Mexican Federal Highway 40) also called the Espinazo del Diablo.
.jpg)
The Espinazo del Diablo is on the western slope of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The Sierra rises from the Pacific coastal plain of Sinaloa state, ascending from 200 to 3000 meters elevation eastwards into Durango. It is in Concordia Municipality of Sinaloa, and Pueblo Nuevo and San Dimas municipalities of Durango.[1]
Climate
The climate ranges from warm-sub-humid at lower elevations to semi-warm sub-humid at middle elevations to temperate sub-humid at the highest elevations. The orientation of the mountains to the prevailing winds creates some higher-rainfall areas at middle elevations.[1]
Flora
At lower elevations the predominant vegetation is low dry deciduous forest. The dominant trees are species of Ipomoea, Lysiloma, and Bursera, along with thorny scrub and Opuntia and Stenocereus cactus. Taller trees, including Brosimum alicastrum, Ceiba pentandra, and species of Ficus, grow in canyons and other areas with greater moisture.[1]
Oak (Quercus) forests are predominant above 900 meters elevation. Typical trees include Quercus castanea, Q. jonesii, Q. fulva, Q. glaucescens, and Q. tuberculata. Patches of pine forest are interspersed with the oaks at 1200 meters elevation, and forest of oaks and pines is common above 1600 meters elevation.[1]
Cloud forest, also known as mesophyllous montane forest, is found in humid ravines and glens 1,900 and 2,200 meters elevation, interspersed among the upper oak and pine–oak forests. Cloud forests are found in only a few locations in the Sierra Madre Occidental, and are home to distinctive communities of plants and animals. Typical cloud forest trees include oyamel (Abies religiosa), Arbutus glandulosa, Clethra lanata, Magnolia tarahumara, Tilia sp., Trema micrantha, and Ostrya virginiana. The trees are abundantly covered in epiphytes, including lichens, ferns, and bromeliads.[1]
Pine forest is predominant between 2,400 and 3,000 meters elevation. The most common pines are Pinus gordoniana, P. herrerae, P. leiophylla, P. lumholtzii, and P. oocarpa, together with Abies religiosa, Arbutus xalapensis, and Styrax argenteus.[1]
