#Chihuahua gob series
For two years they traveled the arid plains without finding gold, but along the way, they observed a series of unknown animals that caught their attention. In 1540, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado led a large expedition of more than 2,000 people, including Spaniards and Mexicans, to northern Mexico and the current Southwestern United States in search of the mythical kingdom called Cíbola, which hid seven marvelous cities of gold. Janos Biosphere Reserve A lost kingdom in northern Mexico Janos was declared a Biosphere Reserve on December 8, 2009. Among the environmental services provided by the reserve is water catchment in the mountainous zone and the lower grasslands, as well as the area's biodiversity. Janos is one of the most important sites on the continent for the wintering of grassland birds and the nesting of the endemic Western Mountain Parakeet. It is also the habitat of the prairie dog, black bears, deer, bighorn sheep, peccaries, cougars, bobcats, raccoons, hares, rabbits, squirrels, and fish, among others. The fauna of this reserve is one of the most varied in North America it supports the largest breeding population of the Lesser Short-toed owl and the Golden eagle in Mexico, as well as the only population of wild bison. Its vegetation includes arid scrublands, grasslands, oak, pine, and other coniferous forests. Its extraordinary natural beauty is characterized by colorful landscapes with vast plains and huge mountains.
Another characteristic animal of the North American prairies is the bison, and Janos is home to the only remaining wild herd in Mexico, which crosses between the state of New Mexico and Chihuahua every year, venturing a few miles into Mexico. In addition, their burrows provide first-class housing for many of the prairie's inhabitants such as burrowing owls, ornate tortoises, and rattlesnakes. When one visits their colonies it is very likely to observe coyotes, badgers, and golden eagles waiting for an opportunity to get the day's food. Livestock activity helps to maintain their colonies and even expand them.Īs mentioned earlier, prairie dogs are an important source of food for local wildlife.
#Chihuahua gob free
The results of these campaigns have been counterproductive, as it has recently been discovered that prairie dogs help keep grasslands free of woody plants, preventing their transformation from grassland to shrubland, due to the dispersal of seeds of plants such as mesquite by domestic cattle and other native herbivores, in addition to providing high-quality forage for domestic cattle during the winter. At the end of the 19th century, they were classified as a pest in the United States due to the false belief that they compete with domestic livestock for available forage, and as a result, the government of the neighboring country has spent millions of dollars in extermination campaigns, achieving their eradication in more than 98% of the area they historically occupied. These rodents are relatives of squirrels, form colonies where they live in family groups and have a complex system of communication among themselves.
Within the native grasslands of Janos, we can find one of the largest assemblages of prairie dog colonies in North America, as well as the fauna associated with these peculiar rodents. In 1937, the area between Janos and the municipality of Ascensión was named a Wildlife Refuge by Lázaro Cárdenas and later, in 1979, a ban was enacted on the opening of new agricultural wells because the aquifer was already overexploited. This is not the first protection decree it has deserved. This hitherto little-known region owes its recent decree of protection to the incredible biodiversity it harbors and to the problems of environmental degradation that it is currently facing and that threaten its survival. It has an area of 5,305 km2 and is composed of extensive valleys covered with native grasslands that, as they gain elevation, are transformed into forested mountains that give us extraordinary landscapes where the view is lost on the horizon. The Janos Biosphere Reserve is located in the northwestern part of the state of Chihuahua, within the municipality of the same name, bordering to the north with the state of New Mexico, in the United States to the west with the neighboring state of Sonora, to the east and south with the municipalities of Ascensión, Casas Grandes and Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. The Janos Biosphere Reserve is made up of extensive valleys covered with native grasslands that, as they gain elevation, are transformed into forested mountain ranges that offer extraordinary landscapes where the view is lost in the horizon.
0 kommentar(er)
