The Mesoamerican pine-oak forests is a composite ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

 of southern Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, designated by the World Wildlife Fund as one of their Global 200

Global 200

The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wildlife Fund as priorities for conservation. According to the WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or water containing a characteristic set of natural communities that share a large majority of their...

 ecoregions, a list of priority ecoregions for conservation.

These forests include montane subtropical forests where pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

 and oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

 trees predominate, stretching across several major mountain ranges, including the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt

Trans-Mexican volcanic belt

The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the Sierra Nevada , is a volcanic belt that extends 900 km from west to east across central-southern Mexico...

 and the Sierra Madre del Sur

Sierra Madre del Sur

The Sierra Madre del Sur is a mountain range in southern Mexico, extending from southern Michoacán east through Guerrero, to the Istmo de Tehuantepec in eastern Oaxaca.-Geography:...

. Ecoregions include:

• Chimalapas montane forests
• Central American pine-oak forests
  Central American pine-oak forests
  The Central American pine-oak forests ecoregion, in the tropical and subtropical coniferous forests biome, is found in Central America and southern Mexico.-Setting:...
  
  
• Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests
  Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests
  The Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests is a subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion of the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range of southern Mexico.-Setting:...
  
  
• Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests
  Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests
  The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests is a subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt of central Mexico.-Setting:...
  
  
• Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests
  Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests
  The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests is an ecoregion of southern Mexico, in the Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests biome. It occupies the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca, which lies mostly within the state of Oaxaca, extending north into Puebla and Veracruz states...
  
  
• Central American montane forests

External links

• Mesoamerican pine-oak forests (World Wildlife Fund)