Pantanos de Centla

View of the Pantanos of Centla, Tabasco.

View of the Pantanos de Centla across a body of water

In "Tres Brazos" the Usumacinta joins to San Pedrito river and Grijalva river, in the Pantanos de Centla, biosphere reserve, in Tabasco.

The Pantanos de Centla is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in southern Mexico, which includes seasonally flooded forests and wetlands.

Setting

The ecoregion covers an area of 17,200 square kilometers (6,600 sq mi) in the states of Tabasco and Campeche. The Pantanos de Centla occupy the delta of the Usumacinta and Grijalva rivers, which empty into the Gulf of Mexico and the Laguna de Términos through numerous distributaries. The ecoregion includes year-round wetlands, and freshwater swamp forests which are inundated during the summer rainy season.

The Usumacinta mangroves lie in the brackish-water zone between the Pantanos de Centla and the open water of the Laguna de Términos and the Gulf. The Petén-Veracruz moist forests lie to the west and south, and the Yucatan moist forests lie to the east.

Fauna

Two of the most famous animals in Centla are the Morelet crocodile (Crocodylus moreleti) and the alligator gar, known as pejelagarto, a fish that already existed during the age of dinosaurs.

Conservation and threats

The Pantanos de Centla was declared a Biosphere reserve in 2006.

External links

• World Wildlife Fund (2001). "Pantanos de Centla". WildWorld Ecoregion Profile. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08. 
• "Pantanos de Centla". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund. 
• Conservation Plan for the Pantanos de Centla Biosphere Reserve and Laguna de Términos Flora and Fauna Protection Area

Coordinates: 18°20′N 92°30′W / 18.333°N 92.500°W / 18.333; -92.500