Mountains
The different environmental gradients found in the mountains are the origin of much of the planet's biodiversity. My research in mountain ecosystems, particularly at the Cofre de Perote (Mexico), focuses on the study of their plant diversity.
High-altitude plant ecology. I usually work in high-altitude plant communities such as pine-oak forests, fir forests and alpine vegetation (+ 3,000 masl). There, I try to answer questions like: Why do plants grow where they do? How does plant diversity, species composition and reproductive phenology change across environmental gradients?
Botanical explorations on the Cofre de Perote Mountain. From Humboldt to modern times... Who has explored and described the vegetation of the Cofre de Perote Mt.? Which native plants are distinctive to this area? Which are well represented in botanical collections? I've also been part of continuous expeditions to this mountain in search of unknown populations of narrow endemic, endangered or not described species.
Now, with Humboldtian eyes, scroll down and take a trip through the different vegetation belts found on Cofre de Perote Mt., travel from the alpine vegetation at the top of the mountain (4,200 masl) to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Enjoy!
“Nowhere can you better see the admirable order with which the different types of vegetation follow each other, one above the other, than traveling from the coast of Veracruz towards the Plateau of Perote”
Heliocarpus appendiculatus (Malvaceae) seeds
Secondary cloud forest
1,200 - 2,100 masl