The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests cover the rugged Sierra Madre de Oaxaca mountains of southern Mexico, lying mostly within Oaxaca state and extending north into Puebla and Veracruz, with terrain reaching 3,400 metres at the peak of Zempoaltepetl. A mosaic of pine and oak woodland dominates, built largely on Pinus and Quercus (including netleaf oak), grading into humid cloud forests rich in bromeliads, orchids, and ferns. The climate is temperate and humid, with the range intercepting moist air carried west from the Gulf of Mexico; yearly temperatures and rainfall range roughly from 16 to 20 degrees Celsius and 700 to 4,000 millimetres. These forests are exceptionally biodiverse, holding nearly 40 percent of Mesoamerica's endemic vertebrates and ranking among the last remaining habitats for jaguar and puma in Mexico, with much of the land stewarded by Indigenous communities. For gardeners, the region is also home to native orchids of the genus Rhynchostele.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 17.4°N, 96.6°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
11b-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
11b-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.2°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Tropical & Subtropical Coniferous Forests
Realm
Neotropic
Approximate area
5,538 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the tropical & subtropical coniferous forests biome
Subtropical and tropical forests dominated by conifers such as pines, typically in semi-arid climates with seasonal rainfall. They often occupy higher elevations and carry fire-adapted understories.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 52
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical coniferous forests ecoregions to explore: