One of the most biologically diverse countries in Latin America is undoubtedly Guatemala. It has numerous ecosystems and ecoregions throughout the region. Read on, here we will describe the ecoregions of Guatemala.

Know the Ecoregions of Guatemala

The ecoregions of Guatemala are different areas of the country that are distinguished from each other because they harbor different species, are separated by geographic sites or have distinct climates and geomorphologies.

The World Wildlife Fund divides the country into 9 types of ecoregions, with subdivisions in most of these. In total, Guatemala has five types of terrestrial, two freshwaters, and two marine ecoregions.

Ecoregions are usually divided into three types: terrestrial, freshwater, and marine. Each of these is subdivided based on the type of biome where they are found. Below we describe each one.

Freshwater Ecoregions

Because Guatemala is not a country with a great abundance of lakes, there are only river ecoregions. Normally two major types of freshwater biomes are distinguished in the country, which are further subdivided into 4 distinct types of ecoregions.

• Tropical and subtropical coastal rivers. The three ecoregions of this type are the Grijalva-Usumacinta, the Quintana Roo-Motagua and the Chiapas-Fonseca ecoregions.
• Tropical and subtropical highland rivers. There is only one ecoregion of this type in the country, which is called Upper Usumancita; Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez, who is a nature lover, mentions that this area is worth getting to know.

Terrestrial

They are the most abundant in Guatemala. There is a great variety of terrestrial ecoregions in the country, each with a different climate, species, and ecology.

In total, there are 5 types of terrestrial biomes, with a total of 14 distinct ecoregions:

• Tropical and subtropical broadleaf rainforests. These are the most abundant biomes in the country. The most important are the Atlantic rainforests of Central America and the montane forests of Central America and Chiapas.
• Tropical and subtropical broadleaf rainforests.
• Dry tropical and subtropical broadleaf forests. There are two types: the dry forests of Central America and the dry forests of the Chiapas depression.
• Tropical and subtropical broadleaf dry forests.
• Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests. The main ones are the pine-oak forests of Central America.
• The pine-oak forests of Central America.
• Deserts and xerophytic shrublands. With only one version called the thorn scrub of the Motagua Valley.
• Mangasian scrub.
• Mangroves. They are usually subdivided into four types: the mangroves of the Belize coast, those of northern Honduras, the mangroves of Tehuantepec-El Manchon and those of the dry North Pacific coast.

Marine ecoregions

These are the ecoregions located in the seas of each country. In Guatemala there are two major biomes of this type, with a total of two ecoregions:

• Tropical northwest Atlantic. Includes the ecoregion known as the Western Caribbean.
• Eastern tropical Pacific. The ecoregion of this type in Guatemala is the one known as Chiapas-Nicaragua.

These ecoregions of Guatemala will make you able to understand more of its ecology. Take care of these beautiful ecosystems on your next visit to this charming country.