The magic circle de plus#
Politically, the Magic Circle is composed of Jalisco plus a large chunk of Michoacán, a slice of Nayarit, a lump of Zacatecas, a piece of Guanajuato and the entire states of Colima and Aguascalientes. While many of us who live inside this circle see it as a single geographical unit (the area around Guadalajara), politicians might have a very different opinion. Rhoda and Burton state that Mexico is one of the most mega-diverse countries of the world, with 30,000 different species of flora (compared to 18,000 in the USA) and, in my opinion, the best place to get a taste of this extraordinary biodiversity is The Magic Circle. In addition to this, according to Rhoda and Burton, the line designating the major Faunistic Divide of Mexico, (creatures of the north and creatures of the south) just happens to run right through that same Magic Circle. To my surprise and delight, I discovered that there is only one place in the entire country where all five ecosystems are found in close proximity and that is inside of what I call The Magic Circle. Temperate forests (the oaks, pines and firs of Mexico’s mountains).Grasslands and mesquite grasslands (from Ciudad Juarez to Aguascalientes).Tropical deciduous and thorn forests (as found in Sinaloa).Tropical evergreen forests (for example, the rain forests of Quintana Roo).
Arid and semi-arid scrublands (as in the cactus-rich Sonoran desert).It divides all of Mexico into five natural ecosystems: Chapter 5 of Geo-Mexico is devoted to ecosystems and biodiversity. This book also made it possible for me to test my theory that the circle I had drawn around Guadalajara is something special. For example, did you know that Mexico has more species of pine trees than any other country? That it has the world’s richest assortment of cacti (over 900 species)? That Mexico’s diverse economy produces about $1.6 trillion in goods and services every year, more than Canada or South Korea? That Mexico’s population of 110 million makes it the eleventh largest nation on earth? That migrant workers in the USA sent $25 billion (yes, billion!) back to their families in Mexico in 2008?īut I digress.
The magic circle de full#
This geography book focuses on the interaction between people and the physical environment and is chock full of fascinating facts. I’m referring to Geo-Mexico by Richard Rhoda and Tony Burton. But is this diversity of eco-systems due only to altitude?īy good luck, I happened to receive a copy of just the book that could answer this question. Of course, to some extent, this variety can be attributed to altitude, which ranges from the height of snow-covered Nevado de Colima (4240 meters, 13,911 feet) to sea level on the Pacific coast.
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