Ecoregions of Central America

The Central American Atlantic moist forests ecoregion is found along the Caribbean coastal lowlands of Honduras, west into Guatemala and south into eastern Nicaragua. The ecoregion contains Central America's most significant single fragment of natural forest.

The Central American dry forests ecoregion spans several countries in Central America, including parts of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. It represents a transitional zone between the more humid tropical rainforests and the arid desert regions.

The Central American Montane Forests ecoregion comprises widely scattered small forest patches on the slopes of the highest mountains in Central America, extending from southern Mexico towards the southeast through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

The Central American pine-oak forests ecoregion supports a rich assortment of conifer species. It spans the mid-elevations of the Mexican state of Chiapas, southern Guatemala, most of Honduras and El Salvador, and small areas of west-central Nicaragua.

The Chocó-Darién moist forests ecoregion extends along most of Colombia's Pacific coast, bounded to the east by the Andes, and along the Caribbean coast, north into Panama. The region has exceptionally high rainfall, and the forests hold incredible biodiversity.

The Costa Rican páramo is a moist montane grassland and shrubland ecoregion found in the higher elevations of Costa Rica and western Panama within the Cordillera de Talamanca. It is one of Central America's most intact habitats, with high biological richness.

The Talamancan Montane forests ecoregion is one of Central America's most intact habitats with high species diversity. The ecoregion covers a discontinuous area within the highlands of northwestern Costa Rica and western Panama, protected by numerous parks and reserves.

The Yucatán moist forests are an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome. This ecoregion serves as an important biological corridor between the northern Yucatán peninsula and the moist forests of Central America.