Mexico Megadiverse

Mexico is considered a "megadiverse" country, since it is part of the select group of nations that possesses the greatest diversity of animals and plants, almost 70% of the world's diversity of species (considering the best known groups: amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals and vascular plants). This concept is different from the concept of biodiversity.

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The main criterion for belonging to the group of megadiverse countries is endemism. To be megadiverse, a country must have at least 5,000 endemic plant species. Other criteria included in the concept are: diversity of species, diversity of higher taxonomic levels (genera, families, etc.), and diversity of ecosystems, including the presence of marine and tropical forest ecosystems (Mittermeier et al. 2004).

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Some countries are in contact zones between two biogeographical regions where faunas and floras with different histories are mixed. In Mexico, the Nearctic and Neotropical zones converge.