El Salvador

América del Norte

160

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America, and also the one that has lost the most of its original forest, so that its wild nature survives concentrated in a few enclaves of great value. In the far northwest, the Montecristo cloud forest is shared between three countries and keeps giant moss-covered oaks and sweetgums, with quetzals and spider monkeys. The volcanic chain that runs the length of the country, with active cones such as Santa Ana and Izalco, creates crater lakes and fertile soils. On the coast, Jiquilisco bay forms the country's largest mangrove system, a maze of tidal creeks and islands that is a refuge of international importance for marine turtles and waterbirds.

The nature of El Salvador

National animal: The turquoise-browed motmot, or torogoz, the country's national bird

Did you know?

The eastern Pacific hawksbill turtle had been all but given up for lost until surveys in 2008 discovered that it was nesting in Jiquilisco bay, and not on open beaches as in the rest of the world but inside the tidal creeks and among the mangrove roots. That behaviour, unique in the species, had kept the population off the scientists' radar for decades.

Biodiversity profile

America Central (hotspot de Mesoamerica, unico pais centroamericano sin costa caribeña)El Salvador tiene la menor proteccion de corredores climaticos de toda Centroamerica (mediana de apenas 10% segun estudio cientifico PLOS ONE)

Climate

•Tropical con estacion seca (Aw) en tierras bajas
•Templado de montaña en zonas de mayor altitud (cadena volcanica)

Main biomes

•Bosque seco tropical (Central American dry forests, compartido con Nicaragua, Honduras y otros)
•Bosque nuboso de montaña (Montecristo)
•Matorral volcanico
•Manglar y estero
•Volcán activo
•Lago de cráter
•Humedal costero
•Bosque de pino y encino

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Costa pacifica con manglares (bahia de Jiquilisco)
•Playas de anidacion de tortugas marinas

Flagship wildlife

•Quetzal resplandeciente (en Montecristo)
•Tucan
•Ocelote
•Mono araña
•Mariposas (mas de 5.000 especies solo en el Parque El Imposible)
•Tortuga carey
•Torogoz
•Quetzal
•Tortuga golfina
•Cocodrilo americano
•Puma
•Águila pescadora
•Manatí del Caribe
•Iguana verde

Notable endemic species

•Endemismo relativamente bajo respecto a otros paises de Mesoamerica, dado el tamaño reducido del pais y la fuerte perdida historica de habitat natural

Notable threatened species

•El Salvador conserva solo una fraccion muy pequeña de biodiversidad regional en comparacion con sus vecinos (apenas ~800 especies registradas frente a 15.000+ de plantas en la region), reflejo de sobrepoblacion y deforestacion historica

Notable protected areas

•Parque Nacional El Imposible (el mas grande del pais: 5.000 especies de mariposas, 100 mamiferos, 500 plantas, 285 aves, 53 anfibios)
•Parque Nacional Montecristo (bosque nuboso trinacional con Guatemala y Honduras)
•Bahía de Jiquilisco
•Parque Nacional Los Volcanes
•Lago de Coatepeque
•Barra de Santiago

Main conservation threats

•El Salvador es el pais centroamericano con menor cobertura de corredores de adaptacion climatica protegidos (10% mediana)
•Perdida historica severa de bosque original por sobrepoblacion y agricultura intensiva
•Contaminacion de cuerpos de agua

Notable natural phenomena

•Actividad volcanica activa (Izalco, Santa Ana)

Conservation

The country banned the trade in turtle eggs in 2009 and developed a system of payments to collectors so that they hand their clutches over to hatcheries. Jiquilisco is a biosphere reserve and concentrates most of the hawksbill nesting in the whole eastern Pacific.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Jiquilisco between May and October for turtle nesting. Montecristo between January and April for quetzals and cloud forest. El Imposible at dawn for birds and primates.

El Salvador presenta de forma consistente en la literatura cientifica los indicadores de biodiversidad y proteccion mas bajos de la region centroamericana.

Sources: BioDB.com - El Salvador | PMC/PLOS ONE - Mapping climate adaptation corridors Central America | Frommers - Environment in Nicaragua (comparativa regional) | visitcentroamerica.com

Mountain Ocean