Mexico; a mega-diversity country

Mexico; a mega-diversity country

In the world are about 200 countries, but only twelve of them (Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Ecuador, United States, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mexico, Peru and the Democratic Republic of Congo) are the 70% of planet's biodiversity. So these countries are called "mega-diverse".

The mega-diversity countries have two characteristics in common: most are tropical countries with influence and all are large, with more than one million km2 extension (Flores and Gerez, 1994).

Mexico is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world, not only for having a high number of species, also for its genetic diversity and ecosystems. It is estimated that the country is between 10 and 12% of the species known to science. Despite having only 1.3% of the land surface of the planet, Mexico ranks among the top in terms of the diversity of plants, amphibians and reptiles.

The high biological diversity that Mexico has is the combined product of variations in topography and climate found on its surface. These are mixed with each other, creating a mosaic of environmental and micro environmental conditions. Add to that the complex geological history of the area is added, particularly in the Southeast, in what is known as Central Core (Flores and Gerez, 1994).

Mexico can have many benefits only by the fact of be mega-diversity. Biodiversity is the one that allow us daily eating, drinking, dressing, prevent and cure diseases, admire landscapes and develop our own lives and our society.

Biodiversity provides food, fresh water, fertile soil to survive, medicine and textile fibers to take care, and other commodities. Healthy ecosystems regulate our climate and absorb CO2, purify drinking water, control floods and slow erosion, protect and fertilize the soil that sustains our food. The landscapes and natural areas are an important part of our natural heritage and our culture, offering among other values, a healthy leisure and recreation, peace and tranquility, discovery and learning. In short, our life and quality of life depend on the maintenance of habitats and ecosystems alive and healthy.

But not all is sunshine and rainbows. In Mexico are too many organisms in endangered and her I`m going to show the 10 principals.

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