All five of Mexico’s big ecosystems just happen to converge in West Mexico, resulting in wonderful biodiversity and geodiversity.
In a previous article I discussed the Temperate Forest Ecosystem where pines and oaks typically dominate.
This time we’re going to the desert.
The Arid and Semi-arid Scrubland Ecosystem is what you find if you enter Mexico through Mexicali or Ciudad Juarez. It’s the Mexico of film, song and cartoon: the hot, dry habitat of the Gila monster and the jumping cholla cactus.
How is it possible that this same ecosystem is today the chosen home of thousands of U.S. and Canadian expats?
It’s not so surprising. The northern extreme of the Arid and Semi-arid Scrubland includes the Sonoran Desert where a temperature of 52 degrees Centigrade (126° F) was recorded last June. But at the southern end of the system we find Lake Chapala, on whose shores the average temperature is about 21 degrees centigrade (70° F), which aligns with the standard “comfortable room temperature” in most parts of the world.
I suspect that few expats would describe their Chapala neighborhood as” Semi-arid Scrubland,” despite what the geography books say. On the contrary, realtors in this area have long and loudly stated that Chapala has “the second best climate in the world according to National Geographic.”
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