Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 96. (Budapest 2004)

Csorba, G., Horváth, A. , Korsós, Z. , Vidal-López, R. ; Munoz-Alonso, A.: Results of the collecting trips of the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Chiapas, Mexico, in 2000–2001: Mammalia, Reptilia, Amphibia

The Lagos de Montebello National Park is situated close to the Guatemalan border, on the Central Plateau, within the transition zone between the Lacandon Tropical Rainforest and the Central Highlands of Chiapas State. Due to its geographical and ecological position, the area is characterized by a high level of biodiversity and a great number of endemism (HORVÁTH etal. 2001). It also serves as refuge for a variety of vegetation types, like pine-oak-liquidambar forest, pine-oak forest and tropical mountain rainforest (CARLSON 1954, BREEDLOVE 1981). However, in the protected and adjacent natural areas the expansion of agricultural activities and the increasing exploitation of natural resources have caused fragmentation, loss of natural habitats, thus endangering the exceptionally high biodiversity of the whole area (MARCH & FLAMENCO 1996). The El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve is situated in the southeastern mountain chain of the state (Sierra Madré de Chiapas). The area is one of the few, still widely extended, only slightly disturbed cloud forest reserves in Mexico, where a wide variety of endemic species, as well as many threatened species occur (BREEDLOVE 1981, LONG & HEATH 1991). However, as in other protected areas in Chiapas, the vegetation cover becomes more and more fragmented due to human activity: this zone is one of the most important coffee production sites in Chiapas and in the entire country. The effect of this process on the richness and composition of biodiversity is still poorly known (MOGUEL & TOLEDO 1999, GREENBERG et al. 1997). Vegetation types at the study sites 1. Pine forest (San Cristobal de Las Casas, Lagos dc Montebello National Park: Bosque Azul) 2. Pine-oak forest (San Cristobal de Las Casas: Molinó de Los Arcos; Rancho Muxcak; Ocosingo; Tonina) 3. Pine-oak-liquidambar forest (Lagos de Montebello N.P.: Bosque Azul, Vivero Forestal) 4. Oak forest (San Franciso Cave; Tenam Puente) 5. Oak-pine forest (Teopisca: Panteon Cave). 6. Tropical mountain rainforest (Lagos de Montebello N.P.: Bosque Azul, Grutas) 7. Evergreen tropical rainforest (Lagos de Montebello N.P.: El Corchal; Solo Dios; El Aguacero, Canon del Rio La Venta; Misol-Ha) 8. Tropical semi-deciduous forest (El Chorreadero; Los Laguitos Cave; Canon del Sumidero; Sima de Las Cotorras; 10 km N of Arriaga) 9. Tropical cloud-forest (El Pozo; Finca Santa Cruz; Nicolas Bravo 1 ) 10. Coffee plantation shaded with native tree species (Nicolas Bravo 1 ; Nicolas Bravo 2: Rancho La Soledad) 11. Coffee plantation shaded with Inga sp (Finca Santa Cruz) 12. Secondary growth tropical rainforest (Palenque N.P.) 13. Secondary shrub (Mapastepec; Rancho Muxcak; 5 km before the Altamirano-Ocosingo junction) 14. Abandoned pasture land (Rancho Muxcak) Collecting methods The vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles and small mammals) were collected by means of folding Sherman and Tomahawk traps; drift fences; mist-nets at ground and canopy levels; active searching with manual capture. Apart from the material collected by the research team, vertebrate specimens were acquired by exchange with ECOSUR and Museo de Zoológia of the Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas (UNICACH).