Sierra de San Pedro Mártir is a mountain range that runs north-south along the middle part of northwestern Baja California, Mexico. with its name Spanish for "mountains of Saint Peter the Martyr". The highest point is Cerro de la Encantada, 3,096 m (10,160 ft). Also known as Picacho del Diablo, this is the highest point in the state of Baja California, as well as the entire Baja California Peninsula.
Parque Nacional Sierra de San Pedro Mártir was established by presidential decree in 1974, protecting an area of 650 km2 (250 sq mi). It was the first of two national parks to be established on the Baja California Peninsula. The other is the Parque Nacional Constitución de 1857, in the Sierra Juárez mountains to the north.
The National Astronomical Observatory is located at an elevation of 2,830 m (9,300 ft). The observatory was built in 1975, and has several large telescopes, the largest of which is 2.1 m (83 in). The observatory takes advantage of the high elevation, along with typically clear skies, low relative humidity, low atmospheric pollution, low light pollution, and low levels of radio interference.
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Geography and ecology
Sierra de San Pedro Mártir is one of the Peninsular Ranges, which run from southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula.[1] The San Pedro Mártir has a very similar flora to the Sierra de Juárez just to the north, and these forests, which are surrounded at lower elevations by chaparral and desert shrub, are known as the Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir pine-oak forests. The flora is distinct from the flora of the rest of Mexico, and shares many species with the Laguna Mountains and San Jacinto Mountains in southwest California. Typical conifer species include White Fir, Sugar Pine and Jeffrey Pine. Snow usually coats the highest peaks of the range during winter. Sierra de Pedro Mártir is a southern demarcation of the distribution of the California Fan Palm, Washingtonia filifera.[2]
Captive-born California Condor have been re-introduced to the wild in the Sierra San Pedro Martir, the first time they have been seen in the range since 1937.
See also
References
- ^ National Geographic. 2001. Sierra Juarez and Sierra Pedro Martir Pine-oak Forests
- ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2009. California Fan Palm: Washingtonia filifera GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg
External links
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