ABSTRACT
In the past, tropical evergreen forests flourished along the rivers of the Oaxaca Valley, while farther back, where the water table is lower, mesquite and other deciduous trees dominated. Agave (maguey), organ cacti, and other xerophytic plants typified the thorny vegetation of the drier piedmont fringes. The surrounding mountains, ris ing 3,000 meters above sea level, were once blanketed by pine-oak woodland, with cloud forest at higher eleva tions. Today much of this cover has been lost to harvest ing and agricultural clearance.
