Lake Pátzcuaro
Encyclopedia
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
in the municipality of Pátzcuaro
Pátzcuaro
Pátzcuaro is a large town and municipality located in the state of Michoacán. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Tarascan state and later its ceremonial center...
, Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
The natives believe that the lake is the place where the barrier between life and death is the thinnest.
Lake Pátzcuaro lies in an endorheic basin, which does not drain to the sea. A watershed area of 929 square kilometers drains into the lake, of which 126.4 are the water body. The Lake Pátzcuaro watershed extends 50 kilometers east-west and 33 kilometers from north to south. Lake Patzcuaro lies at an elevation of 1,920 meters, and is the center of the basin and is surrounded by volcanic mountains with very steep slopes. It has an average depth of 5 meters and a maximum of 11. Its volume is approximately 580 million cubic meters.
The Lake Pátzcuaro basin is of volcanic origin. At times it has been part of an open and continuous hydrological system formed by Lake Cuitzeo
Lake Cuitzeo
Lake Cuitzeo is a lake in central part of Mexico, in the Michoacán State. It is located at around . It has an area of 300-400 km². The lake is astatic, and the volume and level of water in the lake fluctuates frequently. It is the second largest freshwater lake in Mexico.Lake Cuitzeo lies in an...
, Pátzcuaro and Lake Zirahuén
Lake Zirahuén
Lake Zirahuén is a small endorheic lake in the Municipality of Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán state of west-central Mexico.Lake Zirahuén is a small, deep mountain lake, with a sandy bottom that is partially covered with mud....
, which drained into the Lerma River
Lerma River
The Lerma Santiago River is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, near Guadalajara, Jalisco...
. Today, like lakes Cuitzeo and Zirahuén, it is a closed basin, although ecologists consider it a sub-basin of the Lerma-Chapala basin.
Wetlands
The lake is surrounded by extensive wetlandWetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s. Cattails and other reedy vegetation are the dominant wetland vegetation, in dense stands over 2 meters tall. Typical wetland plant genera include Typha
Typha
Typha is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere distribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland habitats...
, Scirpus
Scirpus
The plant genus Scirpus consists of a large number of aquatic, grass-like species in the family Cyperaceae , many with the common names club-rush or bulrush . Other common names are deergrass or grassweed.The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, and grows in wetlands and moist soil...
, Heleocharis, and Cyperus
Cyperus
Cyperus is a large genus of about 600 species of sedges, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions. They are annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic and growing in still or slow-moving water up to 0.5 m deep. The species vary greatly in size, with small species...
. The dominant species of aquatic vegetation are Potamogeton illionoensis, Scirpus pectinatus, tule (Typha latifolia
Typha latifolia
Typha latifolia is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus Typha. It is found as a native plant species in North and South America, Europe, Eurasia, and Africa...
), T. dominguensis, and Nymphaea mexicana
Nymphaea mexicana
Nymphaea mexicana is a species of aquatic plant that is native to the Southern United States and Mexico as far south as Michoacan. Common names include Yellow Waterlily, Mexican Waterlily and Banana Waterlily. It is perhaps best known as a noxious weed in wetlands outside of its native range, such...
.
The wetlands are extremely important for birds, both year-round inhabitants and migrating waterfowl. Close to 200 species inhabit the wetlands, including some endemic species such as the Black-polled Yellowthroat
Black-polled Yellowthroat
The Black-polled Yellowthroat is a species of bird in the Parulidae family. It is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
(Geothlypis speciosa). Two native species have not been observed recently; the Yellow Rail
Yellow Rail
The Yellow Rail, Coturnicops noveboracensis, is a small waterbird, of the family Rallidae.Adults have brown upperparts streaked with black, a yellowish-brown breast, a light belly and barred flanks. The short thick dark bill turns yellow in males during the breeding season. The feathers on the back...
(Coturnicops noveboracensis) has not been seen since 1964 and may be locally extinct, and the endemic Slender-billed Grackle
Slender-billed Grackle
The Slender-billed Grackle was a species of bird in the icterid family Icteridae. The species was closely related to the western clade of the Great-tailed Grackle, from which it diverged around 1.2 million years ago....
(Quiscalus palustris) is presumed extinct. The Lake Patzcuaro Salamander
Lake Patzcuaro Salamander
The Lake Patzcuaro Salamander, locally known as Achoque, Ambystoma dumerilii, is a neotenic salamander species.This salamander is found in Lago de Pátzcuaro, a high altitude lake in the Mexican state of Michoacán. This is located in the Mesa Central region of the country, home to many isolated...
(Ambystoma dumerilii) is endemic to the basin.
The lake and its surrounding wetlands have undergone significant environmental changes over the past 50 years. logging and agriculture in the surrounding watershed have contributed to siltation of the lake (1 cm / year - 1.2 million cubic meters / year), and water diversion for agriculture and urbanization has reduced the size of the lake by 40 square kilometers, and 2.6 meters in depth. Other threats include untreated sewage, the introduction of exotic species, and chemical pollution.
Watershed
In the watershed surrounding the wetlands, the natural terrestrial vegetation is composed of xeric scrub (1,920-2,100 m above sea level), pine and oak forests intertwined with xeric scrub (2,100-2,400 m) and by pure pine-oak forests in the higher peaks (2,400-2,900 m). The pine-oak forests are part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forestsTrans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests
The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests is a subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt of central Mexico.-Setting:...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
.
In the last fifty years, human activity in the watershed has intensified. Farming and livestock ranching in the basin have significantly increased. Over 10,000 hectares of forest have been lost to logging, fires, fuelwood gathering, and clearance for farming and ranching.
History
The Lake Pátzcuaro basin is home to the P'urhépechaP'urhépecha
The P'urhépecha, normally spelled Purépecha in Spanish and in English and traditionally referred to as Tarascans, are an indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of the Mexican state of Michoacán, principally in the area of the cities of Uruapan and Pátzcuaro...
people. P'urhépecha leaders established the basin as the heartland of the Tarascan state
Tarascan state
The Tarascan state was a state in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, roughly covering the geographic area of the present-day Mexican state of Michoacán. At the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico it was the second-largest state in Mexico. The state was founded in the early 14th century and lost its...
, which rivaled the Aztec Empire before the Spanish conquest. The towns of Ihuatzio
Ihuatzio
Ihuatzio is a city located near Lake Pátzcuaro in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It was once the capital of the P'urhépecha kingdom, also known as the Tarascan state...
, Tzintzuntzan
Tzintzuntzan
Tzintzuntzan was the ceremonial center of the pre-Columbian Tarascan state capital of the same name. The name comes from the P'urhépecha word Ts’intsuntsani, which means "place of hummingbirds". After being in Pátzcuaro for the first years of the Tarascan empire, power was consolidated in...
and Pátzcuaro
Pátzcuaro
Pátzcuaro is a large town and municipality located in the state of Michoacán. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Tarascan state and later its ceremonial center...
were important Tarascan centers.
Islands in the lake
- Jaracuaro
- Uranden - Small island.
- JanitzioJanitzioIsla de Janitzio, located at , is the main island of Lake Patzcuaro in the state of Michoacán, Mexico.The town of Janitzio, which means "where it rains", is located atop the hill. Janitzio can only be reached by boats which run regularly back and forth from about 7:30 am to 6 pm,...
- Island with tourist facilities - Pacanda - The largest, flattest island. Cabanas for rent.
- Yunuen - Small island
- Tecuena - Sparsely populated island
Major towns along the lake shore
- PatzcuaroPátzcuaroPátzcuaro is a large town and municipality located in the state of Michoacán. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Tarascan state and later its ceremonial center...
- Situated on the southeastern shore of Lake Patzcuaro. Tourists crowd in for Semana Santa, Day of the Dead. - ErongaricuaroErongarícuaroErongarícuaro, which means "Place of waiting" in the Purepecha language, is a town in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It is located about an hour and a half drive to Morelia or Uruapan and just 20 minutes from the famous colonial town of Pátzcuaro...
- Historic Purepecha site and now relaxed artist's town. - QuirogaQuirogaQuiroga may refer to:in geography,* Quiroga, Galicia, a municipality in Lugo province, Galicia, Spain* Quiroga Valley, a valley in Lugo province, Galicia, Spain* Quiroga, Michoacán, a municipality in the Mexican state of Michoacánfor people,...
- Thriving market town with crafts of varying qualities and busloads of Mexican tourists to buy them. - TzintzuntzanTzintzuntzanTzintzuntzan was the ceremonial center of the pre-Columbian Tarascan state capital of the same name. The name comes from the P'urhépecha word Ts’intsuntsani, which means "place of hummingbirds". After being in Pátzcuaro for the first years of the Tarascan empire, power was consolidated in...
- Market town. Ruins nearby. Day of the dead Festival.
Minor towns along the lake shore
- TocuaroTocuaroTocuaro is a small village near Lake Pátzcuaro in the Mexican state of Michoacán....
- woodworking and maskmaking - Opongio - mezcal distillery
- Puacuaro
- Arocutin
- IhuatzioIhuatzioIhuatzio is a city located near Lake Pátzcuaro in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It was once the capital of the P'urhépecha kingdom, also known as the Tarascan state...
- ancient temple ruins called yacatas. - Santa Fe La Laguna - crafts
- Cucuchuchu - Take a side trip to an old forest and spot for a picnic. Also list the hotel.
- Uricho -
- Napizaro -
Nearby areas
- Zirahuen - A beautiful blue lake.
- Santa Clara del CobreSanta Clara del CobreSanta Clara del Cobre is a town and municipality located in the center of the state of Michoacán, Mexico, 18 km from Pátzcuaro and 79 km from the state capital of Morelia...
- Copper shopping - Las CuevasLas CuevasLas Cuevas is a Research Station and Explorers Lodge in the heart of theChiquibul Tropical Moist Forest, at 550 m altitude in the Maya Mountains of Belize in Central America. It is an important centre for biological research established jointly by the Forest Department of Belize and the Natural...
- Some ex-pats living there. - Cuanajo - Cheap pine furniture.