Long-term net soil erosion as determined by 137Cs redistribution in an undisturbed and perturbed tropical deciduous forest ecosystem

Amphibians and reptiles are two groups of vertebrates that are sensitive to changes in their environment. These changes are mostly caused by human activities, which affect the abundance, composition, and distribution of these vertebrates. In this study, we compare the richness and taxonomic diversity of herpetofauna between undisturbed environments (tropical deciduous forest = TDF) and disturbed environments (corn fields = CF) near the towns of Urireo (URI) and San Nicolas de los Agustinos (SNA) in Salvatierra, Guanajuato. We recorded a total of 19 species in the two locations (4 amphibian and 15 reptile species). At the URI locality, 12 species were recorded in CF and 10 in TDF. At the SNA locality, eight species were recorded in CF and seven species in TDF. In addition, we found that overall taxonomic distinctness was greater at URI than SNA across both types of vegetation, with the highest diversity found in TDF of URI. Seven of the 19 species recorded are current allocated to some protection category of NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010: Lithobates neovolcanicus, Kinosternon integrum, Sceloporus grammicus, Lampropeltis polyzona, Masticophis mentovarius, Salvadora bairdi, and Thamnophis melanogaster differing from other mechanisms such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Environmental Vulnerability Score. Our results suggest that carrying out long-term studies that include diversity and taxonomic distinctness in environments with different levels of disturbance, in addition to including characteristics of natural history, might enhance the development of more efficient conservation strategies for these vertebrates.

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Seasonal effects on soil organic carbon dynamics in a tropical deciduous forest ecosystem in western Mexico

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467403003201 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 179-188 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Felipe García-Oliva ◽

Biserka Sveshtarova ◽

Magdalena Oliva

Keyword(s):

Microbial Activity ◽

Forest Ecosystem ◽

Deciduous Forest ◽

Dry Season ◽

Soil Samples ◽

Seasonal Effects ◽

Tropical Deciduous Forest ◽

Wet Season ◽

Organic C ◽

Western Mexico

Our study examines the effect of seasonal rains on soil organic C dynamics in a tropical deciduous forest ecosystem in Western Mexico. At the end of the wet season, an accumulation of labile nutrient forms developed and was maintained during the dry season. This accumulation enhances microbial activity in the first rains of the wet season. For example, the litter samples of the dry season had a higher C and N mineralization than those of the wet season. Similarly, the January soil samples had higher C mineralization than October soil samples (55 and 34 μg C g-1 d-1, respectively). These results suggest that the quality of C is strongly affected by the seasonality of rains, which in turn influences microbial activity. This seasonality also influences nutrient redistribution between soil aggregate fractions. Chemical changes across seasons suggest that soil organic matter associated with macro-aggregates represents the main source of energy for microbial activity at the beginning of the wet season, while micro-aggregates protect the labile nutrient forms during the growing season.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Total deposition of nitrogen on Swiss long-term forest ecosystem research (LWF) plots: comparison of the throughfall and the inferential method.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.1027709.335727 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

Robert Howarth

Keyword(s):

Forest Ecosystem ◽

Ecosystem Research ◽

Total Deposition ◽

Inferential Method

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Soil erosion by snow gliding – a first quantification attempt in a subalpine area in Switzerland

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ◽

10.5194/hess-18-3763-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 18 (9) ◽

pp. 3763-3775 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

K. Meusburger ◽

G. Leitinger ◽

L. Mabit ◽

M. H. Mueller ◽

A. Walter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Land Cover ◽

Sediment Yield ◽

Soil Loss ◽

Water Erosion ◽

Erosion Rates ◽

The Difference ◽

Snow Gliding

Abstract. Snow processes might be one important driver of soil erosion in Alpine grasslands and thus the unknown variable when erosion modelling is attempted. The aim of this study is to assess the importance of snow gliding as a soil erosion agent for four different land use/land cover types in a subalpine area in Switzerland. We used three different approaches to estimate soil erosion rates: sediment yield measurements in snow glide depositions, the fallout radionuclide 137Cs and modelling with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). RUSLE permits the evaluation of soil loss by water erosion, the 137Cs method integrates soil loss due to all erosion agents involved, and the measurement of snow glide deposition sediment yield can be directly related to snow-glide-induced erosion. Further, cumulative snow glide distance was measured for the sites in the winter of 2009/2010 and modelled for the surrounding area and long-term average winter precipitation (1959–2010) with the spatial snow glide model (SSGM). Measured snow glide distance confirmed the presence of snow gliding and ranged from 2 to 189 cm, with lower values on the north-facing slopes. We observed a reduction of snow glide distance with increasing surface roughness of the vegetation, which is an important information with respect to conservation planning and expected and ongoing land use changes in the Alps. Snow glide erosion estimated from the snow glide depositions was highly variable with values ranging from 0.03 to 22.9 t ha−1 yr−1 in the winter of 2012/2013. For sites affected by snow glide deposition, a mean erosion rate of 8.4 t ha−1 yr−1 was found. The difference in long-term erosion rates determined with RUSLE and 137Cs confirms the constant influence of snow-glide-induced erosion, since a large difference (lower proportion of water erosion compared to total net erosion) was observed for sites with high snow glide rates and vice versa. Moreover, the difference between RUSLE and 137Cs erosion rates was related to the measured snow glide distance (R2 = 0.64; p < 0.005) and to the snow deposition sediment yields (R2 = 0.39; p = 0.13). The SSGM reproduced the relative difference of the measured snow glide values under different land uses and land cover types. The resulting map highlighted the relevance of snow gliding for large parts of the investigated area. Based on these results, we conclude that snow gliding appears to be a crucial and non-negligible process impacting soil erosion patterns and magnitude in subalpine areas with similar topographic and climatic conditions.

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An educational computer tool for simulating long-term soil erosion on agricultural landscapes

Computer Applications in Engineering Education ◽

10.1002/cae.20193 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 253-262 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

F. J. Jiménez-Hornero ◽

J. V. Giráldez ◽

A. M. Laguna ◽

J. E. Jiménez-Hornero

Keyword(s):

Soil Erosion ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Computer Tool ◽

Educational Computer

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Storm damage and long-term mortality in a semi-natural, temperate deciduous forest

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2003.07.009 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 188 (1-3) ◽

pp. 197-210 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Annett Wolf ◽

Peter Friis Møller ◽

Richard H.W. Bradshaw ◽

Jaris Bigler

Keyword(s):

Deciduous Forest ◽

Storm Damage ◽

Temperate Deciduous Forest ◽

Temperate Deciduous ◽

Long Term Mortality

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SHORT COMMUNICATION: Difficulties in using 137Cs to measure erosion in stubble-mulched soil

Canadian Journal of Soil Science ◽

10.4141/cjss95-051 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 75 (3) ◽

pp. 357-359 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

E. Bremer ◽

H. H. Janzen ◽

E. de Jong

Keyword(s):

Soil Erosion ◽

Key Words ◽

Short Communication ◽

Crop Rotations ◽

Present Evidence ◽

Southern Alberta ◽

Communication Difficulties ◽

Cesium 137

Soil erosion may be difficult to quantify from redistribution of 137Cs at sites where stubble-mulch techniques were adopted prior to 137Cs deposition, because appreciable 137Cs may have been transported before it was mixed into the soil Ap layer. We present evidence that this occurred in two long-term cropping experiments in southern Alberta. Key words: Cesium-137, tillage, long-term crop rotations, fallow

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