Land-use history and the origins and effects of lianas on tree-communities. The case of secondary forests in Northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Open-pit mining is a common activity in the Yucatan Peninsula for the extraction of limestone. These areas are characterized by the total removal of the natural vegetation cover and soil in order to access calcareous material. The present study shows the composition and structure of the vegetation in five quarries after approximately ten years of abandonment, and the target vegetation near to the quarries in southeastern Mexico. A linear mixed model showed that P availability is one of the limiting factors for species establishment in the quarries. Using a canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), the distribution of the species was determined in relation to the edaphic variables: soil depth, the percentage of organic matter (OM), cationic exchange capacity (CEC), pH and texture. Twenty-six families, 46 genera and 50 species were recorded in the quarries, and 25 families, 45 genera and 47 species were recorded in the conserved areas. The dominant species in the quarries belong to the families Poaceae, Fabaceae, Rubiaceae and Anacardiaceae. The quarries with higher values of OM (2%), CEC (24 Cmol/kg), depth (11 cm) and sand percentage (31%) include the following species Lysiloma latisiliquum (L.) Benth., Metopium brownei (Jacq.) Urb. and Bursera simaruba (L.) Sarg., which are common in secondary forests. Quarries with lower values of OM (0.4%), CEC (17 Cmol/kg) and depth (5.02), and with a higher percentage of silt (42%) were dominated by herbs belonging to Poaceae and by Borreria verticillate (L.) G. Mey., which are typical in disturbed areas of southeastern Mexico. In all cases, the pH was slightly alkaline due to the content of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), characteristic of the soils of the region.

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Biodiversity conservation, traditional agriculture and ecotourism: Land cover/land use change projections for a natural protected area in the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Landscape and Urban Planning ◽

10.1016/j.landurbplan.2007.03.007 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 83 (2-3) ◽

pp. 137-153 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Eduardo García-Frapolli ◽

Bárbara Ayala-Orozco ◽

Martha Bonilla-Moheno ◽

Celene Espadas-Manrique ◽

Gabriel Ramos-Fernández

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Land Cover ◽

Biodiversity Conservation ◽

Protected Area ◽

Yucatan Peninsula ◽

Traditional Agriculture ◽

Yucatán Peninsula

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Land use and biotic integrity in shallow streams of the Hondo River basin, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v65i4.26975 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 65 (4) ◽

pp. 1448

Author(s):

Rodrigo I. Pacheco-Díaz ◽

Juan J. Schmitter-Soto ◽

Birgit Schmook ◽

Gerald A. Islebe ◽

Holger Weissenberger

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

River Basin ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Yucatan Peninsula ◽

Biotic Integrity ◽

Human Settlements ◽

Yucatán Peninsula ◽

Secondary Vegetation ◽

Student’S T ◽

Landscape Information

Aquatic environments face a variety of threats in the Hondo River basin, Southeastern Yucatan Peninsula. Some of these impacts, like pollution by pesticides, may depend on land use and cover. Our objective was to assess the effect of land use/cover using a previously published index of biotic integrity (IBI), based on fishes and designed for shallow streams in the Hondo River basin. Our hypothesis was that land uses that cause deforestation and pollution, such as urbanization, cattle breeding, or sugar cane fields, would be reflected in low IBI values, at least at some spatial scales. The 23 sites originally used in 2008-2009 to estimate by electrofishing the relative abundance and other characteristics of selected fish species and guilds to construct the IBI, were revisited in February 2010, to validate by direct inspection the type of land use/cover suggested by landscape information in digital databases. We analyzed the effect of seven types of land use/cover (agriculture, pasture, human settlements, water bodies, wetlands, forest, and secondary vegetation) on the IBI values, at four spatial scales, i.e., the percent of every land use/cover at progressively larger circles (125, 250, 500, and 1 000 m diameter) centered on the water body where the IBI value was measured. Correlations were established among the percent land/use cover by scale around 23 sites, and with their corresponding IBI values. Then, Student’s t tests were calculated to examine significant differences in land use/cover between groups of localities above and below the median IBI value, and Mann-Whitney’s U tests were applied to compare IBI values between localities with and without a given landscape cover. Agriculture, human settlements, and secondary vegetation correlated negatively with the IBI; forests positively. Differences were significant (p < 0.05) for forest (higher in sites with higher IBI values) and human settlements (lower in sites with higher IBI). Of all the landscape categories located in the Hondo River basin, with the exception of pasture, those of anthropogenic origin tended to be detrimental to aquatic biotic integrity.

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Interaction of landscape variables on the potential geographical distribution of parrots in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Animal Biodiversity and Conservation ◽

10.32800/abc.2014.37.0191 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 191-203

Author(s):

A. H. Plasencia–Vázquez ◽

◽

G. Escalona–Segura ◽

L. G. Esparza–Olguín ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Probability Distribution ◽

Geographical Distribution ◽

Vegetation Cover ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

Spatial Configuration ◽

Yucatan Peninsula ◽

Least Squares Regression ◽

Distribution Models ◽

Yucatán Peninsula

The loss, degradation, and fragmentation of forested areas are endangering parrot populations. In this study, we determined the influence of fragmentation in relation to vegetation cover, land use, and spatial configuration of fragments on the potential geographical distribution patterns of parrots in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. We used the potential geographical distribution for eight parrot species, considering the recently published maps obtained with the maximum entropy algorithm, and we incorporated the probability distribution for each species. We calculated 71 metrics/variables that evaluate forest fragmentation, spatial configuration of fragments, the ratio occupied by vegetation, and the land use in 100 plots of approximately 29 km², randomly distributed within the presence and absence areas predicted for each species. We also considered the relationship between environmental variables and the distribution probability of species. We used a partial least squares regression to explore patterns between the variables used and the potential distribution models. None of the environmental variables analyzed alone determined the presence/absence or the probability distribution of parrots in the Peninsula. We found that for the eight species, either due to the presence/absence or the probability distribution, the most important explanatory variables were the interaction among three variables, particularly the interactions among the total forest area, the total edge, and the tropical semi–evergreen medium– height forest. Habitat fragmentation influenced the potential geographical distribution of these species in terms of the characteristics of other environmental factors that are expressed together with the geographical division, such as the different vegetation cover ratio and land uses in deforested areas.

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Distribución potencial y conectividad del paisaje: criterios para reevaluar el grado de amenaza de Campylorhynchus yucatanicus (Aves: Troglodytidae)

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v65i4.26599 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 65 (4) ◽

pp. 1554

Author(s):

Anay Serrano-Rodríguez ◽

Griselda Escalona Segura ◽

Alexis H. Plasencia Vázquez ◽

Eduardo E. Iñigo Elias ◽

Lorena Ruiz-Montoya

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Potential Distribution ◽

Landscape Connectivity ◽

Yucatan Peninsula ◽

Distribution Model ◽

Northern Coast ◽

Dune Vegetation ◽

Narrow Strip ◽

Yucatán Peninsula

Geographic distribution and habitat quality are key criteria for assessing the degree of risk of species extinction threat. Campylorhynchus yucatanicus (Yucatán Wren, Troglodytidae) is an endemic bird of the Northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, with a distribution restricted to a narrow strip of habitat, between Campeche and Yucatán states. Currently, the Yucatán coast has lost more than half of the coastal dune vegetation, and other habitats have been modified mainly because there is no urban development plan and the natural resources management is poor. These factors threaten C. yucatanicus, which is listed as a near threatened species by IUCN and as an endangered species by Mexican law NOM-059-2010. In this paper, C. yucatanicus´s potential distribution was modeled using 64 presence records from several sources (1960 y 2009), a set of climate variables, and a vegetation index layer of normalized difference (NDVI). To assess the degree of landscape connectivity we used a map of vegetation types and land use, distance to villages and paved roads. The potential distribution model showed an area of approximately 2 711 km2, which is 2 % of the total area of the Yucatán Peninsula distribution. In this area, only 27 % is protected by Biosphere Reserve category and only 10 % belong to core conservation areas, with land use restrictions and relatively effective protection. The populations from Ría Lagartos and Western Celestún regions appear to be the most isolated following the model of landscape connectivity. Landscape permeability among fragments of dune vegetation near the coast is low, mainly due to the distribution of urban areas. These results can be used to establish management strategies, and show that the species is in more delicate conditions than what it has been described by IUCN. We consider that C. yucatanicus should be given endangered category by IUCN, because of their distribution and the context of the current landscape connectivity.

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