Riparian vegetation performs important
ecosystem functions, since it maintains regional
biodivers... more Riparian vegetation performs important ecosystem functions, since it maintains regional biodiversity and provides a range of environmental services. However, anthropogenic activity, land use type, and edge effects are factors that modify the riparian species assemblage and properties. The present study analyzes the influence of adjacent land use on the structure and diversity of riparian vegetation in four hydrographic regions that form the watershed of the river Duero, in the state of Michoaca ´n, Mexico. Using a survey of woody plants of dbh C 2.5 cm in ten different 0.1 ha sites, we found that the average number of stems and individuals was lower under agricultural (AGR) and urban (URB) land use, compared to forested areas (FOR). The proportion of multistemmed plants differs among land uses: this value was greater in AGR than in the FOR and URB categories. This proportion also differed among the four hydrographic regions. The land use type FOR presented the highest alpha and beta diversity, with a high number of native species occurring only in areas defined by this land use. The results indicate that the category FOR plays an important role in the conservation of regional flora and is a possible source of germplasm for restoration programs in sites degraded by human disturbance. This study shows how anthropogenic activities affect riparian vegetation and highlights the importance of further study of this ecosystem to apply sustainable management strategies that are compatible with its conservation.
Aims: Across tropical regions, large forest areas have been converted to different agricultural ... more Aims: Across tropical regions, large forest areas have been converted to different agricultural land uses. These uses impose ecological disturbances affecting forest regeneration potential after field abandonment. Finding ways to identify those agricultural land uses limiting forest regeneration is a critical issue for conserving biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. Here, we developed a fast and inexpensive index, useful for quantifying ecological disturbance regimes associated with agricultural land uses, and tested its power to predict forest regeneration potential.
Location: Municipality of Marques de Comillas, southeast Mexico.
Methods: Interviews were conducted with local farmers to quantify disturbance components (size, duration and severity) associated with agricultural land uses. The scaled values of these disturbance components were added in a simple ecological disturbance index (EDI). In each one of nine recently abandoned fields representing a wide range of EDI values, two 10-m2 plots, one close to and one far from nearby forest remnants, were established. On each plot, all woody plants of 10–100 m in height were counted, identified and measured in four 1-m2 subplots, at the time of field abandonment and 2 yr later. In addition, at each plot, 18 site condition (microclimate and soil) attributes were quantified at the time of abandonment. Plant density, biomass, species richness and species diversity were used as regeneration variables, and EDI and site condition attributes as independent ones.
Results: Two years after abandonment, most regeneration variables declined exponentially with EDI. Biomass was not explained by EDI but changed positively with light availability. EDIwas strongly correlated to vapour pressure deficit, which also predicted regeneration potential (except biomass).
Conclusions: EDI is a cheap and easy tool for quantifying the ecological disturbance produced by a wide range of agricultural land uses. The index predicted several regeneration variables as well as or better than direct measurements of the site condition at the time of abandonment. EDI can be used to identify biodiversity-friendly agricultural land uses in human-modified landscapes.
Riparian vegetation performs important
ecosystem functions, since it maintains regional
biodivers... more Riparian vegetation performs important ecosystem functions, since it maintains regional biodiversity and provides a range of environmental services. However, anthropogenic activity, land use type, and edge effects are factors that modify the riparian species assemblage and properties. The present study analyzes the influence of adjacent land use on the structure and diversity of riparian vegetation in four hydrographic regions that form the watershed of the river Duero, in the state of Michoaca ´n, Mexico. Using a survey of woody plants of dbh C 2.5 cm in ten different 0.1 ha sites, we found that the average number of stems and individuals was lower under agricultural (AGR) and urban (URB) land use, compared to forested areas (FOR). The proportion of multistemmed plants differs among land uses: this value was greater in AGR than in the FOR and URB categories. This proportion also differed among the four hydrographic regions. The land use type FOR presented the highest alpha and beta diversity, with a high number of native species occurring only in areas defined by this land use. The results indicate that the category FOR plays an important role in the conservation of regional flora and is a possible source of germplasm for restoration programs in sites degraded by human disturbance. This study shows how anthropogenic activities affect riparian vegetation and highlights the importance of further study of this ecosystem to apply sustainable management strategies that are compatible with its conservation.
Aims: Across tropical regions, large forest areas have been converted to different agricultural ... more Aims: Across tropical regions, large forest areas have been converted to different agricultural land uses. These uses impose ecological disturbances affecting forest regeneration potential after field abandonment. Finding ways to identify those agricultural land uses limiting forest regeneration is a critical issue for conserving biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. Here, we developed a fast and inexpensive index, useful for quantifying ecological disturbance regimes associated with agricultural land uses, and tested its power to predict forest regeneration potential.
Location: Municipality of Marques de Comillas, southeast Mexico.
Methods: Interviews were conducted with local farmers to quantify disturbance components (size, duration and severity) associated with agricultural land uses. The scaled values of these disturbance components were added in a simple ecological disturbance index (EDI). In each one of nine recently abandoned fields representing a wide range of EDI values, two 10-m2 plots, one close to and one far from nearby forest remnants, were established. On each plot, all woody plants of 10–100 m in height were counted, identified and measured in four 1-m2 subplots, at the time of field abandonment and 2 yr later. In addition, at each plot, 18 site condition (microclimate and soil) attributes were quantified at the time of abandonment. Plant density, biomass, species richness and species diversity were used as regeneration variables, and EDI and site condition attributes as independent ones.
Results: Two years after abandonment, most regeneration variables declined exponentially with EDI. Biomass was not explained by EDI but changed positively with light availability. EDIwas strongly correlated to vapour pressure deficit, which also predicted regeneration potential (except biomass).
Conclusions: EDI is a cheap and easy tool for quantifying the ecological disturbance produced by a wide range of agricultural land uses. The index predicted several regeneration variables as well as or better than direct measurements of the site condition at the time of abandonment. EDI can be used to identify biodiversity-friendly agricultural land uses in human-modified landscapes.
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Papers by Isela Zermeño
ecosystem functions, since it maintains regional
biodiversity and provides a range of environmental
services. However, anthropogenic activity, land use
type, and edge effects are factors that modify the
riparian species assemblage and properties. The
present study analyzes the influence of adjacent land
use on the structure and diversity of riparian vegetation
in four hydrographic regions that form the
watershed of the river Duero, in the state of Michoaca
´n, Mexico. Using a survey of woody plants of dbh
C 2.5 cm in ten different 0.1 ha sites, we found that
the average number of stems and individuals was
lower under agricultural (AGR) and urban (URB) land
use, compared to forested areas (FOR). The proportion
of multistemmed plants differs among land uses: this
value was greater in AGR than in the FOR and URB
categories. This proportion also differed among the
four hydrographic regions. The land use type FOR
presented the highest alpha and beta diversity, with a
high number of native species occurring only in areas defined by this land use. The results indicate that the
category FOR plays an important role in the conservation
of regional flora and is a possible source of
germplasm for restoration programs in sites degraded
by human disturbance. This study shows how anthropogenic
activities affect riparian vegetation and highlights
the importance of further study of this
ecosystem to apply sustainable management strategies
that are compatible with its conservation.
regeneration potential after field abandonment. Finding ways to identify those
agricultural land uses limiting forest regeneration is a critical issue for conserving biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. Here, we developed a fast and inexpensive index, useful for quantifying ecological disturbance regimes associated with agricultural land uses, and tested its power to predict forest regeneration potential.
Location: Municipality of Marques de Comillas, southeast Mexico.
Methods: Interviews were conducted with local farmers to quantify disturbance components (size, duration and severity) associated with agricultural land uses. The scaled values of these disturbance components were added in a simple ecological disturbance index (EDI). In each one of nine recently abandoned fields representing a wide range of EDI values, two 10-m2 plots, one close to and one far from nearby forest remnants, were established. On each plot, all woody plants of 10–100 m in height were counted, identified and measured in four 1-m2 subplots, at the time of field abandonment and 2 yr later. In addition, at each plot, 18 site condition (microclimate and soil) attributes were quantified at the time of abandonment. Plant density, biomass, species richness and species diversity were used as regeneration variables, and EDI and site condition attributes as independent ones.
Results: Two years after abandonment, most regeneration variables declined exponentially with EDI. Biomass was not explained by EDI but changed positively with light availability. EDIwas strongly correlated to vapour pressure deficit, which also predicted regeneration potential (except biomass).
Conclusions: EDI is a cheap and easy tool for quantifying the ecological disturbance produced by a wide range of agricultural land uses. The index predicted several regeneration variables as well as or better than direct measurements of the site condition at the time of abandonment. EDI can be used to identify biodiversity-friendly agricultural land uses in human-modified landscapes.
ecosystem functions, since it maintains regional
biodiversity and provides a range of environmental
services. However, anthropogenic activity, land use
type, and edge effects are factors that modify the
riparian species assemblage and properties. The
present study analyzes the influence of adjacent land
use on the structure and diversity of riparian vegetation
in four hydrographic regions that form the
watershed of the river Duero, in the state of Michoaca
´n, Mexico. Using a survey of woody plants of dbh
C 2.5 cm in ten different 0.1 ha sites, we found that
the average number of stems and individuals was
lower under agricultural (AGR) and urban (URB) land
use, compared to forested areas (FOR). The proportion
of multistemmed plants differs among land uses: this
value was greater in AGR than in the FOR and URB
categories. This proportion also differed among the
four hydrographic regions. The land use type FOR
presented the highest alpha and beta diversity, with a
high number of native species occurring only in areas defined by this land use. The results indicate that the
category FOR plays an important role in the conservation
of regional flora and is a possible source of
germplasm for restoration programs in sites degraded
by human disturbance. This study shows how anthropogenic
activities affect riparian vegetation and highlights
the importance of further study of this
ecosystem to apply sustainable management strategies
that are compatible with its conservation.
regeneration potential after field abandonment. Finding ways to identify those
agricultural land uses limiting forest regeneration is a critical issue for conserving biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. Here, we developed a fast and inexpensive index, useful for quantifying ecological disturbance regimes associated with agricultural land uses, and tested its power to predict forest regeneration potential.
Location: Municipality of Marques de Comillas, southeast Mexico.
Methods: Interviews were conducted with local farmers to quantify disturbance components (size, duration and severity) associated with agricultural land uses. The scaled values of these disturbance components were added in a simple ecological disturbance index (EDI). In each one of nine recently abandoned fields representing a wide range of EDI values, two 10-m2 plots, one close to and one far from nearby forest remnants, were established. On each plot, all woody plants of 10–100 m in height were counted, identified and measured in four 1-m2 subplots, at the time of field abandonment and 2 yr later. In addition, at each plot, 18 site condition (microclimate and soil) attributes were quantified at the time of abandonment. Plant density, biomass, species richness and species diversity were used as regeneration variables, and EDI and site condition attributes as independent ones.
Results: Two years after abandonment, most regeneration variables declined exponentially with EDI. Biomass was not explained by EDI but changed positively with light availability. EDIwas strongly correlated to vapour pressure deficit, which also predicted regeneration potential (except biomass).
Conclusions: EDI is a cheap and easy tool for quantifying the ecological disturbance produced by a wide range of agricultural land uses. The index predicted several regeneration variables as well as or better than direct measurements of the site condition at the time of abandonment. EDI can be used to identify biodiversity-friendly agricultural land uses in human-modified landscapes.