Edward A. Ellis

A GIS-based database management application for agroforestry planning and tree selection.

Agroforestry (the deliberate growing of trees or shrubs in rural lands) is being promoted in the United States as an alternative resource management system that can bring landowners economic benefits and provide environmental services such as reduced soil erosion, improved water quality and wildlife habitat. Landowners, farmers and extension agents need to be better informed about different agroforestry opportunities and potential tree species. The Florida Agroforestry Decision Support System (FADSS) was designed to aid in the dissemination of such information. FADSS utilizes a geographical information system (GIS) enabling the user to select a location of interest which is linked to spatial data on climate and soils characteristics for the state of Florida. The application also incorporates a database of over 500 trees and 50 tree attributes, forming a relational database. The application structure consists primarily of building database queries using Standard Query Language (SQL). SQL queries are constructed during run-time based on spatial parameters of a selected location, the type of agroforestry system desired, and production and management criteria provided by the user. Experts were interviewed to help develop queries used to select trees and other agroforestry species. Being a prototype, the application is built with a modular and flexible framework in which spatial data of different scales and/or regions as well as plant data may be easily incorporated. Among the major limitations encountered during the development of FADSS with major implications on future agroforestry decision support systems was the current lack of tree information relevant to agroforestry and the lack of research involving the assessment of suitable trees and their characteristics.

Land use/land cover change dynamics and drivers in a low-grade marginal coffee growing region of Veracruz, Mexico

In the state of Veracruz, Mexico, lowland and marginal coffee growing regions have been particularly vulnerable since the 1989 coffee crisis. Government programs have promoted production diversification as a strategy to improve local incomes and conserve environmentally beneficial shade-tree coffee agroforests. We present results on land use/land cover dynamics in the municipality of Zozocolco de Hidalgo from 1973 to 2006. The municipality is recognized for its indigenous population and poverty, and currently, diversification efforts are being implemented. Our study combines remote sensing and GIS analyses, binary logistic regression and econometric modeling, as well as socioeconomic surveys to evaluate land use/land cover change (LULCC) dynamics and explore potential environmental and socioeconomic drivers. Results show that tree cover and coffee agroforests had largely been conserved during the first decade after the coffee crisis. But, recent trends indicate loss of tree cover in coffee agroforests and their conversion mostly to pasture. Land use/land cover drivers are largely explained by spatially explicit environmental variables such as slope and elevation. Relevant socioeconomic variables such as distance to markets and land use profitability were not significantly related to land use changes in Zozocolco. Surveys revealed that many households had converted coffee agroforests to pasture or agriculture in the past decade and others intended on renting or selling their agroforest plots, mostly for conversion to pasture. Diversification programs may not be sufficient to stem deforestation in lowland and marginal coffee growing regions. Moreover, information about locally varying socioeconomic and cultural contexts needs to be strongly considered in order to formulate effective strategies.

Computer-based tools for decision support in agroforestry: Current state and future needs

Successful design of agroforestry practices hinges on the ability to pull together very diverse and sometimes large sets of information (i.e., biophysical, economic and social factors), and then implementing the synthesis of this information across several spatial scales from site to landscape. Agroforestry, by its very nature, creates complex systems with impacts ranging from the site or practice level up to the landscape and beyond. Computer-based Decision Support Tools (DST) help to integrate information to facilitate the decision-making process that directs development, acceptance, adoption, and management aspects in agroforestry. Computer-based DSTs include databases, geographical information systems, models, knowledge-base or expert systems, and ‘hybrid’ decision support systems. These different DSTs and their applications in agroforestry research and development are described in this paper. Although agroforestry lacks the large research foundation of its agriculture and forestry counterparts, the development and use of computer-based tools in agroforestry have been substantial and are projected to increase as the recognition of the productive and protective (service) roles of these tree-based practices expands. The utility of these and future tools for decision-support in agroforestry must take into account the limits of our current scientific information, the diversity of aspects (i.e. economic, social, and biophysical) that must be incorporated into the planning and design process, and, most importantly, who the end-user of the tools will be. Incorporating these tools into the design and planning process will enhance the capability of agroforestry to simultaneously achieve environmental protection and agricultural production goals.

Local understandings of conservation in southeastern Mexico and their implications for community-based conservation as an alternative paradigm.

Since the 1990s national and international programs have aimed to legitimize local conservation initiatives that might provide an alternative to the formal systems of state-managed or otherwise externally driven protected areas. We used discourse analysis (130 semistructured interviews with key informants) and descriptive statistics (679 surveys) to compare local perceptions of and experiences with state-driven versus community-driven conservation initiatives. We conducted our research in 6 communities in southeastern Mexico. Formalization of local conservation initiatives did not seem to be based on local knowledge and practices. Although interviewees thought community-based initiatives generated less conflict than state-managed conservation initiatives, the community-based initiatives conformed to the biodiversity conservation paradigm that emphasizes restricted use of and access to resources. This restrictive approach to community-based conservation in Mexico, promoted through state and international conservation organizations, increased the area of protected land and had local support but was not built on locally relevant and multifunctional landscapes, a model that community-based conservation is assumed to advance.

Deforestation Processes in the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico: The Role of Land Use and Community Forestry

Abstract In this study, we evaluate deforestation processes and its relationship with different production and conservation land uses in the state of Quintana Roo in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. We also analyzed deforestation in ejidos (common property) with and without community forest management (CFM) that were categorized according to their degree of development and participation in CFM. The results show that the principal land uses for most deforested areas were for livestock and maize production. Mechanized agriculture and urban development related to tourism also represented important deforestation threats with high rates of annual forest conversion from 2001 to 2013. However, fire was also found to be a major threat to forest cover loss in Quintana Roo, with the highest rate. Low deforestation was associated with milpa agriculture, conservation or protected areas, and CFM. Ejidos with more development and participation in CFM tend to have a significantly lower proportion and lower overall rates of deforestation compared with ejidos without CFM. Regional conservation strategies that promote and integrate both land sparing and land sharing approaches are recommended and discussed.

Distribution and conservation status of Phlegmariurus (Lycopodiaceae) in the state of Veracruz, Mexico

The fern and lycophyte flora of Mexico contains 13 species in the genus Phlegmariurus (Lycopodiaceae; club moss family), of which nine are found in the state of Veracruz (P. cuernavacensis, P. dichotomus, P. linifolius, P. myrsinites, P. orizabae, P. pithyoides, P. pringlei, P. reflexus, P. taxifolius). They are located primarily in undisturbed areas of humid montane, pine-oak and tropical humid forests, which are all ecosystems threatened by deforestation and fragmentation. The objective of this study was to evaluate and understand the distribution and conservation status of species of this genus in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. Using Maxent, probability distributions were modeled based on 173 herbarium specimens (25% from recent collections by the authors and/or collaborators), considering factors such as climate, elevation and vegetation cover. Additionally, anthropogenic impacts on the original habitat of each species were analyzed in order to assign threatened categories based on IUCN classifications at regional levels. Results show that potential distributions are located in the montane regions of the central and southern parts of the state. All nine Phlegmariurus species in Veracruz were found to be in some category of risk, with P. orizabae classified as critically endangered, having only a single specimen collected in 1854. The main reasons for species threats are the continuous loss and fragmentation of their natural habitat, uncontrolled harvesting activities, and the lack of protected areas that include humid montane and pine-oak forests in the central region of the state.

Quantifying the severity of hurricanes on extinction probabilities of a primate population: Insights into "Island" extirpations.

Long‐term studies quantifying impacts of hurricane activity on growth and trajectory of primate populations are rare. Using a 14‐year monitored population of Alouatta palliata mexicana as a study system, we developed a modeling framework to assess the relative contribution of hurricane disturbance and two types of human impacts, habitat loss, and hunting, on quasi‐extinction risk. We found that the scenario with the highest level of disturbance generated a 21% increase in quasi‐extinction risk by 40 years compared to scenarios of intermediate disturbance, and around 67% increase relative to that found in low disturbance scenarios. We also found that the probability of reaching quasi‐extinction due to human disturbance alone was below 1% by 40 years, although such scenarios reduced population size by 70%, whereas the risk of quasi‐extinction ranged between 3% and 65% for different scenarios of hurricane severity alone, in absence of human impacts. Our analysis moreover found that the quasi‐extinction risk driven by hunting and hurricane disturbance was significantly lower than the quasi‐extinction risk posed by human‐driven habitat loss and hurricane disturbance. These models suggest that hurricane disturbance has the potential to exceed the risk posed by human impacts, and, in particular, to substantially increase the speed of the extinction vortex driven by habitat loss relative to that driven by hunting. Early mitigation of habitat loss constituted the best method for reducing quasi‐extinction risk: the earlier habitat loss is halted, the less vulnerable the population becomes to hurricane disturbance. By using a well‐studied population of A. p. mexicana, we help understand the demographic impacts that extreme environmental disturbance can trigger on isolated populations of taxa already endangered in other systems where long‐term demographic data are not available. For those experiencing heavy anthropogenic pressure and lacking sufficiently evolved coping strategies against unpredictable environmental disturbance, the risk of population extinction can be exacerbated. Am. J. Primatol. 77:786–800, 2015.

Los procesos y causas del cambio en la cobertura forestal de la Península Yucatán, México

Rocío Alonso Miguel Álvarez Cobelas Jose Manuel Álvarez-Martínez Mariano Amoroso Enrique Andivia Gabriel Arellano Cristina Armas María Arróniz Crespo Anna Avila Isabel Banos-González Eulogio Bedmar Raquel Benavides Marta Benito Garzón Juan A. Blanco Francisco Javier Bonet García Raphael Boulay Santiago Fernando Burneo Francisco Cabezas Rafael Calama Silvia Calvo Aranda Julio A. Camargo Daisy Cárate-Tandalla José A. Carreira de la Fuente Myriam Catalá Miquel De Cáceres Pilar de la Rua Thibaut Dominique Delsinne Dennis Denis Lucía DeSoto Suárez María T. Domínguez David A. Donoso David A Donoso Jorge Durán María José Endara Blanca Figueroa-Rangel Rubén G. Mateo José M. García del Barrio Enrique García de la Riva Ana I. García-Cervigón Morales Héctor García-Gómez Óscar Godoy Uriel Hernandez Gomez Lorena Gémez Aparicio Penélope González José González Novoa Manuela González Suárez Daniel Griffith Roberto José Guerrero David Gutiérrez Xavier Haro Carrión Laura Hernández Mateo Javier Herrero Asier Herrero Méndez Sheila Izquieta Rojano Luis Lassaletta John Lattke Alex Leverkus Francisco Lloret Jorge Lozano Yudi Lozano Manuel Macía Jaime Madrigal González Esteban Manrique Santiago Martín Alcón Pilar Martín Isabel Javier Martínez Abaigar Jesús Martínez Fernández José Luis Martínez Menéndez Isabel Martínez Moreno Francisco Javier Martínez Vega Marcos Méndez Iglesias Rubén Milla Marcos Miñarro Daniel Moya Navarro Sven Mutke Rafael Ma Navarro Cerrillo Francisco Bruno Navarro Reyes Susana Ochoa Gaona Raúl Ochoa Hueso Daniel Paredes Mauricio Parra Quijano Sergio Pérez Guerrero Carolina Puerta Piñero Neptalí Ramírez-Marcial José V. Roces Díaz Alexandra Rodríguez Carlos Rodríguez Osorio Itziar Rodríguez Urbieta Susana Rodríguez-Echeverría Pere Rovira Paloma Ruiz-Benito Asunción Saldaña Ángela Sánchez-Miranda Fábio Suzart de Albuquerque María Fernanda Tapia-Armijos Jerónimo Torres-Porras María Triviño Raúl Vaca Alejandro Valdecantos Jordi Vayreda Alejandro Velázquez Martínez Albert Vila-Cabrera Rafael Villar Francisco Javier Zamora Camacho Carlos Zamorano-Elgueta Galo Zapata Ríos Lista de revisores que han completado revisiones en el año 2016Visconti, F., de Paz, J.M. 2017. Estimation of the potential CO 2 sequestration and emission capacity of the agricultural soils of the Valencian Community. Ecosistemas 26(1): 91-100. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.2017.26-1.15 Agricultural soils have capacity to sequester CO 2 in the form of organic matter. However, this capacity has hardly been quantified and mapped for large territories and with a wide variety of crops, such as the Valencian Community. This task is required to properly size the role of agriculture in any strategy to mitigate climate change. In this paper a first estimate of the potential CO 2 sequestration and emission capacity of the agricultural soils of the Valencian Community down to 20 cm depth has been made. This estimate has been carried out based on the average and spatial variability of the agricultural soil organic matter content in homogeneous agro-ecological zones in climate, soil class and land use, and using GIS, geostatistics and map algebra techniques. The sequestration and emission capacities were found to be 24.0 and 22.0 Mt of carbon, respectively. These values are equivalent to roughly ± 8 years of carbon emissions by use of fossil fuels in the Community itself. This sequestering capacity, which could be reached in 15 to 100 years with the global adoption of management practices that foster soil organic matter accumulation, has an important but insufficient effect compared to the current emission rate. In any case, increasing carbon sequestration in soils, either through management improvement or through organic matter incorporation programs, is very important both to improve sequestration capacity and even more to adapt agroecosystems to climate change.

Long-Term Changes in Forest Cover in Central Veracruz, Mexico (1993–2014):

Deforestation and fragmentation are threats to the conservation of species and have consequences for ecosystem functions. The focus of this study was to elucidate forest cover change in the period of 1993 to 2014. Our study area is in the central region of Veracruz, Mexico. Land cover and land use classes for the Years 1993, 2000, and 2014 were derived from Landsat images applying supervised classification. Then, we quantified the net change in forest area, the loss of original forest area, and evaluated forest fragmentation using landscape metrics. Our results showed that the area covered by remnant forests decreased 57%. The annual net forest cover change rate for 1993 to 2000 was −0.44%; since then forest cover increased at a rate of 0.11% from 2000 to 2014. The decreasing total edge density and the mean proximity index during the entire period of the study indicate decreasing irregularity in the shape of remnant forest patches and a slight decrease of vulnerability to edge effects. Forest patches augmented in 2000 and decreased in 2014 demonstrating an 18% decrease in relation to the number of fragments existing in 1993. According to our study, this area demands an urgent attention on preservation initiatives because only 2% of the surface extent is below federal protection and 0.8% is under State protection. It is important to protect the larger forest areas left in the pine-oak and humid montane forest belt because of their importance to plant diversity conservation and particularly, as these are threatened by urban and agricultural expansion.

Distribution and Abundance of Big-Leaf Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) is an economically important timber species in the Neotropics. For over three centuries, it has been selectively extracted from tropical forests, threatening its populations. We investigate the actual and potential distribution of big-leaf mahogany and assess its abundance on the Yucatan Peninsula based on the National Forest and Soils Inventory database. Furthermore, we evaluate environmental factors associated with its distribution, abundance, and tree size. The actual and potential distribution models show the presence of mahogany in a wide geographic area covering the southern and eastern portions of the Yucatan Peninsula. Abundance of mahogany in the landscape varies and in general is low. The spatial potential distribution model was best explained by the environmental variables of vegetation cover (medium- and high-stature semievergreen tropical forest) and elevation (upland areas). Results also indicate that mahogany remains relatively abundant and contain larger size classes in localities where the species has been harvested and managed for decades under community forest management. Furthermore, statistical analyses show greater tree density of mahogany mostly associated with low-stature semievergreen tropical forest having deep soils (gleysols and vertisols), while larger tree size (diameter at breast height) was associated with medium-stature semievergreen tropical forests in upland areas with moderately deep or shallow soils (mostly rendzinas or leptosols). Despite deforestation, land-use change and forestry activities on the Yucatan Peninsula, particularly in the past 20 years, the distribution and abundance of mahogany do not appear to be as drastically reduced as described in other neotropical regions.