Assessment of Land Use-Cover Changes and Successional Stages of Vegetation in the Natural Protected Area Altas Cumbres, Northeastern Mexico, Using Landsat Satellite Imagery

Abstract

Loss of vegetation cover is a major factor that endangers biodiversity. Therefore, the use of geographic information systems and the analysis of satellite images are important for monitoring these changes in Natural Protected Areas (NPAs). In northeastern Mexico, the Natural Protected Area Altas Cumbres (NPAAC) represents a relevant floristic and faunistic patch on which the impact of loss of vegetation cover has not been assessed. This work aimed to analyze changes of land use and coverage (LULCC) over the last 42 years on the interior and around the exterior of the area, and also to propose the time of succession for the most important types of vegetation. For the analysis, LANDSAT satellite images from 1973, 1986, 2000, 2005 and 2015 were used, they were classified in seven categories through a segmentation and maximum likelihood analysis. A cross-tabulation analysis was performed to determine the succession gradient. Towards the interior of the area, a significant reduction of tropical vegetation and, to a lesser extent, temperate forests was found, as well as an increase in scrub cover from 1973 to 2015. In addition, urban and vegetation-free areas, as well as modified vegetation, increased to the exterior. Towards the interior of the NPA, the processes of perturbation and recovery were mostly not linear, while in the exterior adjacent area, the presence of secondary vegetation with distinct definite time of succession was evident. The analysis carried out is the first contribution that evaluates LULCC in this important NPA of northeastern Mexico. Results suggest the need to evaluate the effects of these modifications on species.

Successional and seasonal changes of leaf beetles and their indicator value in a fragmented low thorn forest of northeastern Mexico (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae)

“…To the southwest, the study area approaches the Natural Protected Area Altas Cumbres (NPAAC, Figure 1), which constitutes a focal point for biodiversity in northeastern Mexico (Morrone and Márquez 2008, Secretaría de Gobierno 2015). However, the distribution of LTF in the areas surrounding the NPAAC, including the studied fragment, has been reduced significantly from 1973 to 2015 due to land use-cover change as a result of frequent fires and conversion to agriculture areas (Sánchez-Reyes et al 2017), and is currently endangered (Secretaría de Gobierno 2015). Therefore, the study area constitutes a fragment of LTF composed of patches with differing degrees of conservation and times of secondary succession (Sánchez-Reyes et al 2017).…”

“…The extent of low thorn forest (LTF) vegetation in northeastern Mexico has been drastically reduced in the last 40 years (Sánchez-Reyes et al 2017). This ecosystem harbors a high species richness of plants, with a large number of endemics (Rzedowski 2006), and, due to its geographical position, it shares characteristics (presence of deciduous or semi-deciduous species, climate regime) with other important subtropical communities, like the submontane scrub and Tamaulipan thorn scrub (García-Morales et al 2014).…”

“…Such floristic complexity presumably leads to a high species richness and diversity of leaf beetles, although this has not been evaluated since the faunistic studies of this family in Mexico are focused in other plant communities (Andrews and Gilbert 2005, Niño-Maldonado et al 2005, Martínez-Sánchez et al 2009, Furth 2013, Ordóñez-Reséndiz et al 2015). In addition, a significant proportion of the current LTF cover in northeastern Mexico is composed of patches of conserved vegetation, together with large areas of secondary vegetation with varying lengths of succession time (Sánchez-Reyes et al 2017). However, the influences of these disturbances and the time of secondary succession on the faunistic and ecological patterns of Chrysomelidae have never been quantified to date in this ecosystem.…”

Mapping secondary succession species in agricultural landscape with the use of hyperspectral and airborne laser scanning data

“…The succession process is currently the subject of a large number of research projects all over the world, for example in Europe, [1][2][3] North America, [4][5][6][7][8][9] South America, [10][11][12] and also in Asia. 13 The reason behind the interest in this topic is undoubtedly connected with its significance, which can be seen from three different perspectives.…”

“…8,9,11 In most cases, however, the importance of secondary succession is simply explained by the large size of the terrain encompassed, land use and land cover changes, and the resultant need to assess its influence on ecosystem functions and services. 1,[4][5][6]10,12,13 Regardless of the reason, studies of secondary succession focus mainly on identifying the places, in which the succession occurs, estimating the size of this area 3,7 and describing the stages of the process, 1,[4][5][6][9][10][11][12][13] and rarely on determining other characteristics such as the stand age or species richness. 8 To the authors' knowledge, few research projects have investigated the subject of the differentiation of succession species.…”