Lands at risk: Land use/land cover change in two contrasting tropical dry regions of Mexico

Autogenic regulation and resilience in tropical dry forest

“…The relatively uniform environmental conditions and the minimal impact of agriculture in our study region are ideal to test our hypothesis because this makes our forest unlikely to have multiple equilibrium states. The region has a low level of landscape fragmentation (Calzada et al., 2018; Gallardo et al., 2018) and a high degree of naturalness (sensu Machado, 2004) compared to other tropical dry forests disrupted by agricultural practices. In SF plots, low‐intensity (maximum of two harvesting cycles and no heavy machinery; Lebrija‐Trejos et al., 2008), traditional slash‐and‐burn agriculture was practiced prior to abandonment.…”

“…The landscape context with a high connectivity of SF and OGF patches makes dispersal limitation unlikely at distances under 2.5 km (Gallardo Cruz et al., 2010). These landscape conditions result from both a complex topography and the regional social context, characterized by a traditional indigenous community that has not yet fully embraced modern agricultural practices (Calzada et al., 2018).…”

“…These landscape conditions result from both a complex topography and the regional social context, characterized by a traditional indigenous community that has not yet fully embraced modern agricultural practices (Calzada et al, 2018).…”

Proportional Variation of Potential Groundwater Recharge as a Result of Climate Change and Land-Use: A Study Case in Mexico

“…Table 2 shows the characteristics of the satellite images of Landsat 5 TM, 7 ETM + and 8 OLI (Path/Row 26/48) used in this study for April 1986, 2003 and 2017 respectively, as well as those downloaded from the website of the United States Geological Survey [62], which provides free-access Land 2020, 9, 364 5 of 22 images with adequate geometric correction for multi-temporal analyses [2,61,63]. The year 1986 was selected as it is the year before the construction of the largest urban increases registered in the study area (Zona Diamante), mainly driven by the high tourist demand.…”

“…Land-use cover change (LUCC), especially the transformation of natural vegetation to agricultural and urban uses, can directly modify the hydrological cycle, resulting in increased flooding and decreased groundwater recharge, among other effects [1][2][3][4]. In agricultural areas, the topsoil compaction leads to a loss of the water retention and infiltration capacity of the subsurface.…”