How dietary transition changed land use in Mexico

Tello, José; Garcillán, Pedro P.; Ezcurra, Exequiel

doi:10.1007/s13280-020-01317-9

Cited by 19 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Drivers of the transition away from shifting cultivation are a mix of market development, population growth, policies and economic structures, increased land tenure security, government support for cash crops and/or cattle (van Vliet et al 2012). In MdC similar developments have occurred: land could be owned individually since 1992 (Assies and Duhau 2009), government support shifted focus from agricultural expansion to agricultural intensification (Tello et al 2020), and NAFTA marked the neoliberal discourse (Klepeis and Vance 2003) which caused farmers to change from crops (often in shifting cultivation) to (more permanent) cattle production (Speelman et al 2014).…”

Section: Restoration: Forest Regrowth and Secondary Forest Persistencementioning

confidence: 97%

“…The latter programmes, combined with those that aim to enhance conservation, such as the payments for ecosystem services programme (Costedoat et al 2015), highlight efforts to halt deforestation and intensify agricultural production. This shift came into effect after international pressure, notably during the UN Summit of 1992, and coincided with signing the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (Tello et al 2020). However, at least for MdC, these efforts have not resulted in halted or reverted deforestation.…”

Section: Continuous Decline In Forest Covermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mexican agricultural frontier communities differ in forest dynamics with consequences for conservation and restoration

Lohbeck¹,

DeVries²,

Bongers³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Forest regrowth is key to achieve restoration commitments, but we need to better understand under what circumstances it takes place and how long secondary forests persist. We studied a recently colonized agricultural frontier in southern Mexico. We quantified the spatiotemporal dynamics of forest loss and regrowth and tested how temporal variation in climate, and spatial variation in land availability, land quality and accessibility affect forest disturbance, regrowth and secondary forest persistence. Marqués de Comillas consistently exhibits more forest loss than regrowth, resulting in a net decrease of 30% forest cover (1991-2016). Secondary forest cover remained relatively constant while secondary forest persistence increased, suggesting that farmers are moving away from shifting cultivation. Temporal variation in disturbance and regrowth were explained by the annual variation in the Oceanic El Niño index combined with dry season rainfall and key policy and market interventions.Across communities the availability of high-quality soil overrules the effects of land availability and accessibility, but that at the pixel-level all three factors contributed to explaining forest conservation and restoration. Communities with more high-quality soils were able to spare land for forest conservation, and had less secondary forest that persisted for longer. Old forest and secondary forests were better represented on low-quality lands and on communal land. Both old and secondary forest were less common close to the main road, where secondary forests were also less persistent. Forest conservation and restoration can be explained by a complex interplay of biophysical and social drivers across time, space and scale. We warrant that stimulating private land ownership may cause remaining forest patches to be lost and that conservation initiatives should benefit the whole community. Forest regrowth and secondary forest persistence competes with agricultural production and ensuring farmers can access restoration benefits is key to success.

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Section: Restoration: Forest Regrowth and Secondary Forest Persistencementioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Continuous Decline In Forest Covermentioning

confidence: 99%

Mexican agricultural frontier communities differ in forest dynamics with consequences for conservation and restoration

Lohbeck¹,

DeVries²,

Bongers³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The latter programmes, combined with those that aim to protect remaining forests, such as the payments for ecosystem services programme (Costedoat et al, 2015), highlight efforts to intensify agricultural production and halt deforestation. This shift came into effect after international pressure, notably during the UN Summit of 1992, and coincided with signing the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (Tello et al, 2020). However, at least for MdC, these efforts have not halted or reverted deforestation.…”

Section: Continuous Decline In Forest Covermentioning

confidence: 99%

Mexican agricultural frontier communities differ in forest dynamics with consequences for conservation and restoration

Lohbeck¹,

DeVries

Bongers³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Forest regrowth is key to achieve restoration commitments, but a general lack of understanding when it occurs and how long secondary forests persist, hampers effective upscaling. We quantified spatiotemporal forest dynamics in a recently colonized agricultural frontier in southern Mexico, and tested how temporal variation in climate, and cross-community variation in land ownership, land quality and accessibility affect forest disturbance, regrowth and secondary forest persistence.We consistently found more forest loss than regrowth, resulting in a net decrease of 45% forest cover (1991-2016) in the study region. Secondary forest cover remained relatively constant while secondary forest persistence increased, suggesting that farmers are moving away from shifting cultivation. Temporal variation in disturbance was explained by annual variation in climatic variables and key policy and market interventions.We found large differences in forest characteristics across communities, and these were explained by differences in land ownership and soil quality. Forests were better conserved on communal land, while secondary forest was more persistent when farms were larger and soil quality is better. At the pixel-level both old forest and secondary forests were better represented on low-quality lands indicating agricultural concentration on productive land. Both old forest and secondary forest were less common close to the main road, where secondary forests were also less persistent.We demonstrate the suitability of timeseries analyses to quantify forest disturbance and regrowth and we analyse drivers across time and space. Communities differ in forest dynamics, indicating different possibilities, needs and interests. We warrant that stimulating private land ownership may cause remaining forest patches to be lost and that conservation initiatives should benefit the whole community. Forest regrowth competes with agricultural production and ensuring farmers have access to restoration benefits is key to restoration success.

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“…In recent years, lands under traditional milpa cultivation are also converted to large‐scale OP (Cortina‐Villar et al, 2012; Zermeño‐Hernández, Pingarroni, & Martínez‐Ramos, 2016). Extensive livestock grazing and feed crop cultivation have been the dominant farming activities in the region (Díaz‐Gallegos, Mas, & Velázquez, 2010; Tello, Garcillán, & Ezcurra, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon contents and fine root production in tropical silvopastoral systems

et al. 2020

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Owing to the increasing extension of land for livestock production, silvopastoral practices have been among the promising approaches to enhance carbon (C) sequestration. However, the extent of C sequestration in different silvopastoral systems (SPS) and their relationship with fine root production (FRP) is not well understood. The objective of this research was to evaluate the changes in C storage, FRP, and turnover in a part of tropical SPS. We evaluated above‐ and belowground C storage, FRP and turnover in live fences (LF), dispersed tree (DT) silvopasture, and compared these with open pasturelands (OP) in Southeastern Mexico. We applied the stock change approach to calculate biomass growth rates and the ingrowth monolith method for FRP. Biomass stocks in the same plots are re‐measured over time in the stock change approach. Woody biomass stocks differed significantly between SPS (DT: 37.2, LF: 9.8 Mg ha−1) and the accumulation rates in both SPS were significantly higher than zero (0.2–2.2 Mg ha−1 yr−1). Soil organic carbon (SOC) contents were significantly higher in SPS (LF: 2.4%, DT: 3.1%) compared to OP (1.6%). FRP significantly differed between SPS (LF: 27.8, DT: 45.4, and OP: 9.4 g m−2 yr−1) and correlated positively with SOC content. Higher SOC reduced soil compaction in silvopastoral lands as indicated by lower soil bulk density. The results on C stocks change and fine root dynamics contribute to understanding C sequestration potential of tropical SPS, identifying ecologically sound strategies to mitigate greenhouse gases from the livestock sector, and aid restoration of ecosystem services for degraded pasturelands.

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How dietary transition changed land use in Mexico

Cited by 19 publications

References 37 publications

Mexican agricultural frontier communities differ in forest dynamics with consequences for conservation and restoration

Mexican agricultural frontier communities differ in forest dynamics with consequences for conservation and restoration

Mexican agricultural frontier communities differ in forest dynamics with consequences for conservation and restoration

Carbon contents and fine root production in tropical silvopastoral systems

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