Natural disturbance and treefalls in a pine-oak forest on the Peninsula of Baja California, Mexico

Arriaga, Laura

doi:10.1007/bf00045641

Cited by 24 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…We interpret these slope failures as occurring in areas of enhanced precipitation caused by topographic lifting coupled with high rates of uprooted trees caused by high winds (cf. Arriaga, 1988), causing both immediate regolith disturbance and increasing bare areas that enabled runoff concentration. A potential differential response to high winds between the oak forest and the tropical dry forest is not possible to assess with the available data, because detailed mapping of forest structure, canopy cover, tree mortality, etc., was unfeasible under the scope of this study.…”

Section: Triggering Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Combination of upland and lowland tree associations has edge effects on soil moisture and runoff (Joffre and Rambal, 1993;Breshears et al, 1997;Asbjornsen et al, 2004). In addition, the ecotone region can have a wide variety of trees at different heights and stem sizes, creating both weaker forests under strong wind action (Arriaga, 1988) and heterogeneous runoff, because of the differences that the ecotone species might display on the way rainfall is directed from the canopy to the surface. Testing the above hypotheses in this region is out of the scope of the present work, although the confirmation of these ideas represents a key step in order to understand landscape processes in this region and similar areas.…”

Section: Triggering Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Occurrence of landslides during the approach of tropical cyclone Juliette (2001) to Baja California Sur, Mexico

Antinao¹,

Farfán²

2013

Atmósfera

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El acercamiento del ciclón tropical Juliette en 2001 a la península de Baja California provocó por lo menos 419 deslizamientos. Éstos corresponden en su mayoría a derrumbes someros de extensión reducida que fueron convertidos rápidamente en flujos de detritos para ser exportados de las áreas montañosas hacia áreas bajas. Los factores principales que afectan la ocurrencia de deslizamientos en esta zona son la precipitación total y su intensidad, así como la orientación, la geología y la vegetación. Se pueden distinguir dos procesos como iniciadores de los derrumbes. El primero de ellos es la acumulación de escorrentía por precipitación intensa sobre rocas expuestas, lo cual genera exceso de escurrimiento superficial que acarrea regolito. Éste es el proceso principal en topografía cóncava. La combinación de viento y de exceso de escurrimiento en las pendientes altas convexas o planas constituye un proceso secundario relacionado con la heterogeneidad de las asociaciones de vegetación en el límite entre los bosques tropical seco y de roble. Los árboles arrancados desprendieron bloques completos de regolito y roca, lo cual preparó las laderas para la concentración adicional de escurrimiento superficial. Se ha estimado una curva para el umbral de deslizamientos en esta región. Asimismo, con base en el análisis de la información histórica, se ha determinado que tormentas como Juliette se acercan al sur de la península en promedio una vez cada 100 años. Las estimaciones de la denudación provocada directamente por deslizamientos se ubican en la parte más alta del espectro para un margen tectónico pasivo. Estas estimaciones deben considerarse en la toma de decisiones vinculadas con el manejo de los recursos hídricos en esta región. Los resultados acentúan la necesidad de contar con una representación más detallada de la distribución espacial de la precipitación y vientos para esta región montañosa afectada por ciclones tropicales. ABSTRACTThe approach of tropical cyclone (TC) Juliette, in 2001, to the Baja California Peninsula triggered at least 419 landslides. Most of the landslides were shallow slips and debris slides of limited areal extent, which were converted rapidly into debris flows to be exported quickly out of the mountain areas towards the lowlands. Main factors affecting landslide occurrence were total storm rainfall and intensity, aspect, geology and vegetation association. Two processes can be distinguished as initiating slope failure. Accumulation of rainfall from exposed bedrock slopes, generating excess overland flow, was the main process linked to failures in 184 J. L. Antinao and L. M. Farfán concave topography. A combination of wind and excess overland flow in the more convex or planar upper slopes was a secondary process related to heterogeneity of vegetation associations in the oak-dry tropical forests ecotone, as uprooted trees dislodged large regolith and bedrock blocks, priming hillslopes for further runoff concentration. An estimative threshold curve for triggering landslides in this region is sk...

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Section: Triggering Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Triggering Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence of landslides during the approach of tropical cyclone Juliette (2001) to Baja California Sur, Mexico

Antinao¹,

Farfán²

2013

Atmósfera

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“…These disturbances eventually lead to the death of adult trees, which produces gaps in the forest canopy, creates conditions for germination from the local seed bank, and launches the growth of saplings and juvenile trees. In general, these same processes seem to control the dynamics in temperate forest communities (Arriaga 1988;Burrows 1990;Ashton et al 1998;Arriaga and Mercado 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Analysis of forest types and estimates of biomass in the Sierra de La Laguna Reserve, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Luz

Domínguez-Cadena

2010

Can. J. For. Res.

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Understanding of the natural factors that lead to complex changes in forest ecosystems is limited. Worldwide, there are only a few forests as pristine and isolated as the Sierra de La Laguna in the southernmost range of the arid Baja California, Mexico. Its outstanding trait as a model system is that anthropogenic stressors are notably absent, which facilitates the study of natural ecological processes of the forest because separating human-induced ecological changes from natural ones is not a simple matter. In this study, we sampled sites and defined vegetation units on the basis of dominance of the canopy by the main tree species. We identified three forest types: the pine and encino forests that occupy the higher areas and the roble forest at lower elevations. For each living tree in the sampling plots, we measured height, canopy coverage per tree, diameter at breast height, as well as the amount of deadwood, leaf litter, and abundance of young trees. A succesional competition occurs between Pinus and Quercus sensu lato; we conclude that the encino forest represents a climax condition, the pine type represents an early succesional stage, and the roble forest type is a simple climax community.Résumé : La compréhension des facteurs naturels qui entraînent des changements complexes dans les écosystèmes forestiers est limitée. À travers le monde, il y a très peu de forêts aussi parfaitement isolées que la Sierra de La Laguna dans la chaîne de montagne la plus méridionale de la région aride de Basse-Californie. En tant que système modèle, sa caractéris-tique exceptionnelle est le fait que les facteurs de stress anthropiques sont notamment absents, ce qui facilite l'étude des processus écologiques naturels de la forêt étant donné qu'il n'est pas facile de distinguer les changements écologiques d'origine humaine de ceux dont l'origine est naturelle. Dans cette étude, nous avons d'abord échantillonné des stations pour définir des unités de végétation sur la base de la dominance des principales espèces d'arbre dans le couvert. Nous avons identifié trois types forestiers : la forêt de pin et la forêt de chêne de la Californie occupent les zones plus élevées tandis que la forêt de chêne blanc de Californie occupe les zones les plus basses. Pour chaque arbre vivant présent dans les placettes échantillons, nous avons mesuré la hauteur, l'étendue du couvert attribuable à chaque arbre, le diamètre à hauteur de poitrine et la quantité de bois mort et de litière ainsi que l'abondance de jeunes arbres. Il existe une compéti-tion successionnelle entre Pinus et Quercus sensu lato; nous concluons que la forêt de chêne de la Californie représente une situation climacique, la forêt de pin représente un stade de début de succession tandis que la forêt de chêne blanc de Californie est représentative d'une communauté climacique simple.[Traduit par la Rédaction]

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“…From sea level to 300 m, there is xerophytic scrub; from 300 to 1,000 m, a tropical deciduous forest; between 1,000 and 1,500 m, an oak forest; and from 1,500 to 2,000 m, a mixed oak-pine forest dominated by Quercus devia, Pinus lagunae, Quercus tuberculata, Arbutus peninsularis, and Nolina beldingii (ARRIAGA 1988, LEON DE LA Luz et al 1988). This last type of vegetation covers 20,000 ha.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat availability for the mule deer (Cervidae) population in a relictual oak-pine forest in Baja California Sur, Mexico

et al. 1999

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We estimated the mule deer Odocoileus hemionus peninsulae (Lydekker 1898) population in six locations of an oak-pine forest in the Sierra de La Laguna in the Cape Region of Baja California Sur, Mexico, during 7 consecutive years (1987 to 1993 ). The most important habitat variables for deer (plant biomass, cover, and water) were measured over five wet and dry seasons at the same locations. The population estimation (based on pellet-group counts) resulted in an average density of 19 ± 5 deer/km 2 . The deer habitat in the area is typified by different association proportions of Black Oak Quercus devia-Pinyon Pine Pinus lagunae-Oak Quercus tuberculata-Madrone Arbutus peninsularis.There is a marked seasonality in the vegetation. In general, the habitat transects revealed ample cover and plant biomass, shrubs being the dominant growth form and that most frequently consumed by the deer. The deer population is less than the habitat's carrying capacity in the wet and dry seasons. None of the habitat variables measured are a limiting factor, though deer were found to prefer sites with greater amounts of cover and biomass of shrubs. All sites surveyed contain available water and are in rugged terrain.

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Natural disturbance and treefalls in a pine-oak forest on the Peninsula of Baja California, Mexico

Cited by 24 publications

References 23 publications

Occurrence of landslides during the approach of tropical cyclone Juliette (2001) to Baja California Sur, Mexico

Occurrence of landslides during the approach of tropical cyclone Juliette (2001) to Baja California Sur, Mexico

Analysis of forest types and estimates of biomass in the Sierra de La Laguna Reserve, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Habitat availability for the mule deer (Cervidae) population in a relictual oak-pine forest in Baja California Sur, Mexico

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