Management regime, degradation, and perceptions in a tropical dry forest of the Pacific Coast of Mexico

Peasants manage ecosystems to obtain food derived from the agriculture or cattle raising. This management can drive to the degradation of the ecosystem when vegetation and soil conditions changes prevent the provision of multiple services. In the tropical dry forest around the Chamela-Cuixmala Reserve there is a mosaic of plots converted to pasture, abandoned land and forest fragments in different degradation. We documented management history, soil and vegetation degradation condition, and related them to stakeholders’ perceptions on degradation and restoration. Surveys were made in five towns to describe the magnitude, frequency and intensity of the management practices in 30 plots with contrasting management histories; we established one 50 X 20 m transects per transect to census all woody individual, and all herbaceous individuals within a 1 m² subplot; we excavated one soil profile to measure edafo-ecological parameters. Practices related to the magnitude and duration of cattle raising were the most contrasting among sites. An increase in the abundance of leguminous species was found in fallow fields. The first horizon, the porous space and the aeration capacity of the soil were most affected by cattle raising. Seventy percent of the interviewed peasants identified changes in vegetation structure and 30% changes in soil physical attributes; nevertheless they did not attribute them to management but rather to water shortage. Management practices related to cattle raising are causing degradation of the tropical deciduous forest ecosystem but lack of awareness its causes may hinder restoration efforts.