Print PageThe temperate forests of Mexico are the largest forest cover in Mexico (32,330,508 ha) and are the center of diversification of pine and oak, with about 50 species of pine trees representing 50% of total worldwide. These ecosystems are key in providing timber and income of communities that living in the forest, however, the three remaining: regulating, cultural and supporting ecosystem services difficult to value and measure, but are increasingly recognized to be important in contributing to the total value of temperate forest ecosystems. The objective was to identify ecosystem services provisioning, regulating, and cultural support in order to integrate in temperate forest sustainable forest management and conservation. Information on the services these ecosystems provide came from the review of scientific literature and information from government agencies.
Results/Conclusions
The most important provision services were: (i) timber resources, the pine species represent 78% (4,913,700 M3R) and oaks 8% (523,361 M3R) of the national timber production; (ii) the taking of water is 12 163 Mm3, which represents 25% of the total of water in the country; and (iii) the production of wood comes mainly from pine species with 52% (107,716 m3r) and species of oak with 41% (84,849 m3r). The main regulatory services are: (i) carbon sequestration (179 tC / ha for conifer species and 153 tC ha for broadleaf species), while the soils carbon pool of these same ecosystems is 2.36 Gt C; (ii) the quality of water (these ecosystems are considered the most important given the amount of rainfall received and its location in the upper and middle basin). Cultural services were: (i) holds about 58% of the indigenous population, and (ii) recreational, there are 34 protected natural areas for their scenic beauty, it is scientific, educational and recreational objectives. These ecosystems represent a biodiversity hotspot of global importance, but little has been related to ecosystem services they provide.
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