scholarly journals Importance of Local Studies of Vascular Plant Communities in Conservation and Management: A Case Study in Susticacán, Zacatecas, Mexico

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 492
Author(s):  
Leopoldo Hurtado-Reveles ◽  
Mireya Burgos-Hernández ◽  
Juan Carlos López-Acosta ◽  
Monserrat Vázquez-Sánchez

Some parts of the globe have a deficient vegetation coverage survey causing localized plant community qualities generalized from larger scales, hindering their particular configuration. This process is emphasized in megadiverse countries such as Mexico by transformation and loss of land cover. This can be reflected in the municipality of Susticacán, Zacatecas, settled in a mountainous, scarcely explored area, the Sierra de los Cardos. This study aimed to characterize its plant communities, produce a fine-scale map and compare them to other descriptions. Oak forests, pine forests, grasslands, nopaleras, chaparral, and rock outcrop vegetation were detected through satellite image analysis, sampled, statistically evaluated, and their descriptions supported by the literature. The first two presented a high diversity and endemism, despite a small surface. The chaparral occupied the largest area, and its structure and composition suggest its secondary vegetation in expansion. The presence of exotic–invasive species and human activities threaten the native flora. This study is the first to provide detailed information on the plant communities in Susticacán and is a model for the study of local-scale regions. It highlights the importance of describing and mapping them as a contribution to delineate conservation and management efforts.

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1074
Author(s):  
Bonoukpoè Mawuko Sokame ◽  
Boaz Musyoka ◽  
Julius Obonyo ◽  
François Rebaudo ◽  
Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman ◽  
...  

The interactions among insect communities influence the composition of pest complexes that attack crops and, in parallel, their natural enemies, which regulate their abundance. The lepidopteran stemborers have been the major maize pests in Kenya. Their population has been regulated by natural enemies, mostly parasitoids, some of which have been used for biological control. It is not known how a new exotic invasive species, such as the fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), may affect the abundance and parasitism of the resident stemborers. For this reason, pest and parasitism surveys have been conducted, before and after the FAW invaded Kenya, in maize fields in 40 localities across 6 agroecological zones (AEZs) during the maize-growing season, as well as at 3 different plant growth stages (pre-tasseling, reproductive, and senescence stages) in 2 elevations at mid-altitude, where all maize stemborer species used to occur together. Results indicated that the introduction of the FAW significantly correlated with the reduction of the abundance of the resident communities of maize stemborers and parasitoids in maize fields; moreover, the decrease of stemborer density after the arrival of FAW occurred mostly at both reproductive and senescent maize stages. It also suggests a possible displacement of stemborers by FAW elsewhere; for example, to other cereals. However, since this study was conducted only three years after the introduction of the FAW, further studies will need to be conducted to confirm such displacements.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Buerkert ◽  
Bryan Adam Dix ◽  
Mohamed Nasser Al Rawahi ◽  
Eva Schlecht

AbstractThe millenia-old oasis systems in the Western Hajar Mountains of Northern Oman have received widespread attention as models of sustainable irrigated agriculture in hyperarid Arabia. Given Oman’s rampant urbanization, growing scarcity of water and skilled labour, we quantified chances in water use, land use, and land cover between 2007 and 2018 using a rare time-series approach of detailed GIS-based crop mapping. Results from satellite image analysis and comprehensive ground truthing showed that urban areas grew from 206 ha in 2009 to 230 ha in 2014 and 252 ha in 2018. Throughout this decade, irrigated areas in backyards and front-house gardens of the town, planted largely to tree crops and vegetables, increased from 13.5 to 23.3 ha. Between 2007 and 2018 the actively used area of the studied oasis systems declined by 2.0% and the share of perennial crops without underplanting by 5.1%, while land under agroforestry increased by 2.1% and fallow land by 3.5%. Rising water demand of the sprawling town Sayh Qatanah led to terraces of Al ‘Ayn and Ash Sharayjah now being partly irrigated with treated wastewater which accelerated the abandonment of the old settlement structures. The labour- and water use efficiency-driven transformation of the Al Jabal Al Akhdar oasis agriculture into increasingly market-oriented landuse systems questions its function as example of sustainable, bio-cultural heritage of Arabia.


Author(s):  
Aymen Al-Saadi ◽  
Ioannis Paraskevakos ◽  
Bento Collares Gonçalves ◽  
Heather J. Lynch ◽  
Shantenu Jha ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan R. King ◽  
Andrew J. Bennett ◽  
Warren C. Conway ◽  
David J. Rosen ◽  
Brian P. Oswald

AbstractIntroduced accidentally from South America, deeproot sedge is rapidly expanding in a variety of habitats throughout the southeastern United States. Of particular concern is its rapid expansion, naturalization, and formation of monocultures in Texas coastal prairie, one of the most imperiled temperate ecoregions in North America. The objective of this research was to examine how deeproot sedge responds to prescribed fire, to the herbicide imazapic, and to treatment combinations of both. Combinations of prescribed fire and imazapic treatments and imazapic-only treatments effectively reduced deeproot sedge cover and frequency. However, plots exposed to dormant season fires (with no imazapic) had greater deeproot sedge cover after burn treatments were applied, indicating that coastal prairie management using only dormant season prescribed fire will not work toward reduction or management of this exotic invasive species. Although deeproot sedge cover was often reduced in fire–imazapic treatment combinations, it was still present in treatment plots. Moreover, desirable functional plant groups (i.e., native bunchgrasses) did not respond positively to the fire–imazapic treatments, but in some instances, woody plant coverage increased. Repeated, long-term approaches using integrated and coordinated efforts with multiple treatment options will be necessary to restore community structure to desired compositional levels. Such integrated approaches should be effective in reducing deeproot sedge frequency, cover, and extent to more manageable levels throughout its introduced geographic range.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-261
Author(s):  
Michaël Leblanc ◽  
Claude Lavoie

We experimentally tested the feasibility of a control campaign of purple jewelweed (Impatiens glandulifera), an exotic invasive species in Europe and North America. We evaluated the amount of time and money required to control the plant along riverbanks, with particular attention paid to the recovery of riparian vegetation following hand pulling and bagging. Work time was directly and significantly related to stem density and fresh biomass of the invader, but the relationship was stronger for density. Density and biomass were strongly reduced by the first hand-pulling operation from a mean of 45 to 2 stems m−2 and from a mean of 0.95 kg m−2 to nearly zero, a good performance but not enough to negate the need for a second hand pulling later in the summer. A single hand pulling significantly reduced the cover of purple jewelweed from to 30% to 7%. Riparian vegetation disturbed by the first hand pulling largely recovered during the following 30 d. Expressed over an area of 1 ha, the total amount of time required to control purple jewelweed is 1,400 work hours over 2 yr, or a minimum investment of Can$21,000 (US$17,000). Although controlling a well-established purple jewelweed population is expensive, to properly evaluate the benefits, we must also consider the costs of soil erosion caused by this species.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-65
Author(s):  
Safridatul Audah ◽  
Muharratul Mina Rizky ◽  
Lindawati

Tapaktuan is the capital and administrative center of South Aceh Regency, which is a sub-district level city area known as Naga City. Tapaktuan is designated as a sub-district to be used for the expansion of the capital's land. Consideration of land suitability is needed so that the development of settlements in Tapaktuan District is directed. The purpose of this study is to determine the level of land use change from 2014 to 2018 by using remote sensing technology in the form of Landsat-8 OLI satellite data through image classification methods by determining the training area of the image which then automatically categorizes all pixels in the image into land cover class. The results obtained are the results of the two image classification tests stating the accuracy of the interpretation of more than 80% and the results of the classification of land cover divided into seven forms of land use, namely plantations, forests, settlements, open land, and clouds. From these classes, the area of land cover change in Tapaktuan is increasing in size from year to year.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-187
Author(s):  
Duong Phung Thai ◽  
Son Ton

On the basis of using practical methods, satellite image processing methods, the vegetation coverage classification system of the study area, interpretation key for the study area, classification and post-classification pro cessing, this research introduces how to exploit and process multi-temporal satellite images in evaluating the changes of forest area. Landsat 4, 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI remote sensing image data were used to evaluate the changes in the area of mangrove forests (RNM) in Ca Mau province in the periods of 1988 - 1998, 1998 - 2013, 2013 - 2018, and 1988 - 2018. The results of the image interpretation in 1988, 1998, 2013, 2018 and the overlapping of the above maps show: In the 30-year period from 1988 to 2018, the total area of mangroves in Ca Mau province was decreased by 28% compared to the beginning, from 71,093.3 ha in 1988 reduced to 51,363.5 ha in 2018, decreasing by 19,729.8 ha. The recovery speed of mangroves is 2 times lower than their disappearance speed. Specifically, from 1988 to 2018, mangroves disappeared on an area of 42,534.9 hectares and appeared on the new area of 22,805 hectares, only 12,154.5 hectares of mangroves remained unchanged. The fluctuation of mangrove area in Ca Mau province is related to the process of deforestation to dig shrimp ponds, coastal erosion, the formation of mangroves on new coastal alluvial lands and soil dunes in estuaries, as well as planting new mangroves in inefficient shrimp ponds.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document