Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T06:25:29.401Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Land use change trajectories, conservation status and social importance of dry forests in Nicaragua

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2014

FEDERICA RAVERA ,
DAVID TARRASÓN  and
JOSEP MARÍA ESPELTA
FEDERICA RAVERA
Affiliation:
Social-ecological Systems Laboratory, Department of Ecology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, c/Darwin 2, 28049 Madrid, Spain
DAVID TARRASÓN*
Affiliation:
CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès 08193, Catalonia, Spain
JOSEP MARÍA ESPELTA
Affiliation:
CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès 08193, Catalonia, Spain
*
*Correspondence: David Tarrason e-mail: d.tarrason@creaf.uab.cat
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Interdisciplinary studies have proved the interconnectedness of history and ecology relevant to forest conservation proposals and management policies. Engaging local views and concerns in the evaluation and monitoring process can lead to more robust knowledge in the pursuit of effective conservation. This study aimed to assess the degree to which land use change trajectories influence the state of tropical dry forest conservation, as evaluated by scientists and local people. Focusing on northern Nicaragua, the research identified three historical trajectories for types and magnitude of forest disturbance. The assessment process included inventorying sites under different trajectories and integrating ecological and social indicators (namely local perceptions of biodiversity value and concern over species threat). The different land use change trajectories had no influence on the present structure of the dry forest, but strongly affected species diversity, composition and their social importance. The study provided evidence of positive species selection by farmers, which suggested a feedback loop between ecological conditions, social value and awareness of conservation.

Keywords

Central America dry corridorconcern over species threatinterdisciplinary studiesland-use change trajectoriesNicaraguasocial valuesocioecological integrated indextropical dry forest
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 1 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aide, T.M., Zimmerman, J.K., Pascarella, J.B., Rivera, L. & Marcano-Vega, H. (2000) Forest regeneration in a chronosequence of tropical abandoned pastures: implications for restoration ecology. Restoration Ecology 8: 328–338.Google Scholar
Álvarez-Yépiz, J.C., Martínez-Yrízar, A., Búrquez, A. & Lindquist, C. (2008) Variation in vegetation structure and soil properties related to land-use history of old-growth and secondary tropical dry forests in northwestern Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management 256: 355–366.Google Scholar
Arroyo-Mora, J.P., Sanchez-Azofeifa, G.A., Rivard, B., Calvo-Alvarado, J.C. & Janzen, D.H. (2005) Dynamics in landscape structure and composition for the Chorotega region, Costa Rica from 1960 to 2000. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 106: 27–39.Google Scholar
Barreda-Bautista, B., Lopez-Caloca, A.A., Couturier, S. & Silvan-Cardenas, J.L. (2011) Tropical dry forests in the global picture: the challenge of remote sensing-based change detection in tropical dry environments. In: Planet Earth 2011. Global Warming Challenges and Opportunities for Policy and Practice, ed. Carayannis, E.G., doi: 10.5772 /24283. Rijeka, Croatia: Intech [www document]. URL http://www.intechopen.com/books/planet-earth-2011-global-warming-challenges-and-opportunities-for-policy-and-practice/tropical-dry-forests-in-the-global-picture-the-challenge-of-remote-sensing-based-change-detection-in Google Scholar
Baumeister, E. (2001) Peasant initiatives in land reform in Central America, In: Land Reform and Peasant Livelihoods. The Social Dynamics of Rural Poverty and Agrarian Reforms in Developing Countries, ed. Ghimire, K.B., pp. 65–85. London, UK: ITDG Publishing.Google Scholar
Bawa, K.S., Kress, W.G., Nadkarni, N.M. & Lele, S. (2004) Beyond paradise: meeting the challenges in tropical biology in the 21st century. Biotropica 36 (4): 437–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bray, D.B. (2010) Forest cover dynamics and forest transitions in Mexico and Central America: towards a ‘green restoration’? In: Reforesting Landscapes. Linking Pattern and Process, ed. Nagendra, H. & Southworth, J., pp. 85–120. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer.Google Scholar
Bullock, S.H., Mooney, H.A. & Medina, E. (1995) Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Calvo-Alvarado, J.C., McLennan, B., Sánchez-Azofeifa, G.A. & Garvin, T. (2009) Deforestation and forest restoration in Guanacaste, Costa Rica: putting conservation policies in context. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 931–940.Google Scholar
Castro-Marín, G., Nygard, R., Rivas, B.G. & Oden, P.C. (2005) Stand dynamics and basal area change in a tropical dry forest reserve in Nicaragua. Forest Ecology and Management 208: 63–75.Google Scholar
Chazdon, R.L. (2003) Tropical forest recovery: legacies of human impact and natural disturbances. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 6 (1–2): 51–71.Google Scholar
Chima, U.D., Adedire, M.O., Aduradola, A.M. & Agboola, D.A. (2012) Key livelihood tree species in Omo Biosphere Reserve: a preliminary documentation towards the investigation of land use change impact on key livelihood tree populations. Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences 2 (8): 406–411.Google Scholar
Do Carmo Correa, A.P. (2000) Evaluación de un paisaje fragmentado para la conservación y recuperación de biodiversidad área demostrativa Miraflor-Moropotente, Estelí, Nicaragua. MSc thesis, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica: 135 pp.Google Scholar
Esquivel, M.J., Harvey, C.A., Finegan, B., Casanoves, F. & Skarpe, C. (2008) Effects of pasture management on the natural regeneration of neotropical trees. Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 371–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finegan, B. (1996) Pattern and process in Neotropical secondary rain forest: the first 100 years of succession. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 11: 119–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, D. (1992) Land–use history (1730–1990) and vegetation dynamics in central New England, USA. Journal of Ecology 80: 753–772.Google Scholar
Foster, D., Swanson, F., Aber, J., Burke, I., Brokaw, N., Tilman, D. & Knapp, A. (2003) The importance of land-use legacies to ecology and conservation. BioScience 53: 77–88.Google Scholar
Gillespie, T.W., Grijalva, A. & Farris, C.N. (2000) Diversity, composition, and structure of tropical dry forests in Central America. Plant Ecology 147: 37–47.Google Scholar
Gonzalez Rivas, B., Tigabu, M., Gerhardt, K., Castro-Marín, G. & Oden, P.C. (2006) Species composition, diversity and local uses of tropical dry deciduous and gallery forests in Nicaragua. Biodiversity Conservation 15: 1509–1527.Google Scholar
Grau, H.R., Aide, T.M., Zimmerman, J.K., Thomlinson, J.R., Helmer, E. & Zou, X. (2003) The ecological consequences of socioeconomic and land-use changes in postagriculture Puerto Rico. BioScience 53 (12): 1159–1168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griscom, H.P. & Ashton, M.S. (2011) Restoration in tropical forests in Central America: a review of pattern and process. Forest Ecology and Management 261: 1564–1579.Google Scholar
Guariguata, M.R., Chazdon, R. L., Denslow, J.S., Dupuy, J.M. & Anderson, L. (1997) Structure and floristics of secondary and old-growth forest stands in lowland Costa Rica. Plant Ecology 132: 107–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, C.A. & Haber, W.A. (1999) Remnant trees and the conservation of biodiversity in Costa Rican pastures. Agroforestry Systems 44: 37–68.Google Scholar
Harvey, C.A., Villanueva, C., Esquivel, H., Gómez, R., Ibrahim, M., Lopez, M., Martinez, J., Muñoz, D., Restrepo, C., Saénz, J.C., Villacís, J. & Sinclair, F.L. (2011) Conservation value of dispersed trees cover threatened by pasture management. Forest Ecology and Management 261: 1664–1674.Google Scholar
Harvey, C.A., Villanueva, C., Villacís, J., Chacón, M., Munoz, D., López, M., Ibrahim, M., Taylor, R., Martínez, J.L., Navas, A., Sáenz, J., Sánchez, D., Medina, A., Vílchez, S., Hernández, B., Pérez, A., Ruiz, F., López, F., Lang, I., Kunth, S. & Sinclair, F.L. (2005) Contribution of live fences to the ecological integrity of agricultural landscape. Agriculture, Ecosystem and Environment 111: 200–230.Google Scholar
Hecht, S.B. & Saatchi, S.S. (2007) Globalization and forest resurgence: changes in forest cover in El Salvador. BioScience 57 (8): 663–672.Google Scholar
Hecht, S.B., Kandel, S., Gomes, I., Cuellar, N. & Rosa, H. (2006) Globalization, forest resurgence, and environmental politics in El Salvador. World Development 34: 308–323.Google Scholar
Hermy, M. & Verheyen, K. (2007) Legacies of the past in the present-day forest biodiversity: a review of past land-use effects on forest plant species composition and diversity. Ecological Research 22: 361–371.Google Scholar
Hoekstra, J.M., Boucher, T.M., Ricketts, T.H. & Roberts, C. (2005) Confronting a biome crisis: global disparities of habitat loss and protection. Ecology Letters 8: 23–29.Google Scholar
Hoffman, B. & Gallaher, T. (2007) Importance indices in ethnobotany. Ethnobotany Research and Applications 5: 201–218.Google Scholar
Holl, K.D. & Aide, T.M. (2011) When and where to actively restore ecosystems? Forest Ecology and Management. 261 (10): 1558–1563.Google Scholar
IUCN (1994) Guidelines for applying protected areas management categories. IUCN, Cambridge, UK and Gland, Switzerland [www document]. URL http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/gpap_home/gpap_capacity2/gpap_bpg/?13959/Guidelines-for-applying-protected-area-management-categories Google Scholar
IUCN (2001) IUCN red list categories and criteria: version 3.1. IUCN Species Survival Commission, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland [www document]. http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/categories-and-criteria/2001-categories-criteria Google Scholar
Janzen, D.H. (1986) Guanacaste National Park: Tropical Ecological and Cultural Restoration. San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Universidad Estatal a Distancia.Google Scholar
Janzen, D.H. (1988) Tropical dry forests: the most endangered major tropical ecosystem. In: Biodiversity, ed. Wilson, E.O., pp. 130–137. Washington, DC, USA: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Kaimowitz, D. (1996) Livestock and Deforestation in Central America in the 1980s and 1990s: a Policy Perspective. Jakarta, Indonesia: Center For International Forestry Research (CIFOR).Google Scholar
Kalacska, M., Sánchez-Azofeifa, G.A., Calvo-Alvarado, J.C., Quesada, M., Rivard, B., Janzen, D.H. (2004) Species composition, similarity and diversity in three succesional stages of a seasonally dry tropical forest. Forest Ecology and Management 200: 227–247.Google Scholar
Klooster, D. (2003) Forest transitions in Mexico: institutions and forests in a globalized countryside. The Professional Geographer 55 (2): 227–237.Google Scholar
Kull, C.A., Ibrahim, C.K. & Meredith, T.C. (2007) Tropical forest transitions and globalization: Neo liberalism, migration, tourism and international conservation agendas. Society and Natural Resources 20: 723–737.Google Scholar
Lambin, E.F., Geist, H.J. & Lepers, E. (2003) Dynamics of land-use and land-cover change in tropical regions. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 28: 205–241.Google Scholar
Laurance, W. & Bierregaard, R., eds (1997) Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, Management and Conservation of Fragmented Ccommunities. Chicago, IL, USA: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Lawrence, A., Paudel, K., Barnes, R. & Malle, Y. (2006) Adaptive value of participatory biodiversity monitoring in community. Forestry. Environmental Conservation 33 (4): 325–334.Google Scholar
Lawrence, D., D’Odorico, P., Diekmann, L., DeLonge, M., Das, R. & Eaton, J. (2007) Ecological feedbacks following deforestation create the potential for a catastrophic ecosystem shift in tropical dry forest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 104 (52): 20696–20701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawrence, D., ed.(2010) Taking Stock of Nature Participatory Biodiversity Assessment for Policy, Planning and Practice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press: 302 pp.Google Scholar
Lugo, A.E. (1988) The future of the forest: ecosystem rehabilitation in the tropics. Environment 30 (17–20): 41–45.Google Scholar
Lugo, A.E. (2009) The emerging era of novel tropical forests. Biotropica 41 (5): 589–591.Google Scholar
Lugo, A.E. & Helmer, E. (2004) Emerging forests from abandoned land: Puerto's Rico new forests. Forest Ecology and Management 190: 145–161.Google Scholar
Maass, J. (1995) Conversion of tropical dry forest to pasture and agriculture. In: Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests, ed. Bullock, S.H., Mooney, H.A. & Medina, E., pp. 399–422. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaren, K.P. & McDonald, A. (2003) Seedling dynamics after different intensity of human disturbance in a tropical dry limestone forest in Jamaica. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19: 567–578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mena, C.F. (2008) Trajectories of land use and land cover in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon: temporal composition, spatial configuration, and probability of change. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 74 (6): 737–752.Google Scholar
Molina-Colón, S. & Lugo, A.E. (2006) Recovery of a subtropical dry forest after abandonment of different land-uses in Guánica, Puerto Rico. Biotropica 10: 278–291.Google Scholar
Molina-Colón, S., Lugo, A.E. & González Ramos, O.M. (2011) Novel dry forests in south-western Puerto Rico. Forest Ecology and Management 262: 170–177.Google Scholar
Munda, G. (1995) Multicriteria Evaluation in a Fuzzy Environment: Theory and Applications in Ecological Economics. Heidelberg, Germany: Physica-Verlag.Google Scholar
Murphy, P.G. & Lugo, AE. (1995) Dry forests of Central America and the Caribbean. In: Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests, ed. Bullock, S.H., Mooney, H.A. & Medina, E., pp. 9–34. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pagiola, S., Ramirez, E., Gobbi, J., De Haan, C., Ibrahim, M., Murgueitio, E. & Ruiz, J.P. (2007). Paying for the environmental services of silvo-pastoral practices in Nicaragua. Ecological Economics 64: 374–85.Google Scholar
Peguero, G. & Espelta, J.M. (2011) Disturbance intensity and seasonality affect the resprouting ability of the Neotropical dry-forest tree Acacia pennatula: do resources stored below-ground matter? Journal of Tropical Ecology 27: 539–546.Google Scholar
Peguero, G., Lanuza, O.R., Savé, R. & Espelta, J.M. (2012) Allelopathic potential of the Neotropical dry-forest tree Acacia pennatula Benth.: inhibition of seedling establishment exceeds facilitation under tree canopies. Plant Ecology 213: 1944–1953.Google Scholar
Phillips, O. & Gentry, A.H. (1993) The useful plants of Tambopata, Peru: I. Statistical hypotheses tests with a new quantitative technique. Economic Botany 47: 15–32.Google Scholar
Pons, X. (2005) MiraMon. Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing software. Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals, CREAF, Bellaterra, Spain [www document]. URL http://www.creaf.uab.es/miramon Google Scholar
Powers, J.S., Becknell, J.M., Irving, J. & Pérez-Aviles, D. (2009) Diversity and structure of regenerating tropical dry forests in Costa Rica: geographic patterns and environmental drivers. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 959–970.Google Scholar
Puerta-Piñero, C., Espelta, J.M., Sánchez-Humanes, B., Rodrigo, A., Coll, L. & Brotons, L. (2012) History matters: previous land use changes determine post-fire vegetation recovery in forested Mediterranean landscapes. Forest Ecology and Management 279 (1): 121–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quesada, M. & Stoner, K.E. (2004) Threats to the conservation of the tropical dry forest in Costa Rica. In: Biodiversity Conservation in Costa Rica: Learning the Lessons in a Seasonal Dry Forest, ed. Frankie, G.W., Mata, A. & Vinson, S.B., pp. 266–280. Berkeley, CA, USA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Ravera, F., Tarrasón, D. & Simelton, E. (2011) Envisioning adaptive strategies to change: participatory scenarios for agro-pastoral semiarid systems in Nicaragua. Ecology and Society 16 (1): 20.Google Scholar
Ravnborg, H.M. (2008) Organising to protect: protecting landscapes and livelihoods in the Nicaraguan hillsides. Conservation and Society 6 (4): 283–292.Google Scholar
Romero-Duque, L.P., Jaramillo, V.J. & Pérez-Jiménez, A. (2007) Structure and diversity of secondary tropical dry forests in Mexico, differing in their prior land-use history. Forest Ecology and Management 253: 38–47.Google Scholar
Sabogal, C. (1992) Regeneration of tropical dry forest in Central America with examples from Nicaragua. Journal of Vegetation Science 3: 407–416.Google Scholar
Sabogal, C. & Valerio, L. (1998) Forest composition, structure and regeneration in a dry forest of the Nicaraguan Pacific Coast. In: Forest Biodiversity in North Central and South America, and the Caribbean: Research and Monitoring, ed. Dallmeier, F. & Comiskey, J.A., Volume 21, Man and the Biosphere Series. New York, NY, USA: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Sheil, D. & Lawrence, A. (2004) Tropical biologists, local people and conservation: new opportunities for collaboration. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19: 634–638.Google Scholar
Sheil, D., Puri, R., Wan, M., Basuki, I., van Heist, M., Liswanti, N., Rachmatika, R. & Samsoedin, I. (2005) Recognizing local people's priorities for tropical forest biodiversity. Ambio 35 (1): 17–24.Google Scholar
Sloan, S. (2008) Reforestation amidst deforestation: simultaneity and succession. Global Environmental Change 18: 425–441.Google Scholar
Stevens, W.D., Ulloa, C., Pool, A. & Montiel, O.M., eds (2001) Flora de Nicaragua. St Louis, MI, USA: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.Google Scholar
Szabó, P. (2010) Why history matters in ecology: an interdisciplinary perspective. Environmental Conservation 37 (4): 380–387.Google Scholar
Tarrasón, D., Urrutia, J., Ravera, F., Herrera, E., Andrés, P. & Espelta, J.M. (2010) Conservation status of tropical dry forest remnants in Nicaragua: do ecological indicators and social perception tally? Biodiversity and Conservation 19 (3): 813–827.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tosi, J.A. Jr & Voertman, R.F. (1964) Some environmental factors in the economic development of the tropics. Economic Geography 40: 189–205 Google Scholar
Tucker, C.M., Munroe, D., Nagendra, H. & Southworth, J. (2005) Comparative spatial analyses of forest conservation in Honduras and Guatemala. Conservation and Society 3 (1): 174–200.Google Scholar
Vieira, D.L. & Scariot, A. (2006) Principles of natural regeneration of tropical dry forests for restoration. Restoration Ecolology 14: 11–20.Google Scholar
Walck, J., Hidayati, S.N., Dixon, K.W., Thompson, K. & Poschlod, P. (2011) Climate change and plant regeneration from seed. Global Change Biology 17: 2145–2161.Google Scholar
Wirth, R., Meyer, S.T., Leal, I.R. & Tabarelli, M. (2008) Plant herbivore interactions at the forest edge. Progress in Botany 69: 423–448.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Ravera Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Ravera Supplementary Material(File)
File 923.3 KB
Supplementary material: Image

Ravera Supplementary Material

Figure S1

Download Ravera Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 1.4 MB