Sophie Calmé Jorge L. León-Cortés · Birgit Schmook Editors
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Gerald Alexander Islebe · Sophie Calmé Jorge L. León-Cortés · Birgit Schmook Editors Biodiversity and Conservation of the Yucatán Peninsula Biodiversity and Conservation of the Yucatán Peninsula ThiS is a FM Blank Page Gerald Alexander Islebe • Sophie Calme´ • Jorge L. Leon-Corte ´s • Birgit Schmook Editors Biodiversity and Conservation of the Yucata´n Peninsula Editors Gerald Alexander Islebe Sophie Calme´ El Colegio de la Frontera Sur ECOSUR Universite´ de Sherbrooke Chetumal, Quintana Roo Sherbrooke, Que´bec Mexico Canada Jorge L. Leon-Corte ´s Birgit Schmook El Colegio de la Frontera Sur ECOSUR El Colegio de la Frontera Sur ECOSUR San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas Chetumal, Quintana Roo Mexico Mexico ISBN 978-3-319-06528-1 ISBN 978-3-319-06529-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-06529-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015951833 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface More than 4000 years of human environment interaction have left an undeniable imprint on the natural resources of the Yucata´n Peninsula, an area of remarkable biodiversity and of astonishing natural beauty. Home to the millennium Mayan culture biodiversity, it has strongly been linked to human activities but at the same time to careful natural management. Different forest types and ecosystems cover the Yucata´n Peninsula and provide habitat and protection for emblematic vertebrate species, like the jaguar, tapir, howler, and spider monkeys, all of which represent essential components of the region’s natural view. This important but fragile condition of the peninsula urges us to effectively conserve and protect flora and fauna but also to bear in mind the needs and management practices of local populations. The Yucata´n Peninsula represents a perfect example of how conser- vation is connected to human activities, though this circumstance strongly indicates that both forest and coastal ecosystems represent sources of valuable economic income and well-being for the rural population. Although not all productive activ- ities can be considered sustainable or ecologically sound, the enormous and incred- ibly detailed local knowledge is an example of how use and conservation are simultaneously taking place. The Yucata´n Peninsula with an extension of 145,000 km2 is home to about 2500 species of plants, >3000 insect species, six species of ungulates, five felids, three primate species, 555 bird species, 24 species of amphibians, and 118 species of reptiles. These figures provide a clear idea on the importance of biodiversity of the Yucata´n Peninsular to the world but at the same time challenge the needs for documenting levels of richness of other “highly diversified” components of biodi- versity, i.e., invertebrates, fungi, and bacteria. At a wider context, natural distur- bances like hurricanes, some of them of major magnitude, and fires have an impact on biodiversity. The northern part of the Yucata´n Peninsula tends to be the most affected hurricane area. Forests have shown a remarkable resilience to these large- scale natural disturbances, but the added effects of both human-induced land use changes and natural disturbances have caused considerable changes at a variety of v vi Preface spatial scales, from local to regional scales. On top of the mentioned threats, global climate change adds another challenge to the task of land use changes and biodi- versity conservation. Drastic changes along the eastern Yucata´n coast can be observed, with tourism as the main driver of land use change. At present, 39 protected areas can be found in the Yucata´n Peninsula, a 21.6 % of the total area, which helps conservation efforts and support carbon dioxide sequestration, among many other ecosystem benefits. On the academic side, the Yucata´n Peninsula has attracted scholars since long times. Botanical, zoological explorations started in the nineteenth century, with the legacy of the ancient Maya culture as the main inspiration for many archaeologists, seeking to understand the rise and fall of this Mesoamerican high culture. The increasing demand on a “fresh view” on the regional biodiversity and conservation convinced us to offer a book on a wide stream of important biological conservation topics. Our aim was, in close collaboration with 46 authors from twenty different institutions, to offer a comprehensive overview on the knowledge on biodiversity and conservation of the Yucata´n Peninsula. Few studies have integrated state-of- the-art accounts on ecology, biodiversity, and conservation of the Yucata´n Penin- sula, and in some others future tasks and research needs have been identified. We hope that this book will be useful not only to ecologists, conservation biologists, and decision makers but also to postgraduate students, lecturers, and teachers, encouraging further research, supporting conservation of this and other areas in the tropics and subtropics. Chetumal, Mexico Gerald Alexander Islebe Que´bec, Canada Sophie Calme´ Chiapas, Mexico Jorge L. Leon-Corte ´s Chetumal, Mexico Birgit Schmook Acknowledgments The editors are grateful to all authors for their kind cooperation and their willing- ness to share their knowledge. The Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologı´a (CONACYT) and the Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) are acknowledged for funding many of the projects which led to results published in this book. We thank El Colegio de la Frontera Sur for providing us facilities to keep our research ongoing. At Springer we are grateful to Roberta Gazzarolle and Susan Westendorf for their support and patience. Susannah McCandless and William Parsons are acknowledged for English editing. The editors want to thank Alejandro Aragon-Moreno, Nancy Cabanillas-Tera´n, Juan Carlos Joo-Chang, Manuel Giron-Intzin, Manuel Ramos, and Mauro Sanvicente for their help and support. vii ThiS is a FM Blank Page Contents 1 Introduction: Biodiversity and Conservation of the Yucata´n Peninsula, Mexico ...................................... 1 Gerald Alexander Islebe, Birgit Schmook, Sophie Calme´, and Jorge L. Leon-Corte ´s Part I Physical Setting and Vegetation 2 Physical Settings, Environmental History with an Outlook on Global Change ...................................... 9 Nuria Torrescano-Valle and William J. Folan 3 Distribution of Vegetation Types .......................... 39 Gerald Alexander Islebe, Odilon Sa´nchez-Sa´nchez, Mirna Valde´z-Herna´ndez, and Holger Weissenberger Part II Plants and Environment 4 Vegetative and Reproductive Plant Phenology ................ 57 Mirna Valdez-Herna´ndez 5 Physiological Ecology of Vascular Plants .................... 97 Mirna Valdez-Herna´ndez, Claudia Gonza´lez-Salvatierra, Casandra Reyes-Garcı´a, Paula C. Jackson, and Jose´ Luis Andrade 6 Bee–Plant Interactions: Competition and Phenology of Flowers Visited by Bees ........................................ 131 Rogel Villanueva-Gutie´rrez, David W. Roubik, and Luciana Porter-Bolland 7 Natural and Human Induced Disturbance in Vegetation ........ 153 Odilon Sa´nchez-Sa´nchez, Gerald Alexander Islebe, Pablo Jesu´s Ramı´rez-Barajas, and Nuria Torrescano-Valle ix x Contents 8 Conservation and Use ................................... 169 Juan Manuel Dupuy Rada, Rafael Dura´n Garcı´a, Gerardo Garcı´a-Contreras, Jose´ Arellano Morı´n, Efraim Acosta Lugo, Martha Elena Me´ndez Gonza´lez, and Marı´a Andrade Herna´ndez Part III Fauna 9 Diversity and Eco-geographical Distribution of Insects .......... 197 Jorge L. Leon-Corte ´s, Ubaldo Caballero, and Marisol E. Almaraz-Almaraz 10 Large Terrestrial Mammals .............................. 227 Rafael Reyna-Hurtado, Georgina O’Farrill, Cuauhte´moc Cha´vez, Juan Carlos Serio-Silva, and Guillermo Castillo-Vela 11 Amphibians and Reptiles ................................ 257 Pierre Charruau, Jose´ Rogelio Cedeno-Va~ ´zquez, and Gunther Kohler€ 12 Birds ................................................ 295 Sophie Calme´, Barbara MacKinnon-H, Eurı´dice Leyequie´n, and Griselda Escalona-Segura 13 Subsistence Hunting and Conservation ...................... 333 Pablo Jesu´s Ramı´rez-Barajas and Sophie Calme´ Part IV Ecosystems and Conservation 14 Transverse Coastal Corridor: From Freshwater Lakes to Coral Reefs Ecosystems .....................................