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Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests pp 159–172Cite as

Impact of Anthropogenic Transformation of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests on Ecosystem Biogeochemical Processes

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Abstract

Seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) were recognized as the most endangered major tropical ecosystem in 1988 because of their high deforestation rates (Janzen 1988c). Maass (1995) analyzed the effect of conversion of SDTF to agriculture and pastures on ecosystem processes. He concluded that the main consequences of these conversions were (1) reduction in species diversity, (2) reduction in soil vegetative cover, (3) disruption of the water cycle, (4) changes in nutrient status, and (5) losses of nutrients from ecosystems through different pathways.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Maribel Nava-Mendoza, Rodrigo Vel á zquez-Dur á n, Heberto Ferreira, and Alberto Valencia for their help in the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, UNAM, Mexico

    Felipe García-Oliva & Víctor J. Jaramillo

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  1. Felipe García-Oliva
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  2. Víctor J. Jaramillo
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Rodolfo Dirzo Hillary S. Young Harold A. Mooney Gerardo Ceballos

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García-Oliva, F., Jaramillo, V.J. (2011). Impact of Anthropogenic Transformation of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests on Ecosystem Biogeochemical Processes. In: Dirzo, R., Young, H.S., Mooney, H.A., Ceballos, G. (eds) Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-021-7_10

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