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Trees in pastures: local knowledge, management, and motives in tropical Veracruz, Mexico

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Abstract

Agriculture and extensive cattle ranching have been leading causes of deforestation in the rainforests of the Mexican tropics. In the municipality of Jesús Carranza, Veracruz, extensive cattle ranching became the primary activity and income source about 50 years ago, subsequent to forest clearing for agriculture 20 years earlier. However, remnant and newly planted trees are part of the landscape, both within pastures for shade, and in living fences. This study documents local knowledge on tree utility, combined with an analysis of management practices in pastures. It evaluates the reasons given by usufruct rights holders, ejidatarios, to retain or plant trees in their pastures. The data were obtained through semi-structured interviews and participatory workshops from 35 ejidatarios in two villages. The main reasons given for maintaining trees were for shade, firewood, timber, and fruits. Some also mentioned conservation as an objective on its own. The members of the more well-to-do ejido emphasized the ease of tree propagation as a main rationale for tree maintenance, whereas the less well-off ejido members thought timber value was an important criterion. All ejidatarios were interested in having trees for their environmental, social, and economic benefits, and were influenced by outside information on conservation issues. This change in attitudes represents an opportunity for increased experimentation with silvopastoral systems.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the ejidatarios of the communities of Veinticuatro de Febrero and Ricardo Flores Magón for authorizing and collaborating with this investigation; the Colegio de Postgraduados for supporting the research; and CONACyT for the scholarship awarded to the first author.

Funding

The study was financed by Grant Number 336801/235991 to the first author by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT), Mexico, for her doctoral studies. The authors declare they have no conflict of interest. The underlying data are available upon request. Local authorities gave permission in writing for the work, and individual interviewees gave permission orally. The lead author’s institution does not have an ethics committee for approving this kind of studies. All authors contributed to conceiving the study, detailing the methods, and interpreting the data; JOT did the field work; JOT, KK and HV wrote collaborated for the English-language version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Posgrado en Botánica, Colegio de Postgraduados, Km. 36.5 Carretera México-Texcoco, Montecillo, 56230, Texcoco, Estado de México, Mexico

    Juana Ortiz Timoteo, Mario Luna Cavazos, Edmundo García Moya & Heike Vibrans

  2. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 118 Newins-Ziegler Hall, PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL, 32611-0410, USA

    Karen A. Kainer

  3. Universidad Veracruzana. Centro de Investigaciones Tropicales, José María Morelos 44, Zona Centro, 91000, Xalapa Enríquez, Ver., Mexico

    Odilón Sánchez Sánchez

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  1. Juana Ortiz Timoteo
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All authors contributed to conceiving the study, detailing the methods, and interpreting the data; JOT did the field work; JOT, KK,OS and HV wrote collaborated for the English-language version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Juana Ortiz Timoteo.

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Ortiz Timoteo, J., Kainer, K.A., Luna Cavazos, M. et al. Trees in pastures: local knowledge, management, and motives in tropical Veracruz, Mexico. Agroforest Syst 97, 687–698 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-023-00819-1

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