Land-Use Change and Carbon Flux Between 1970s and 1990s in Central Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico

• Published in: Environmental management (New York) 1999-04, Vol.23 (3), p.373-385
• Main Authors: DE, BHJ, JONG, CAIRNS, MA, HAGGERTY, PK, RAMÍREZ-MARCIAL, N, OCHOA-GAONA, S, MENDOZA-VEGA, J, GONZÁLEZ-ESPINOSA, I, I, MARCH-MIFSUT, I, I
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon; Emission; Flux; Highlands; Land use; Management; Pools; Surface area
• ISSN: 0364-152X; 1432-1009
• DOI: 10.1007/s002679900193

/ We present results of a study in an intensively impacted and highly fragmented landscape in which we apply field-measured carbon (C) density values to land-use/land-cover (LU/LC) statistics to estimate the flux of C between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere from the 1970s and 1990s. Carbon densities were assigned to common LU/LC classes on vegetation maps produced by Mexican governmental organizations and, by differencing areas and C pools, net C flux was calculated from the central highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, during a 16-year period. The total area of closed forests was reduced by half while degraded and fragmented forests expanded 56% and cultivated land and pasture areas increased by 8% and 30%, respectively. Total mean C densities ranged from a high of 504 tons C/ha in the oak and evergreen cloud forests class to a low of 147 tons C/ha in the pasture class. The differences in total C densities among the various LU/LC classes were due to changes in biomass while soil organic matter C remained similar. We estimate that a total of 19.99 thick similar 10(6) tons C were released to the atmosphere during the period of time covered by our study, equal to approximately 34% of the 1975 vegetation C pool. The Chiapas highlands, while comprising just 0.3% of Mexico's surface area, contributed 3% of the net national C emissions. KEY WORDS: Land use; Land cover; Carbon flux; Forests; Chiapas highlands; Mexico