•Mexican secondary tropical dry forests shelter high lepidopteran diversity.•We detected little awareness of Lepidopteran importance for secondary forests.•Repercussions of management decisions on ...insect abundance are not always perceived.•Diversified forest management is a key factor to maintain butterfly diversity.
Butterflies are one of insect groups cherished by humans because of their spectacular colors and shapes. However, the ecosystem services and/or disservices they provide are less clear-cut, since they can be both important pollinators as adults and agricultural pests as larvae. In this study, we evaluated local perceptions about lepidopterans in “Los Ranchitos,” Jalisco, Mexico and estimated butterfly diversity in nearby secondary forests. Our aim was to understand whether common knowledge values the ecosystem services butterflies provide and whether local perception correlates with secondary forest butterfly diversity and management. To estimate lepidopteran diversity, we used direct sampling with live traps and direct observation. To understand local perceptions about the role of lepidopterans for ecosystems and management of their lands, we conducted semi-structured interviews and workshops with local Ejidatarios (members of the local community and participants in a Mexican collective land ownership structure). We found a high diversity of lepidopterans (40 species) at the secondary forests throughout the year. Most Ejidatarios have diverse management strategies involving cattle ranching and agriculture. Local knowledge recognized their presence in their fields particularly in secondary forests. However, we detected little awareness of the link between lepidopteran larvae (herbivores) and adults (pollinators), and their role in wild plant pollination. Many Ejidatarios were interested in deepening their knowledge of the ecosystem services that lepidopterans provide in the region. Therefore, researchers should strengthen their communication skills and share the information about the ecosystem services biodiversity provides and how secondary forests hold an important amount of biodiversity. In order to improve secondary forest management there is a need to incorporate ecological knowledge into localś perceptions.
Coastal zones (CZ) are social-ecological systems where rapid forms of economic development are disrupting the existing patterns of relationships, raising challenges for governance. Institutional ...flexibility, broad participation, multilevel governance, and adaptability have been identified as critical conditions for the governance of social-ecological systems. While the importance of agency, through the substantive participation of private actors in rulemaking, has been researched, there is a need to examine the dynamics involved in, and consequence of, hybrid governance arrangements. An empirical study is presented of hybrid governance, involving federal and local government and locally based private actors from civil society organizations, environmental non-government organizations and local business interest associations, in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The CZ of Quintana Roo is facing pressures from economic development, mainly tourism, with consequences for water pollution and fisheries. Through qualitative, mixed methods, we found that a thick network of private actors has mobilized to play an important role in environmental management and to act in collaboration with the State. Multiple rationales account for this development, including high levels of environmental awareness, particularly with respect to water pollution, while the lack of institutional capacity also motivates state actors to seek partnerships. While private governance is emerging, our data reveal a complex case, where private actor mobilization seeks to promote better regulations, to share data and resources, and to improve implementation capacity within the public administration. Hybrid governance contributes to effective environmental governance of the CZ. However, this can also risk state retreat from its public responsibilities.
In this commentary we critically discuss the suitability of payments for ecosystem services and the most important challenges they face. While such instruments can play a role in improving ...environmental governance, we argue that over‐reliance on payments as win‐win solutions might lead to ineffective outcomes, similar to earlier experience with integrated conservation and development projects. Our objective is to raise awareness, particularly among policy makers and practitioners, about the limitations of such instruments and to encourage a dialogue about the policy contexts in which they might be appropriate.
In addition to preserving ecosystems and biodiversity, natural protected areas (NPAs) in Mexico are homelands for people, largely indigenous, who traditionally base their resource management on a ...multiple use strategy. We analyzed land use and land cover changes in the Otoch Ma’ax Yetel Kooh NPA in the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, where Yucatec Maya recently incorporated ecotourism to their set of economic activities. We evaluated changes in land use using vegetation maps from 1999 to 2003 and predicted vegetation cover in 2011 by developing a cellular automata and Markovian chains model. We observed slight increases in the area covered by medium stages of secondary succession, while new milpa plots appeared in areas of all succession stages. We used three scenarios to predict land cover in 2011: (a) milpa agriculture implemented at the same rate; (b) milpa agriculture decreases due to the growing demand of ecotourism; and (c) milpa agriculture disappears due to parceling of communally owned land. All scenarios predict slight increases in the area covered by secondary succession at the expense of milpas or younger stages of succession, with no major differences between the three predictive scenarios. Our results provide guidelines for managing the NPA, suggesting that biodiversity conservation, traditional agriculture and ecotourism are compatible activities.
Over the last 40 years, the Yucatan Peninsula has experienced the implementation and promotion of development programs that have economically and ecologically shaped this region of Mexico. Nowadays, ...tourist development has become the principal catalyst of social, economic, and ecological changes in the region. All these programs, which are based on a specialization rationale, have historically clashed with traditional Yucatec Maya management of natural resources. Using participant observation, informal and semi-structured interviews, and life-history interviews, we carried out an assessment of a Yucatec Maya natural resources management system implemented by three indigenous communities located within a natural protected area. The assessment, intended as an examination of the land-use practices and productive strategies currently implemented by households, was framed within an ecological–economic approach to ecosystems appropriation. To examine the influence of tourism on the multiple-use strategy, we contrasted productive activities among households engaged primarily in ecotourism with those more oriented toward traditional agriculture. Results show that households from these communities allocated an annual average of 586 work days to implement a total of 15 activities in five different land-use units, and that those figures vary significantly in accordance with households’ productive strategy (agriculture oriented or service oriented). As the region is quickly becoming an important tourist destination and ecotourism is replacing many traditional activities, we discuss the need for a balance between traditional and alternative economic activities that will allow Yucatec Maya communities to diversify their economic options without compromising existing local management practices.
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