Abstract
Two ancient cloud forests in the Mexican Pacific were reconstructed to reveal signals of past ecosystem responses to climate anomalies during the Late Holocene, Little Ice Age (~AD 1350–1850) and Medieval Climate Anomaly (~AD 800–1350). Applying palaeoecological techniques, two organic sediment cores were extracted from forest hollows: one from the cloud forest of the Acer Forest State Park (AFSP) and one from the Sierra de Manantlan Biosphere Reserve (SMBR), both in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.
Fossil pollen was used as proxy for tree, herb and fern abundances, whilst carbonate and organic matter content, magnetic susceptibility and geochemical elemental composition were used as proxies for soil environment. Generalized additive models (GAMs) and tree regression models were used to discern the best soil–environmental variable that could explain tree, herb and fern abundances. Results showed a great diversity in taxa composition (110 taxa) with important spatial and temporal heterogeneity between the two forests. Carbonates and Mg were the most important variables explaining these plant assemblages. The driest period for the Little Ice Age was detected from ~AD 1650 to 1730 in AFSP and from AD 1528 to 1831 in SMBR; trees experienced a remarkable decreased, whilst herbs increased. For the warmest period of the MCA (AD 800–1200), herbs and ferns expanded, whilst trees contracted. The late MCA (AD 1200–1350) was acknowledged as a wet event with the highest expansion in trees.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alcántara II, Velázquez-Durán R, García MSL et al (2010) Evolución Paleolimnológica del Lago Cuitzeo, Michoacán durante el Pleistoceno-Holoceno. Bol la Soc Geol Mex 62:345–357
Bengtsson L, Enell M (1986) Chemical analysis. In: Berglund BE (ed) Handbook of Holocene palaeoecology and paleohydrology. Wiley, New York, pp 423–455
Bennett KD (1994) Confidence intervals for age estimates and deposition times in late-Quaternary sediment sequences. The Holocene 4:337–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/095968369400400401
Bennett K (2005) Psimpoll 4.25 and pscomb 1.03
Bennett KD, Willis K (2001) Pollen. In: Smol JP, Birks HJB, Last WM (eds) Tracking environmental change using lake sediments. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 5–32
Bianchette T (2014) Holocene paleoenvironmental reconstruction from Mexico’s Pacific Coast – a paleotempestological investigation. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
Bigelow SW, Canham CD (2002) Community organization of tree species along soil gradients in a north-eastern USA forest. J Ecol 90:188–200. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0022-0477.2001.00655.x
Birks HJB (2012) Overview of numerical methods in Paleolimnology. In: Smol JP, Birks HJB, Last WM (eds) Tracking environmental change using lake sediments: data handling and numerical techniques. Springer, Dordrecht/New York, pp 19–92
Caballero-Rodríguez D, Correa-Metrio A, Lozano-García S et al (2018) Late-Quaternary spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation in Central Mexico. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 250:44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2017.12.004
Catalán-Heverástico C, López-Mata L, Terrazas T (2003) Estructura, composicion floristica y diversidad de especies leñosas de un bosque mesófilo de montaña de Guerrero, México. An del Inst Biol Ser Botánica 74:209–230
Challenger A, Soberón J (2008) Los ecosistemas terrestres, en Capital natural de México. vol. I: Conocimiento actual de la biodiversidad. pp 87–108
Correa-Metrio A, Lozano-García S, Xelhuantzi-López S et al (2012) Vegetation in western Central Mexico during the last 50 000 years: modern analogs and climate in the Zacapu Basin. J Quat Sci 27:509–518. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2540
Crawley MJ (2005) Statistics an introduction using R. Wiley, Sussex
Cuevas-Guzmán R, Koch S, García-Moya E et al (2004) Flora vascular de la Estación Científica Las Joyas. Univ Guadalajara:117–176
Cuna E, Zawisa E, Caballero M et al (2014) Environmental impacts of Little Ice Age cooling in central Mexico recorded in the sediments of a tropical alpine lake. J Paleolimnol 51:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-013-9748-0
Curtis JH, Hodell DA, Brenner M (1996) Climate variability on the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) during the past 3500 years, and implications for Maya cultural evolution. Quat Res 46:37–47. https://doi.org/10.1006/qres.1996.0042
Dean WE (1974) Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition. J Sediment Petrol 44:242–248. https://doi.org/10.1306/74D729D2-2B21-11D7-8648000102C1865D
Decreto 001/2016 (2016) Decreto por el que se establece área natural protegida bajo la categoría de “Parque Estatal Bosque de Arce”, con una superficie de 150.04 hectáreas, ubicada en el municipio de Talpa de Allende, Jalisco
Del Castillo-Batista AP, Figueroa-Rangel BL, Lozano-García S et al (2016) Historia florística y ambiental del bosque mesófilo de montaña en el centro-occidente de México durante la pequeña edad de hielo. Rev Mex Biodivers 87:216–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmb.2016.01.021
Dinerstein EDM, Olson DJ, Graham AL, Webster SA, Primm MPB & GL (1995) Una evaluación del estado de conservación de las ecorregiones terrestres de América Latina y el Caribe
Felson RB, Lane KJ (2010) Does violence involving women and intimate partners have a special etiology? Criminology 48:321–338. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2010.00186.x
Figueroa-Rangel BL (2018) Mexican Reference Collection (Version 2). Digitised Palynological Reference Collection. In: Glob. Pollen Proj. https://globalpollenproject.org/Reference/006fa89d-ee86-4b59-a249-a30572b67358/2
Figueroa-Rangel BL, WIllis KJ, Olvera-Vargas M (2010) Cloud forest dynamics in the Mexican neotropics during the last 1300 years. Glob Chang Biol 16:1689–1704. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02024.x
Figueroa-Rangel BL, Willis KJ, Olvera-Vargas M (2012) Late-Holocene successional dynamics in a transitional forest of west-central Mexico. The Holocene 22:143–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611414929
Figueroa-Rangel BL, Valle-Martínez A, Olvera-Vargas M, Liu K (2016) Environmental history of mangrove vegetation in Pacific West-Central Mexico during the Last 1300 years. Front Ecol Evol 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2016.00101
Freeman C, Liska G, Ostle NJ et al (1997) Enzymes and biogeochemical cycling in wetlands during a simulated drought. Biogeochemistry 39:177–187. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005872015085
González-Espinosa M, Meave JA, Ramírez-Marcial N et al (2012) Los bosques de niebla de México: conservación y restauración de su componente arbóreo. Ecosistemas 21:36–54
Gual-Díaz M, González-Medrano F (2014) Los bosques mesófilos de montaña en México, diversidad, ecología y manejo. Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad, México, D.F.
Kelly I (1945) The archaeology of the Autlan-Tuxcacuesco area of Jalisco. I: The Autlan Zone. Ibero-Americana 26:1–93
Lean JL (2018) Estimating solar irradiance since 850 CE. Earth Space Sci 5:133–149. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017EA000357
Lozano-Garcia MS, Caballero M, Ortega B et al (2007) Tracing the effects of the Little Ice Age in the tropical lowlands of eastern Mesoamerica. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104:16200–16203. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0707896104
Lozano-Garcia S, Roy P, Correa-Metrio A et al (2015) Registros paleoclimáticos. In: Gay, García CRA (eds) Reporte Mexicano de Cambio Climático. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México y Programa de Investigación en Cambio Climático, México, p 294
Maher LJJ (1972) Absolute pollen diagram of Redrock Lake, Boulder County, Colorado. Quat Res 2:531–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(72)90090-7
Mann ME, Zhang Z, Rutherford S et al (2009) Global signatures and dynamical origins of the little ice age and medieval climate anomaly. Science. (80-) 326:1256–1260. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1177303
Martínez-Salas E, Ramos CH (2014) Biodiversidad de Pteridophyta en México. Rev Mex Biodivers 85:110. https://doi.org/10.7550/rmb.31827
Meave JA, Soto MA, Calvo IL et al (1992) Análisis ecológico del bosque mesófilo de montaña de Omiltemi, Guerrero. Bol la Soc Botánica México 1 52:31–77
Mejía-Domínguez N (2006) Dinámica de la comunidad de árboles de un bosque mesófilo de montaña en la Sierra Madre del Sur (Oaxaca), México. Rev Biol Neotrop 3:177–178
Metcalfe SE, Jones M, Davies SJ et al (2010) Climate variability over the last two millennia in the North American Monsoon region, recorded in laminated lake sediments from Laguna de Juanacatlán, Mexico. The Holocene 20:1195–1206. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683610371994
Morales-Arias JG, Olvera-Vargas M, Cuevas-Guzman R et al (2018) Variación ambiental y composición florística de especies arbóreas en un bosque húmedo de montaña del occidente de México. Rev Mex Biodivers 89:769–783
Morrone JJ (2001) Biogeografía de América Latina y el Caribe. M&T - Manuales Tesis SEA 3:148
Morrone JJ, Organista DE, Zuniga CA, Bousquets JL (1999) Preliminary classification of the Mexican biogeographic provinces: a parsimony analysis of endemicity based on plant, insect, and bird taxa. Southwest Nat 44:507. https://doi.org/10.2307/3672351
Mountjoy JB (1987) Antiquity, interpretation and stylistic evolution of petro-glyphs in western México. Am Antiq 52:161–174
Ortega B, Vázquez G, Caballero M et al (2010) Late Pleistocene: Holocene record of environmental changes in Lake Zirahuen, Central Mexico. J Paleolimnol 44:745–760. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-010-9449-x
Ponce-Reyes R, Reynoso-Rosales VH, Watson JEM et al (2012) Vulnerability of cloud forest reserves in Mexico to climate change. Nat Clim Chang 2:448–452. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1453
R Development Core Team R (2017) R: A language and environment for statistical computing
Reimer PJ, Baillie MGL, Bard E et al (2004) INTCAL04 terrertrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0-26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46:1029–1058
Rzedowski J (2006) Vegetación de México, Edición di. Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad
Sánchez-Rodriguez E, Figueroa-Rangel BL, Cuevas-Guzmán R et al (2018) Dinámica del bosque mesófilo del entro-sur del estado de Jalisco, México. Polibotánica 46
Santiago-Pérez AL, Jardel-Peláez EJ, Cuevas-Guzmán R, Huerta-Martínez FM (2009) Vegetación de bordes en un bosque mesófilo de montaña del occidente de México. Boletín la Soc Botánica México 85:31–49
SEMARNAP (2000) Programa de Manejo de la Reserva de la Biosfera Sierra de Manatlán. INE-SENARNAP
Sosa-Najera S, Lozano-Garcia S, Roy PD, Caballero M (2010) Registro de sequías históricas en el occidente de México con base en el análisis elemental de sedimentos lacustres: El caso del lago de Santa María del Oro. Boletín la Soc Geológica Mex 62:437–451
Sotelo DI, Casas FN, Camelo MG (2010) Borojó (Borojoa patinoi): Fuente de polifenoles con actividad antimicrobiana. Vitae 17:329–336. https://doi.org/10.5944/educxx1.17.1.10708
Thompson R, Oldfield F (1986) Environmental magnetism. Allen & Unwin, London
Torres-Rodriguez E, Lozano-Garcia S, Figueroa-Rangel BL et al (2012) Environmental change and vegetation responses during the last 17,000 years in central Mexico: The lake Zirahuen record. Rev Mex CIENCIAS Geol 29:764–778
Torres-Rodríguez E, Lozano-Garcia S, Roy PD et al (2015) Last Glacial droughts and fire regimes in the central Mexican highlands. J Quat Sci 30:88–99. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2761
Vargas-Rodriguez YL, Platt WJ, Vázquez-García JA, Boquin G (2010) Selecting relict montane cloud forests for conservation priorities: the case of Western Mexico. Nat Areas J 30:156–173. https://doi.org/10.3375/043.030.0204
Vázquez-García JA (1995) Cloud forest archipelagos: preservation of fragmented montane ecosystems in tropical America. In: Hamilton LS, Juvik JO, Scatena FN (eds) Tropical montane cloud forest. Springer, New York, pp 315–332
Vázquez-García JA, Cuevas-Guzmán R, Cochrane TS, et al (1995) Flora de Manantlan. SIDA-Botanical Miscellany N.13
Vázquez-Selem L (2011) Las glaciaciones en las montan ̃as del centro de México. In: Caballero-Miranda M, Ortega-Guerrero B (eds) Registros del Cuaternario en America Latina. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, pp 215–238
Vega IL, Ayala OA, Organista DE, Morrone JJ (1999) Historical relationships of the Mexican cloud forests: a preliminary vicariance model applying Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity to vascular plant taxa. J Biogeogr 26:1299. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.1999.00361.x
Villaseñor JL (2003) Diversidad y distribución de las Magnoliophyta de Mexico. Interciencia 28:160–167+184. https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2017.14531
Villaseñor JL (2004) Los géneros de plantas vasculares de la flora de México. Boletín la Soc Botánica México 75:105–135. https://doi.org/10.17129/botsci.1694
Villaseñor JL (2010) El bosque húmedo de montaña en México y sus plantas vasculares: catálogo florístico-taxonómico. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, México, D.F
Villaseñor JL (2018) Diversidad y distribución de la familia Asteraceae en México. Bot Sci 96:332–358
Villaseñor JL, Maeda P, Rosell JA, Ortiz E (2007) Plant families as predictors of plant biodiversity in Mexico. Divers Distrib 13:871–876. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2007.00385.x
Acknowledgements
The present research was supported by Conacyt (Mexican National Council for Science and Technology, project 106435) and CoecytJal (State Council for Science and Technology Jalisco, project 5-2010-875). The comments of Professor Hermann Behling substantially improved this chapter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Figueroa-Rangel, B.L., Olvera-Vargas, M., Del Castillo-Batista, A.P. (2019). The Environment of Ancient Cloud Forests in the Mexican Pacific. In: Torrescano- Valle, N., Islebe, G., Roy, P. (eds) The Holocene and Anthropocene Environmental History of Mexico. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31719-5_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31719-5_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-31718-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-31719-5
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)