DIVERSITY AND IMPORTANCE OF SECONDARY VEGETATION IN A FOREST-GRAZING SYSTEM IN YUCATÁN, MÉXICO

Abstract

Cattle production is exercising pressure on natural resources and forcing us to use them rationally. The use of secondary vegetation (hill) is an option within the forest grazing systems that has not been quantified. The potential contribution of secondary vegetation within a forest grazing system with intensive grazing was evaluated. Stratified sampling was carried out and floristic inventories of the vegetation were obtained in: a) secondary vegetation (hill); b) transition from hill to grass (hubché-grass); and c) grass with trees and shrubs (grass). Nineteen botanical families were recorded grouped in 35 genera and 39 species. The hill and grass presented a similar number of families and species. In the hubché-grass lower numbers of families, species and individuals were recorded. The species of highest value of importance in the hubché-grass were: Caesalpinia gaumeri, Piscidia piscipula, and Bourreria pulchra; in the grass: Bursera simaruba, Leucaena leucocephala, and Caesalpinia gaumeri; and in the hill: Diospyros yucatanensis, Caesalpinia gaumeri, and Leucaena leucocephala. Both in the grass and in the hubchégrass, species dominated that are shared with the hill, in which the highest number of species was recorded, although with few individuals distributed homogeneously. This could indicate that gathering fodder is not allowing the recruitment of new plants, but that their management is helping to conserve certain species, such as Diospyros yucatanensis considered in risk of extinction. The intensive forest grazing system that uses the hill maintains high plant diversity, does not affect the importance of the species, and maintains a high percentage of species with fodder potential, in addition to providing ecosystemic services, such as conservation of threatened species.