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The ecological regions

 We used in our model stretch across four distinct biomes. Two of these are located in the Pacific coastal lowlands: the mangroves biome and the tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome. Only three of the 230 municipalities for which we collected data are located in mangrove zones:one in the Northern dry Pacific coast mangroves(Tognetti 2001), and two in the Tehuantepec/El Manchón mangroves(Valero 2001). These are moist areas, with good soil, in which the natural mangrovecover has been largely removed due to human activity in the last fifty years. Another eight municipalities lie in the Central-American Pacific dry forest, part of the tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests biome. These tropical forests have a long dry season often lasting five to eight months out of the year. This environment is also disappearing rapidly. These dry forests are more endangered than the tropical rainforests and are found only in a small portion of Guatemala (Andraka 2001). 4 Three biomes are found in the Guatemalan highlands. The core area of the highlands— containing 141 municipalities—belongs to the Central-American Pine-Oak forest eco-region, part of the Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests biome (Powell 2001). The Chiapas Depression dry forestzone, an eco region in the tropical and subt ropical dry broadleaf forests biome (Valero 2001), contains three municipalities. Three eco-regions form part of the tropical and subtropica moist broadleaf forests biome.First, the Central-American montane forestzone, located in areas subject to heavy rainfall and year round cloud cover, contains 36 municipalities (Powell 2001). Second, the Sierra Madre de Chiapas moist forests eco-region consists of broadleaf forests that function as a transition region between the pine-oak forests and dry forests on the Western slopes of the mountains (Valero 2001), and contains 37 municipalities. Finally, inthe north, as the highlands fall to the Petén lowlands, the Petén-Veracruz moistforesteco-region contains two municipalities. This region has only recently been settled but is attractive for tropical agriculture (Valero 2001).

BIOME OF GUATEMALA

Ecological Factors 

Most farmers reported having slightly more mediocreand poor soil than very good soil though there was some variation, particularly between the medium and low deforestation groups . Of the farmers that cleared the least forest between 1993 and 1998, 43% reported having excellent soil on their plots, compared to 36% for the low deforestation farmers. However the difference between these two groups was statistically insignificant. In terms of topography, most of the plots in the sample are situated on at least partially hilly terrain. The two groups reported almost exactly the same percentage of farms with hilly terrain with 65% for the high deforestation group and 67% for the low deforestation group. Taking the three ecological measures into account, soil quality, presence of slopes, and unusable land, we would expect that farms of lower soil quality or of high erosion potential would compensate for these conditions with intensification measures or by

increasing cropland to maintain production. Yet without clear evidence of poorer ecological conditions on the farm, it appears that the high deforestation group did both. (Table 4). And, as observed in Table 5, the area in corn and fallow increased most dramatically for the high deforestation farmers. That an increase in cropland may have been necessary to compensate for inadequate production levels is suggested by the fact that the corn production per hectare was significantly lower in 1998 for the high deforestation farmers than for low deforestation group (Table 6).

Deforestation for

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(http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~carr/DCarr_Publications/DCarr_LASA_Proceedings_00.pdf)”

RELATIONSHIP THIS TOPIC WITH A POPULAR ARTICLE

Deforestation

Study the effects of mining, slash and burn agriculture and over harvesting hardwoods with the global effects it causes and learn alternatives and what is being done.

Pollution

See the effects on the environment without proper education and facilities for recycling. Learn simple ways recycling is applied to better the quality of lives in the immediate area.

Agriculture

This is causing a major impact globally. Plants are the reason for the rainforest, and the reason the rainforests are dissapearing. The hot tropical rainforest climate of the Rio Dulce provides a wealth of fruits, spices and other marketable foods for a world market. The local climate is inviting to produce large alien species of plants for cash crops. Some of these species are invasive which offsets the natural balance of this delicate ecosystem. They also complicate a balanced diet for bees that pollinate all vegitation and are rapidly vanishing.

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