Forests of the future: socio-ecological dynamics of tropical forest regeneration in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, Mexico

Tropical forests are regenerating globally following diverse and compounding disturbances to forest cover. Understanding where, when, and why forests regenerate adds a largely unexplored dimension to the life cycle of tropical forests in human occupied landscapes which to date are largely characterized by deforestation and its acute biophysical and socio-economic impacts. Instead, going beyond deforestation to examine patterns and processes of forest regeneration speaks more accurately to the ability of tropical forests landscapes, and the ecological and human communities which inhabit them, to withstand projected increases in environmental disturbances. Examining forest regeneration dynamics is particularly pertinent in the Mexican portion of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MxMBC), a region along Mexico’s southeastern Yucatán Peninsula marking the northern margin of the important Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. The MxMBC has long been deemed a hotspot for both biodiversity conservation and deforestation. At the same time, forest cover regularly experiences widespread damage from hurricanes, such as the most recent landfall of category 5 Hurricane Dean in 2007. In the MxMBC, forest cover persists following disturbances such as hurricane impacts and land use, due to the largely understudied process of regeneration, and is central to long-term tropical forest use that continually adapts to sustain specific ecosystem processes and conditions through regrowth. This dissertation characterizes the socio-ecological patterns of forest regeneration in the MxMBC that stem from the relationship between ecosystem processes and land use. Examining forest regeneration in this region contributes to a history of land system science research that has outlined the patterns and drivers of deforestation in the region (i.e. the Southern Yucatán Peninsula Region Project), as well as programs that have outlined the immediate impacts of Hurricane Dean (i.e. the Environmental Disturbances in the Greater Yucatán Project), to highlight the various pathways to and opportunities provides by forest regeneration. Together, chapters of this dissertation represent a mixed methods approach in the field of land system science to link remote sensing, ecological, and sociopolitical data analysis in the service of understanding regenerated forest’s role in an integrated land system. As a result, forest regeneration emerges as both a landcover pattern, driven by multiscale land use systems, and a process driving biophysical and socio-political patterns in the region, with implications for forest management in the face of increasing disturbances.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference