Abstract

LOPEZ PEREZ, Jesús Eduardo  and  CRUZ ROMERO, Bartolo. Forest dynamics and land use in the watersheds that make up Tomatlán municipality, Jalisco State. Rev. mex. de cienc. forestales [online]. 2020, vol.11, n.58, pp.47-68.  Epub June 17, 2020. ISSN 2007-1132.  https://doi.org/10.29298/rmcf.v11i58.619.

The forest dynamics and land use in the hydrographic watersheds that integrate Tomatlán municipality, Jalisco State (1997-2017) were analyzed. To fulfill this objective, three satellite images were classified: Landsat 5 and 8 (P030 and R046). As a result, two thematic maps were generated with seven types of forest cover and land uses: urban areas, agriculture, grassland, water bodies, medium semi-deciduous forest, deciduous low forest and temperate conifer and broadleaf forest. The map was compared to calculate the change in coverage present at different times. The exchange rate for the 1997-2017 period was determined; the percentage of forest covers that remained was 77 %; and change corresponded to 23 %. Results show that, over the analyzed period, the forest cover that had the greatest gains was the medium semi-deciduous tropical forest with a 1 % increment; the water bodies exhibited a change rate of 1.2 % per year. The gain or increase in this cover is considered to be related to the abandonment of agricultural and livestock areas, which has resulted in a regeneration of the medium growth semi-deciduous forest, while the water bodies are decreasing mainly in the lower parts of the basins, due to the expansion of agricultural areas -which may have implications for soil erosion and salinization-, as well as to changes of the natural landscape.

Keywords : Socioeconomic activities; change of coverage; watersheds; deforestation; forest dynamics; remote perception.