Abstract

CASTELAN-VEGA, Rosalía et al. Environmental susceptibility to desertification in the Azumiatla River Micro-watershed, Puebla, Mexico. Ecosistemas y recur. agropecuarios [online]. 2019, vol.6, n.16, pp.91-101.  Epub Oct 01, 2019. ISSN 2007-901X.  https://doi.org/10.19136/era.a6n16.1886.

Desertification is an environmental problem that threatens food production, with Mexico being one of the countries most affected by this problem. There are few studies aimed at determining current desertification levels, and even fewer focused on preventing this process; however, there is a significant need for such studies given the susceptibility of territories to develop this problem or have it worsen. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the environmental susceptibility to desertification of the Azumiatla River Micro-watershed, Puebla, Mexico. Areas that are environmentally sensitive to desertification (AESD) were defined, grouping indicators into four indices that define soil quality, climate, vegetation and management. Attributes graded were: soil texture, parent material, surface rock fragments, slope, soil depth, rainfall, fire risk, flora protection against erosion, vegetation resistance to drought, cover, intensity and land use, as well as the application of policies for their protection. A geographic information system was used to generate the final AESD map, as well as the maps of the calculated indices. Results show that 84.6% of the area presents critical desertification sensitivity levels, while 15.4% presents fragility to desertification, with steep slopes with shallow soils, sowing of intensive annual crops and deforestation being the main causes that promote soil degradation in the micro-watershed.

Keywords : Aridity; degradation; indicators; drought; soil.

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