Protected natural areas and long term ecological research in Mexico

Abstract

Maass, J.M., Jardel, E.J., Martínez-Yrízar, A., Calderón-Aguilera, L.E., Herrera, J,. Castillo, A., Euán-Ávila, J., Equihua, M. (2010). Protected natural areas and long term ecological research in Mexico. Ecosistemas 19(2):69-83.

Behind the current environmental crisis is our limited understanding of large-scale ecological processes. This lack of knowledge has trigger failures  in  our  ecosystem  management  practices,  promoting  its  degradation  all  over  the  planet.  The  establishment  of  long  term  ecological research groups (LTER) is the response of the academic community to deal with this problem. The Mex-LTER network comprises 10 groups conducting  scientific  research  in  different  natural  protected  areas  (NPA)  of  Mexico.  LTER  groups  benefit  from  the  well  preserve  natural ecosystems  and  the  security  conditions  sustained  within  these  protected  areas.  On  the  other  hand,  NPA  benefits  from  the  information generated by the research groups, since it is useful to design and implement their management programs. Both have a common interest on ecosystem  management  practices  beyond  de  NPA  borders.  Been  natural  ecosystems  a  necessary  reference  for  sustainability,  this LTER/NPA  relationship  is  enhanced  by  the  long  term  understanding  of  ecological  dynamics,  since  it  is  the  key  to  design  and  implement sustainable ecosystem management practices.