Ecological and Social Limitations for Mexican Dry Forest Restoration: A Systematic Review

Cristina Martínez-Garza, Eliane Ceccon and Moisés Méndez-Toribio
Additional contact information
Cristina Martínez-Garza: Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Morelos, Cuernavaca 62209, Mexico
Eliane Ceccon: Centro Regional de Investigaciones Multidisciplinarias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelos, Cuernavaca 62210, Mexico
Moisés Méndez-Toribio: Instituto de Ecología, A.C.-Centro Regional del Bajío, Red de Diversidad Biológica del Occidente Mexicano, Michoacán, Pátzcuaro 61600, Mexico

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: In Mexico, dry forests are one of the ecosystems in major need of restoration intervention. Here, we explored the ecological and social limitations on the restoration of Mexican dry forests from the perspective of restoration practitioners and researchers. We included three data sources: (i) projects included in a national evaluation (1979–2016), (ii) a systematic review of scientific literature (1979–2021), and (iii) restoration projects included in two governmental programs. The national evaluation and the systematic review coincided in identifying the establishment of plantings as the most important ecological limitation and low social participation as the most important social limitation. There were three times more publications addressing ecological limitations than those addressing social limitations. We did not find research to resolve the problems faced by practitioners related to invasive species, unpredictable climate, and poor soil quality. Governmental programs promoting the restoration of ecosystems need to include measurable indicators to document the socioecological limitations faced by local practitioners to restore Mexican dry forests.

Keywords: deciduous forest; tropical dry forest; ecological and social constraints; restoration plantings; natural succession; assisted natural regeneration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/7/3793/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/7/3793/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:7:p:3793-:d:777818

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().