Chronological dataset of soil respiration fluxes from a seasonally dry forest in Northwest México

Soil respiration (CO2 emission to the atmosphere from soils) is an important component of the global carbon cycle. In highly seasonal ecosystems the magnitudes and the underlying mechanisms that control soil respiration (RS) are still poorly understood and measurements are underrepresented in the global flux community. In this dataset, systematic and monthly measurements of RS were conducted with an infrared gas analyzer coupled to a static chamber during 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 in a tropical dry forest with a land use history from Northwestern México. These data is useful to assess the intra-annual and seasonal variations of RS at a highly seasonal dry forests and serves as a base line to benchmark soil carbon models in regional and global contexts. The data presented supports the research manuscript: "Soil respiration is influenced by seasonality, forest succession and contrasting biophysical controls in a tropical dry forest in Northwestern Mexico" from Vargas-Terminel et al. [1].

Eco-efficiency assessment of disease-infected shrimp farming in Mexico using environmental impact assessment tools

Mexico ranks second in shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) production of in Latin America with significant annual growth, however, during 2011 shrimp production fell by almost 50 % due to the presence of the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). In this context, a life cycle analysis (LCA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) were performed on 76 commercial farms severely affected by the presence of WSSV in northwestern Mexico. The application of this combined methodology allowed a detailed quantification of different environmental impact categories. During the presence of WSSV, there was a negative effect on the feed conversion ratio (FCR) (>40 %), higher consumption of seawater (38 %), and energy (38 %). Consequently, operational outputs related to the discharge of nitrogen and phosphorus increased by 60 and 57 %, respectively. Similarly, CO₂ emissions, increased by 38 % relative to a typical year of production. Overall, the main critical points in the impact categories analyzed are related to food (98 %), use of diesel (23 %), and rearing (24 %), dominating pollutants emissions in all categories. Consequently, an improvement scenario was evaluated related to innovation in the formulation of foods supplied with immunostimulants, which confer protection against pathogenic microorganisms. This scenario lead to a reduction environmental impact of about 82 %. The results of this analysis will be a useful resource in the design of mitigation strategies with innovation processes that allow maintaining yields for shrimp producers in this region and at the same time reduce the environmental impacts generated.

Coupled plant traits adapted to wetting/drying cycles of substrates co-define niche multidimensionality

Theories attempting to explain species coexistence in plant communities have argued in favour of species' capacities to occupy a multidimensional niche with spatial, temporal and biotic axes. We used the concept of hydrological niche segregation to learn how ecological niches are structured both spatially and temporally and whether small scale humidity gradients between adjacent niches are the main factor explaining water partitioning among tree species in a highly water-limited semiarid forest ecosystem. By combining geophysical methods, isotopic ecology, plant ecophysiology and anatomical measurements, we show how coexisting pine and oak species share, use and temporally switch between diverse spatially distinct niches by employing a set of functionally coupled plant traits in response to changing environmental signals. We identified four geospatial niches that turned into nine, when considering the temporal dynamics of the wetting/drying cycles in the substrate and the particular plant species adaptations to garner, transfer, store and use water. Under water scarcity, pine and oak exhibited water use segregation from different niches, yet under maximum drought when oak trees crossed physiological thresholds, niche overlap occurred. The identification of niches and mechanistic understanding of when and how species use them will help unify theories of plant coexistence and competition.

Image dataset acquired from an unmanned aerial vehicle over an experimental site within El Soldado estuary in Guaymas, Sonora, México

It is well known that remote sensing is a series of procedures which detects physical characteristics of the earth surface by remotely-measuring its reflected and emitted radiation using cameras or sensors. Lately, the increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as remote sensing platforms and the development of small-size sensors have resulted in the expansion of continuous monitoring of earth surface at smaller spatial scales. For this reason, the integration of UAV- and consumer-grade cameras can be useful to acquire surface characteristics at plot or footprint scale. This dataset contains 314 aerial images covering an area of aproximately 18,800 m² within the footprint of an Eddy covariance and meterorological station. The monitoring site was deployed at “El Soldado” estuary (27°57′14.4″ N and 110°58′19.2″ W) located in the southern coast of the Mexican State of Sonora. UAV flight path was programmed to flight in autonomous mode with an altitude of 30 m, a velocity of 5 m/s and a frontal and side overlap of 85 and 75% respectively. This dataset was created to support mapping surveys for surface classification and site description. This dataset is aimed to support researchers, stakeholders and general public interested in coastal areas, natural resources management and ecosystem conservation. Finally, this dataset could be also used for those interested in digital photogrammetry and 3D reconstruction as benchmark example to develop high resolution orthomosaics.