The natural resources of Mexico are based on the diversity of plants and animals, which are derived from the variety of climates and regions of the Central American country. Among them are water, oil and biodiversity.
Regarding the types of vegetation, we can find xerophilous scrub, grasslands, chaparral, tropical forests, jungles, mangroves, evergreen forests, cloud forests, coniferous forests and oak forests. Its great biological diversity is found mainly in the southern states of the country.
Main states with biological diversity in Mexico.
In Mexico, 535 species of mammals, 1096 species of birds, 804 species of reptiles, 2692 species of fish, 5387 species of crustaceans, 47,853 species of insects, 25,008 species of vascular plants and 7,000 species of fungi have been described.
Reptiles stand out from the previous list, with the highest number worldwide (Sarukhán, et al. 2009). However, Mexico also ranks first in the world for endangered species and first in Latin America for threatened species.
Land use
Figure 2. Agriculture in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico. Source: user Fresnillo CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
Land use is the main factor that accelerates the loss of native ecosystems and the country's biodiversity. The activities that promote this change are mining, livestock, agriculture or fruit crops.
Mexico is the main avocado exporter in the world and its main crops are sorghum, corn and wheat, which cover almost 50% of the cultivated area of the country.
However, most of the agricultural soils in Mexico show some degree of erosion, due to monocultures and deforestation. It is expected that by 2020 more than 2 million hectares of native vegetation will disappear for the state of Oaxaca alone (Velazquez et al. 2003).
It should be noted that not all agricultural models harm the soil. In Chiapas it has been shown that coffee crops based on agroforestry systems promote the maintenance of biodiversity and a positive effect on production (Soto et al. 2000).
The forestry sector contributes only 1.6% of GDP, however, Mexico's forests are a very valuable resource that provide a host of environmental services, such as carbon dioxide capture, climate regulation or water supply to the main rivers of the country.
Most of the mining activity is located in the northern and central part of the country. The main extraction elements are lead, silver, gold, mercury, zinc, copper and molybdenum, iron, magnesium and coal. Some important examples are the extraction of copper in Sonora (Harner, 2001) or the extraction of lead, gold, silver and zinc in Michoacán (Chávez et al. 2010).
Figure 2. Mines in Mexico. (Garcia, 2012)
Another factor that has contributed to the loss of biodiversity in Mexico is poaching, going so far as to extinguish many species such as the Mexican wolf.
Currently there is a regulation for sport hunting, which has become a very important economic activity in the north and northeast of Mexico, focusing on species such as the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), the bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), wild boar (Tayassu tajacu), red deer (Cervus elaphus), coyote (Canis latrans), rabbits (Sylvilagusspp), wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), various species of pigeons (mainly the white-winged dove, Zenaida asiatica) and various species of ducks. (Naranjo et al. 2010).
Protected Natural Areas (ANPs) are the main instrument for the conservation of diversity in the country (García et al. 2009). Together, the ANPs of Mexico (federal, state and municipal) cover 9.85% of the national land territory, 22.7% of the territorial sea, 12% of the continental shelf and 1.5% of the exclusive economic zone.
On the other hand, some communities in Mexico also subsist through ecotourism, such as the Ventanilla community in Oaxaca. Community ecotourism is an option for rural development, which on some occasions has proven to be a sustainable activity (Avila, 2002).
Water
Mexico currently has 653 aquifers, of which 288 are available, representing only 44 percent of them. Scarcity and pollution are the main water problems in Mexico.
The average availability of water is 4841 m3 per inhabitant per year, an acceptable figure, but with the problem of a very uneven distribution. In addition, of the 653 aquifers in the country, 104 are over-exploited (Sarukhán, et al. 2009, Greenpeace México, 2009).
Fishing and aquaculture
Fishing is a productive activity in the coastal communities of Mexico. Source: user Gaam310 CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
The main fishing activities in Mexico are shrimp capture and aquaculture of introduced species such as carp and tilapia.
This has led to the local extinction of native species, many of them endemic (Sarukhán, et al. 2009).
Energetic
El Cajón dam, in the state of Nayarit, Mexico. Source: Da nuke CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
The national energy capacity is 53,858 MW. The sources of energy generation due to their importance are: conventional thermoelectric, 27.8%; hydroelectric, 22.6%; combined cycle PI 17.7%; CFE combined cycle, 10.8%; coal 5.6%, turbogas 5.6%; dual 4.5%; geothermal and wind power, 2.1%; nuclear 2.9%; dual and internal combustion 0.4%. (Greenpeace Mexico, 2009)
At the end of the last century, the economy of Mexico was heavily dependent on the oil produced in the country. However, as of 2004, the production peak was reached with 1,208.2 billion barrels (Valdivia and Chacón, 2008) and in 2015 Mexico had a production of 9,812 billion barrels. (CIA, 2015).
References
- Avila VS Foucat (2002). Community-based ecotourism management moving towards sustainability, in Ventanilla, Oaxaca, Mexico. Ocean & Coastal Management 45 pp. 511–529
- CIA (2015). The world factbook. December 19, 2016, from CIA
- Figueroa F. and V. Sanchez-Cordero (2008). Effectiveness of natural protected areas to prevent land use and land cover change in Mexico. Biodivers Conserv 17. pp. 3223–3240.
- García Aguirre, Feliciano (2012). Mining in Mexico. Open-air capital spaces. Theomai, no. 25, pp. 128-136
- Harner, J. (2001), Place Identity and Copper Mining in Sonora, Mexico. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 91: 660–680. doi: 10.1111 / 0004-5608.00264.
- Naranjo, EJ, JC López-Acosta and R. Dirzo (2010), The hunt in Mexico, Biodiversitas. 91. pp. 6-10
- Valdivia Gerardo Gil and Susana Chacón Domínguez 2008, The Oil Crisis in Mexico, FCCyT, ISBN: 968-9167-09-X