Climatic water balance of mesophilic montane forest in the Huasteca region

Abstract

We worked in areas of mesophilic mountain forest in the states of Puebla, Hidalgo and Veracruz, located within the Huasteca region. By its nature, the mountain mesophyll forest is a good water catcher. But its forest cover has decreased as a consequence of anthropogenic activities, negatively impacting water catchment. The temporal evolution (1979–2015) of the humidity index of the areas where mountain mesophyll forest exists was associated with the changes in its cover from 1997 to 2016. The results show that from 1979 to 2004, the humidity index decreased as a consequence of more than 29% deforestation. From 2005 to 2016, the deforestation rate did not exceed 1% and the humidity index presented an increasing trend. The conservation of this ecosystem is recommended as a priority to improve the amount of water in the region.