The dynamic of shade trees in cocoa agrosystems

Abstract

Cocoa agrosystems can provide available habitats for wildlife species, due to the structure and diversity of established shade trees in plantations. The objective of this research is to calculate the index of importance and forest value of shade trees used in cocoa agrosystems in the region of Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mexico. Field sampling was carried out to collect data on breast height diameter, canopy diameter and canopy height, these variables were used to estimate the importance value index and the forest value index. The trees with the best indexes of importance and forest value are Erythrina americana (IVI = 62.34 and FVI = 50.94), Bursera simaruba (IVI = 62.53 and FVI = 66.99) and Samanea saman (IVI = 56, 85 and FVI = 42.93). The dynamic of shade trees in cocoa agrosystems is important since it could be used as an input variable to evaluate and predict, through an ecological niche model, the quality of the available habitat for the conservation of wildlife such as birds, reptiles and arboreal mammals.