Print version ISSN 0188-4611
ZEPEDA GOMEZ, Carmen; NEMIGA, Xanat Antonio; LOT HELGUERAS, Antonio and MADRIGAL URIBE, Delfino. Land use change in Lerma marshes (1973-2008) and its impact on aquatic vegetation. Invest. Geog [online]. 2012, n.78, pp. 48-61. ISSN 0188-4611.
The Lerma marshes maintain a high diversity impacted and damaged by industrial and urban development of the Valley of Toluca. The changes, exchanges and the systematic transitions of land use occurred in the marshes between 1973 and 2008 were evaluated and related to the current diversity of aquatic vegetation. We use correspondence analysis to visualize the distribution of the dominant flora and the type of plants prevalent in each wetland. Transformation processes vary spatially and temporally in each marsh, but the general trend is the loss of open water areas and cattail marshes, which tend to transform into lands of low flood with hydrophytes of smaller size and adapted to disturbance, later these fields are replaced by farmland and urban spaces. The rate of destruction of wetlands was most intense from 1973 to 1989, but remained in 2008. The expansion of agricultural and urban areas has displaced flood areas, causing negative effects on diversity and structure of aquatic vegetation in the marshes.
Keywords : Chignahuapan; Chimaliapan; Chiconahuapan; Lerma; land use; vegetation.