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THE SELVA MAYA
The Maya Biosphere Reserve
Geology, Soils, and Agriculture
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A hunter from the village of Carmelita examines
spoor at a drying forest puddle.
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Soils at Tikal are generally shallow, and, though richer than
some tropical soils, they are not rich by Temperate Zone
standards. Soil in low-lying areas (locally known as bajos), is
very deep, clay-rich, and free of rocks. In contrast, the soil
on hill slopes is much shallower, rich in limestone cobbles,
lower in clay, and higher in organic matter.
Soils in the bajos are frequently waterlogged during the wet
season, when water may stand chest-deep for weeks at a time, and
local areas witness strong currents as the water slowly drains
away. During the dry season, the very clay-rich soil in these
low-lying bajo areas cracks visibly, and plants no doubt
experience drought stress, as water binds tightly to clay
particles.
While farming is common in this region (mainly of corn but
also beans, chili, and other crops), the highly variable
rainfall makes this a marginal endeavor. Indeed, many
archaeologists believe that the collapse of the Classic Maya
civilization a thousand years ago resulted from a severe drought
and associated famine (Curtis et al. 1996,
1998).
Fauna
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Kentucky Warbler
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The Maya Forest region supports a tropical fauna
typical of that occurring widely over the Caribbean coastal
plains of Central America. Many species of plants and animals
are endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula, especially the northern
portions, occurring nowhere else on Earth. The basal portion of
the peninsula, comprising our project area, is not especially
rich in endemic species. In terms of the overall landscape,
however, the region is unique in many ways. The tremendous
expanses of pristine and near-pristine forest here, as well as
globally significant wetlands, give this region great
conservation value.
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