Soil Chronicles: A Visual Journey Across Mexican Ecoregions

The book aims to reveal Mexico's soil diversity, land-use systems, and current degradation problems through images that illustrate the diversity of soils' environmental, social, and economic conditions. As a country of contrasts, the main challenge is integrating the diversity of socioecological conditions around the nation; for this reason, the book provides an overview of soil landscapes in seven ecological regions delimitated by their location, geological elements, landforms, soils, vegetation, climate, fauna, and human interactions with their environment.
The book was achieved thanks to top researchers who collaborated with their work. The scientific editors intend that this volume take place in scientific literature as an instrument for disseminating Soil Science, a tool for reflection about soil degradation problems, and for questions about how human activity impacts the environment and the sustainability of the land-use systems in Mexico and worldwide.

List of contents

Mediterranean California.- Soil for Fine Wine in Northern Baja California, Mexico.- Tijuana-Ensenada Scenic Highway.- North America Deserts.- Anti-Erosive Pits in the Arid Plains of San Luis Potosí.- Integration of Livestock Practices in the Landscape Formation in the Municipality of Saltillo, Coahuila.- The Salt Lagoons of San Luis Potosí.- Great Plains.- Recarbonization of Soil Restoration of Extended Pastures and Bison Reintroduction in Northern Mexico.- Tropical Dry Forests.- Community Environmental Monitoring in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley.- Participatory Territorial Planning (PTP) for the Sustainable Management of Soil Resources.- Shallow Soils, Deep Impacts: Agriculture and Erosion in Yucatan.- Soil as a Socio-Ecological System in the Tropical Dry Forests of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Region.- The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve.- The Transition from a Traditional Milpa Productive System to Maize Monocultures in the Tropical and Subtropical Dry Forests of Chiapas.- Temperate Sierras.- Antagonism Between Urban Esthetics and the Natural Landscape in the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico.- The Degradation of Andosols in Mexico: Environmental Challenges and Historical Insights from the Neovolcanic Belt.- Lama Bordo (Coo yuu) System: Community Management for Soil Conservation.- Challenges of Managing Vertisols in the Lowlands of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt: Impacts of Agriculture and Erosion.- Nevado de Toluca Volcano, Balancing Natural Wealth and Environmental Risk.- Temperate Mountains, Manifestations of a Colonized Soil: Human Impact, Biodiversity, and the Struggle for Sustainability in Southern Mexico.- Mountain Zone in the Northeastern Part of the Mexican Basin (Mexico City).- Impact of Agricultural Expansion on Andosols in the Mountains of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.- Rehabilitation of Degraded Tepetate Soils in the Central Mexican Highlands: A Case Study from Tlalpan, Tlaxcala.- Southern Semi-Arid Highlands.- Agricultural Soils and Traditional Knowledge in the Mixteca Alta Region, Oaxaca.- Coffee Growing in Tropical Rainforests of Chiapas: The Relationship Between the Peasant Population and the Soil.- Managed Soils and Agricultural Expansions.- Socio-environmental factors favoring erosion in the northern Sierra of Puebla.- The Transformation and Desiccation of Lake Texcoco s Soil: A Legacy of Urbanization and Resource Demand.- Tropical Humid Forests.- Forest Floor in a Fragmented Landscape in Los Tuxtlas.- Human Settlements in Former Salt Mines in Chicxulub and in the Dzilam Ecological Reserve, Yucatán.- Impacts of Mine Tailings in Soils of Huautla, Morelos.- Mangrove Restoration and Soil Characteristics in the Tampamachoco Lagoon Ramsar Site, Gulf of Mexico.

About the author

Dr. Blanca Lucía Prado Pano
Ph.D. Hydrology, Joseph Fourier University, France
Blanca is a Biochemical Engineer that has developed her research career in the Soil and Environment group at the Institute of Geology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She is particularly interested in studying the regulation of water movement due to the structure and porosity of the soil. Since 2021, she has been the first coordinator of the University Program for Interdisciplinary Soil Studies, where she has dedicated to building a strong relationship between government, science, and society to promote soil sustainable management and conservation.
Dr. Thalita Abbruzzini
Ph.D. Soil Science, Sao Paulo University, Brazil
Thalita is an Agronomist, which did her Master's and PhD in Soil and Plant Nutrition in the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Currently, she is a Posdoctoral Researcher Fellow in the Institute of Geology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Her research focuses on soil biogeochemistry, soil organic matter dynamics, greenhouse gas emissions in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum and sustainable soil management.
Dr. Laura Rodríguez Bustos
Ph. D. Sustainability Sciences.

Laura is a researcher in Sustainability Science. She mainly studies the interfaces between farmers’ decision-making processes, sustainable soil management, and food environments. She is a postdoctoral researcher associated with the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan.

Summary

The book aims to reveal Mexico’s soil diversity, land-use systems, and current degradation problems through images that illustrate the diversity of soils' environmental, social, and economic conditions. As a country of contrasts, the main challenge is integrating the diversity of socioecological conditions around the nation; for this reason, the book provides an overview of soil landscapes in seven ecological regions delimitated by their location, geological elements, landforms, soils, vegetation, climate, fauna, and human interactions with their environment.
The book was achieved thanks to top researchers who collaborated with their work. The scientific editors intend that this volume take place in scientific literature as an instrument for disseminating Soil Science, a tool for reflection about soil degradation problems, and for questions about how human activity impacts the environment and the sustainability of the land-use systems in Mexico and worldwide.

Product details

• Assisted by: Thalita Abbruzzini (Editor), Blanca Lucía Prado Pano (Editor), Laura Rodríguez Bustos (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 10.10.2025
• EAN: 9783031904356
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3190435-6
• No. of pages: 318
• Illustrations: XVI, 318 p. 159 illus., 158 illus. in color.
• Series: Frontier Studies in Soil Science
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geology; Nachhaltigkeit, Umwelt, Sustainability, Geographie, Geography, soil characteristics, Environmental Sciences, Soil Science, Mexican Plateau, Tropical Dry Forest, Tropical Rainforest, North America Desert