Servicios ambientales de árboles: énfasis en la industria del nogal pecanero
Environmental services of trees: emphasis on pecan industry *
Resumen
El nogal (Carya illinoinensis [Wangenh] K. Koch) es un cultivo económicamente importante, tanto en el norte de México como en el sur de EUA. Sin embargo, el valor de los huertos de nogal se extiende más allá del valor de la cosecha de la nuez. Las huertas de nogal proporcionan servicios ambientales de importancia; algunos de ellos tienen un valor económico que puede ser estimado, mientras que en otros, su valor económico es difícil de cuantificar. Las ramas resultantes de la poda, y la cáscara de la nuez, tienen un valor potencial como bio- combustibles, o bien pueden ser utilizadas como medio o suelo artificial (molida o en composta). Sin embargo, la valoración más importante de las huertas nogaleras está asociada con productos en los que es más difícil asignar un valor económico específico. Estos incluyen: a) mejoría de los suelos, al incorporar la biomasa resultante de hojas, rueznos y ramas; b) fijación del carbono de la atmósfera y la producción de oxígeno a través de la fotosíntesis; c) atrapar y eliminar polvo y contaminantes; d) mejoría en los microclimas y, d) algunos beneficios sociológicos. Sin duda, estos factores exceden fácilmente el valor de la nuez cosechada. Lo anterior se discute en términos de un huerto pequeño (1 ha) y de una región que cuenta con más de un millón de árboles de nogal.
Abstract
Walnut (Carya illinoinensis [Wangenh] K. Koch) is an economically important crop, both in northern Mexico and southern U.S. However, the value of walnut orchards extends beyond the harvest walnut for profit. Walnut orchards provide important environmental services; some of them have an economic profit that can be estimated, while others, their economic value is hard to quantify. The resulting pruning branches, and the shell of the nut, have a potential value as bio-fuels, or can be used as a means or artificial soil (ground or compost). But, the most important valuation of walnut orchards is associated to products that are more difficult to allocate a specific economic profit. These include: a) improvement of soils, incorporating the resulting biomass of leaves, husk and branches; b) fixing of carbon from the atmosphere and the production of oxygen by photosynthesis; c) trap and remove dust and pollutants; d) improvement in microclimate and, d) some sociological benefits. Undoubtedly, these factors easily exceed the value of the harvested walnut. This is discussed in terms of a small orchard (1 ha) and a region with over a million walnut trees.
Keywords: Carya illinoinensis, pecan, biomass, carbon sequestration, pollution, sociological values, microclimate, produced oxygen, photosynthesis.
Citas
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