Coastal Sand Dune Communities and Soil Relationships in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Publisher Summary The Yucatan Peninsula in southeastern Mexico is a flat limestone platform. The main feature that characterizes the coast is a complex mixture of mangroves and dune thickets related to a combination of barrier islands and coastal lagoons. The dune system is formed of low ridges backed by the lagoons. Much attention has been paid to dune systems as a complex of gradients. Salinity differences along the sea–coastal lagoon gradient determine several environmental parameters. Soil parameters show progressive changes expressed by the floristic zonal sequences as salinity decreases and organic matter, clay, and loam content increase with distance from the sea. In the Yucatan Peninsula, low wind action is reflected by low dunes in contrast to the high Central Gulf dune system, where sand accretion is a major factor, affecting dune formation and explaining vegetation patterns. The chapter also provides an overview of the Detrended Canonical Correspondence Analysis (DCCA) approach, which has proved to be an efficient tool for the understanding of soil-vegetation gradients. Despite the collinearity problem, it is possible to explain the variability related to vegetation gradients.