Impacts caused in soils by peccaries white lipped in the Ecological Reserve “The Other Option” in Catemaco, Mexico

Abstract

In the Ecological Reserve "The Other Option", work is being done on the re-introduction of white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), for the purposes of reproduction and conservation as an alternative to the extensive management of cattle grazing, which is frequent in areas that have been deforested to enable them as paddocks in the region. Therefore, the objective of this work was to determine the impacts caused by white-lipped peccaries for one year on the soils of the Ecological Reserve “The Other Option” in Veracruz, Mexico, for which purpose, work was carried out on the enclosures where they hold captives at a herd of 39 animals. Two pens are assigned, four quadrants of 20 x 10 meters each were drawn, and a soil sample was taken at a depth of 0 - 20 cm. Subsequently, each sample was determined: humidity, bulk and particle density, porosity, texture, pH, CEC, OM, Corg, Ca^{2 +}, Mg^{2 +}, Na⁺ and K⁺. Among the results, we have that the impacts caused by peccaries in the soil show an increase in porosity, contrary to pastures with cattle. There was also a slight increase in OM, Corg., as well as Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺, the latter being estimated from the balanced foods that peccaries are fed with. In conclusion, the re-introduction of Tayassu pecari had a positive impact on soils, particularly on eight of the chemical properties, rather than on physical ones, where only porosity increased. It is considered that the re-introduction of this species can be an alternative for the recovery of ecosystems, as long as the size of the enclosures is redesigned and allows better conditions for peccaries in the higher income