Tropical cyclone effects on vegetation resilience in the Yucatan Peninsula, México, between 2000-2012

Abstract

The resilience capacity of vegetation in the Yucatan Peninsula is influenced by the winds and rains of tropical cyclones. There are no recent long-term studies on cyclonic impacts on natural vegetation in the region despite their significant effects on infrastructure and biodiversity. The objective of this study was to identify the area impacted by 21 tropical cyclones between 2000 and 2012 and to quantify the recovery capacity of the vegetation by using standardized anomalies of the normalized vegetation index (aNDVI). MODIS images from NASA’s “Terra and Aqua” satellites were used to calculate the damaged areas by analyzing the frequency of pixels corresponding to each type of vegetation per impact zone. The results showed that in 67% of the tropical cyclones, the impacts on vegetation were negative —a decrease in aNDVI—but in 33% of the cyclones, positive effects were recorded —an increase in aNDVI—. The lapse rate of vegetation recovery varied in 52% of the cases; vegetation recovered between two and three weeks after each cyclonic event, while 38% of the cases recovered within four to five weeks of the cyclone landfall. Tropical forests suffered the most significant effects, followed by hydrophilic vegetation. The most destructive hurricanes were Emily, Wilma, and Dean. The rate of recovery laps ranged from 4 to 10 weeks after the hurricane hit. The results could improve assessments of vegetation vulnerability against severe hydrometeorological events and establish priority zones for prompt inspection.