The Municipality of Alubarén as a secondary dry forest ecosystem.
The Municipality of Alubarén is located in the central area of the country, south of the department of Francisco Morazán, its population consists of 5,329 inhabitants. This municipality is composed of 28.15% by the remnant of Forest, 32.24% of Pastures and crops, and 36.7% of secondary deciduous vegetation. The main crop of the municipality is corn, which occupies 36% of the land use (Institute of Forest Conservation [ICF], 2015).
The remaining forest is made up of Tropical Dry Forest, which is the most threatened ecosystem in Honduras, since it is currently reduced to less than 10% of its original coverage and is almost entirely outside the National System of Areas. Protected Areas of Honduras (SINAPH). In Alubarén you can still find fringes of deciduous dry forest ecosystems. An ecosystem of large trees 30 m or more. Which is commonly found in intervened fragments, on the slopes of the largest valleys, competing largely with the aforementioned cropping systems (House and Rivas, 2008).
In the municipality of Alubarén there are 3 main bodies of water. La Conga Creek, has a length of 3.1 km and joins the Los Godoyes creek which has a length of 4.0 km. Both creeks drain the El Brazuelo River, which connects to the Alubarén River, which runs 54% of the area of the municipality and drains to the Reítoca River. The Quebrada La Conga belongs to the La Campana Microbasin that has an area of 2.74 km², and is part of the Nacaome River Basin, which together with the Choluteca River is part of the Pacific Slope of Honduras (Murillo, 2019).
Throughout Alubarén there are Coray-type soils which belong to the Padre Miguel geological formation (CEAH 2006). Much of the geology of the place is represented by the bare bedrock, especially in the ravines or canyons that border the main bodies of water.
Regarding the rainfall for the Nacaome River basin, Zúniga (1990) categorized it as rainy with dry winter (Vb). This is characterized by the fact that the lowest average rainfall occurs in January. The rainy season begins in early May and ends around October 28. The rainiest months of the year are June and September. During the heatwave period (July) the rain reaches deficit conditions. The months of January and February are the driest and coincide with the time of greatest influence of cold fronts and air masses (Murillo, 2019).
Throughout this project we will introduce you to the diversity that the Alubarén Dry Forest ecosystem supports and the riverside forests that accompany the rivers and streams present in the Municipality. The field tours began in 2016 and continued to this day.
Bibliographic references
Centro de Estudios Ambientales de Honduras. (2006). Informe Sobre Sistematización: Subcuenca del Rio Reitoca. Recuperado de http://cidbimena.desastres.hn/RIDH/pdf/doch0123/pdf/doch0123.pdf
House, R. P., Rivas, M. (2008). Elaboración de Un Análisis de Vacíos Biofísicos del Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas de Honduras (SINAPH):. Recuperado de: https://mocaph.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/analisis-de-vacc3ados-biofisicos-del-sinaph_2009.pdf
Instituto de Conservación Forestal. (2015). Atlas Municipal Forestal de Cobertura de La Tierra: Municipio de Alubarén Francisco Morazán. Recuperado de: http://www.atlasmunicipal.org/sites/default/files/0802%20Alubar%C3%A9n%20Atlas%20Forestal%20Municipal.pdf
Murillo, B. M. (2019). Riqueza y distribución de insectos acuáticos con relación a los parámetros morfométricos, físico-químicos y de las partículas del sustrato en la quebrada La Conga, Alubarén, Francisco Morazán (Tesis). Recuperado de: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335821575_Riqueza_y_distribucion_de_insectos_acuaticos_con_relacion_a_los_parametros_morfometricos_fisico-quimicos_y_de_las_particulas_del_sustrato_en_la_quebrada_La_Conga_Alubaren_Francisco_Morazan
Zúniga, A. E. (1990). Las modalidades de la lluvia en Honduras. Tegucigalpa. Recuperado de: http://cidbimena.desastres.hn/pdf/spa/doc12660/doc12660.htm
