Biophysical landscapes of the Ejido Tzurumútaro, Michoacán, Mexico

Abstract

The Ejido of Tzurumútaro is within the municipality of Pátzcuaro in the central part of the state of Michoacán, Mexico. An ejido is an agrarian settlement with a community-based land tenure system, which is common in Mexico. The Ejido of Tzurumútaro in particular, has a historical significance in the Lake of Pátzcuaro region, because it played an important role during the post-revolutionary land reform. The objective of this study is to describe the structure of the biophysical landscapes of this agrarian settlement. To accomplish this, biblio-cartographic data collection of biophysical components was done, which included information on geology, lithology, hydrology, climate, and pedology. Three taxonomic units were defined; specifically, five superior units or localities; nine Land areas and 30 Sub-land areas. Landscapes of volcanic origin are widely prevalent, although geo-systems of river and lake origin are also present. The map constitutes an important basic information basis on landscape units.

Keywords

• biophysical landscapes
• hierarchical classification (typological)
• ejido of tzurumútaro
• mexico