Restoration-Focused Germination and Development of Five Central Mexican Oak Species

In the genus Quercus, regeneration by seed is reduced or absent in many species. The naturally protected area of the Sierra Fria, in Aguascalientes, Mexico contains forests that are fragmented and have been degraded due to human activities. The oak populations in this region demonstrate a very restricted sexual regeneration, with five of the most abundant species of this genus: Quercuseduardii, Q. grisea, Q. potosina, Q. resinosa and Q. sideroxyla presenting low seedling recruitment. In this study we evaluated seed viability and the effect of seed size on the germination, growth and survival of the trees, with the aim of recommending restoration and conservation program management actions for these oak species. In 2005 and 2006, 5000 acorns of each species were collected and viability, germination and growth experiments were performed in the laboratory and greenhouse. We found high seed viability and significant size effect

Ecological-Genetic Studies and Conservation of Endemic <i>Quercus sideroxyla</i>(Trel.) in Central Mexico

This study examines the distribution, ecology and genetic diversity of Quercus sideroxyla Humb. Bonpl, with an emphasis on its conservation on the Natural Protected Area of Sierra Fría in North Central Mexico. Twenty-nine locations were selected, and in each location, one plot of 1500 m2 was established. At every location, we obtained an abundance of Q. sideroxyla and a basal area for each individual tree, including geographical and climatological data. We used the Outlying Mean Index (OMI) to examine whether environmental conditions had a distributional effect on Q. sideroxyla populations and to obtain the static size population structure of the species. For the genetic analysis, we collected 18 adult individuals from each population, four polymorphic loci were used to estimate genetic diversity. Q. sideroxyla abundance was associated with narrow environmental conditions, especially when considering the topographical and meteorological environmental variables. The allelic richness value was 84 alleles (21 privatealleles), and the expected mean heterozygosity was 0.855 ± 0.009. The high vulnerability of the species to changes in the land use at the local scale and to global climatic changes increases the species’ susceptibility to local disappearance.

Integration of Probabilistic and Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment Within Urban Development Planning and Emergency Preparedness and Response: Application to Manizales,Colombia

The details of a multi-hazard and probabilistic risk assessment, developed for urban planning and emergency response activities in Manizales, Colombia, are presented in this article. This risk assessment effort was developed under the framework of an integral disaster risk management project whose goal was to connect risk reduction activities by using open access and state-of-theart risk models. A probabilistic approach was used for the analysis of seismic, landslide, and volcanic hazards to obtain stochastic event sets suitable for probabilistic loss estimation and to generate risk results in different metrics after aggregating in a rigorous way the losses associated to the different hazards. Detailed and high resolution exposure databases were used for the building stock and infrastructure of the city together with a set of vulnerability functions for each of the perils considered. The urban and territorial ordering plan of the city was updated for socioeconomic development and land use using the hazard and risk inputs and determinants, which cover not only the current urban area but also those adjacent areas where the expansion of Manizales is expected to occur. The emergency response capabilities of the city were improved by taking into account risk scenarios and after updating anautomatic and real-time post-earthquake damage assessment.

Holistic Disaster Risk Evaluation for the Urban Risk Management Plan of Manizales,Colombia

Disaster risk depends on both the physical vulnerability and a wide range of social, economic, and environmental aspects of a society. For a better risk understanding, a holistic or integrated perspective was considered when risk was assessed for the city of Manizales, Colombia. This assessment accounts not only for the expected physical damage and loss, but also for the socioeconomic vulnerability factors that favor secondorder effects in a disaster. This comprehensive approach allows the identification of different aspects related to physical vulnerability, social fragility, and lack of resilience that can be improved, thus enhancing integrated disaster risk management actions. The outcomes of this comprehensive assessment are currently being used as input to update the disaster risk management plan of Manizales.

Probabilistic Seismic Risk Assessment in Manizales,Colombia: Quantifying Losses for Insurance Purposes

A fully probabilistic seismic risk assessment was developed in Manizales, Colombia, considering assets of different types. The first type includes elements that are part of the water and sewage network, and the second type includes public and private buildings. This assessment required the development of a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis that accounts for the dynamic soil response,assembling high resolution exposure databases, and the development of damage models for different types of elements. The economic appraisal of the exposed assets was developed together with specialists of the water utilities company of Manizales and the city administration. The risk assessment was performed using several Comprehensive Approach to Probabilistic Risk Assessment modules as well as the R-System, obtaining results in terms of traditional metrics such as loss exceedance curve, average annual loss, and probable maximum loss. For the case of pipelines, repair rates were also estimated. The results for the water and sewage network were used in activities related to the expansion and maintenance strategies, as well as for the exploration of financial retention and transfer alternatives using insurance schemes based on technical,probabilistic, and prospective damage and loss estimations.In the case of the buildings, the results were used in the update of the technical premium values of the existing collective insurance scheme.