Relational dynamics of recreational activities in the Nevado de Toluca Flora and Fauna Protection Area, Mexico: A Social Network Analysis approach

La gestión de las actividades recreativas en Áreas Naturales Protegidas es compleja por el número de actores sociales que aprovechan y administran los recursos naturales con actividades, intereses y necesidades distintas. El objetivo del estudio fue analizar la dinámica relacional entre los actores sociales involucrados en tres Unidades Socio‐Ecológicas, y sus implicaciones en el manejo de las actividades recreativas en el Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Nevado de Toluca, México. A partir de una revisión de literatura, entrevistas semiestructuradas y Análisis de Redes Sociales se encontró que los actores sociales presentes, no son suficientes para un buen manejo de las actividades recreativas. La principal función de todos los actores sociales es la conservación de recursos naturales, pero también asumen funciones para el manejo de las actividades recreativas. La dinámica entre actores sociales presenta lazos débiles e intermitencia en las relaciones debido a la ausencia de vínculos institucionalizados y metas comunes. Es necesario desarrollar redes de colaboración donde los actores asuman corresponsabilidades y acciones conjuntas para la planeación y manejo de las actividades recreativas.The management of recreational activities in Natural Protected Areas is complex due to the number of stakeholders that use and manage natural resources, their varying activities, interests and needs. The aim of the study was to analyse the relational dynamics between stakeholders involved in three Socio‐Ecological Units, and their implications in the management of recreational activities in the Nevado de Toluca Flora and Fauna Protected Area, Mexico. From literature review, semi‐structured interviews and application of Social Network Analysis tools, it was identified that not all the stakeholders that should be involved for efficient management of recreational activities are effectively included . Although their main function is the conservation of natural resources, they also assume functions for the management of recreational activities. They present weak ties and lack of consistency in their relationships, due to the absence of institutionalized links and common goals. It is necessary to move towards collaboration networks where stakeholders assume joint responsibilities and actions for the planning and management of recreational activities

Interacciones en el manejo forestal y las prácticas agrícolas en comunidades originarias del Estado de México, México: el modelo de paisajes bioculturales a escala local: Interactions in forest management and agricultural practices in communities originating from the State of Mexico, Mexico: the biocultural landscape model at a local scale

La implementación del modelo de paisajes bioculturales a escala local en los pueblos originarios de México podría conducir a la resignificación de dichos paisajes bioculturales, ya que permite la integración de prácticas y saberes para su gestión sostenible. El objetivo de este estudio fue identificar las dimensiones que caracterizan a los aspectos de los paisajes bioculturales, así como las interacciones en el manejo forestal y las prácticas agrícolas en comunidades originarias del Estado de México, México, para relacionarlas con los objetivos a escala local del modelo de paisajes bioculturales. Con un enfoque cualitativo, se realizó un taller participativo dirigido a miembros de Organizaciones No Gubernamentales (ONG) y académicos especialistas en el tema, que constó de dos etapas. En la primera etapa, por equipos de trabajo, se identificó las dimensiones que caracterizan a los aspectos de los paisajes bioculturales de comunidades originarias, así como las tres dimensiones más importantes de cada aspecto; en la segunda etapa, de manera grupal, se identificaron las interacciones bosque-agricultura, bosque y agricultura, así como su relación con los objetivos locales de la implementación del modelo de paisajes bioculturales. Concluyendo que la identificación de las interacciones en el manejo forestal y las prácticas agrícolas en comunidades originarias podría facilitar el diseño e implementación de los diferentes objetivos a escala local de dicho modelo. The implementation of the biocultural landscapes model at a local scale in the indigenous peoples of Mexico could lead to the resignification of said biocultural landscapes, since it allows the integration of practices and knowledge for their sustainable management. The objective of this study was to identify the dimensions that characterize the aspects of biocultural landscapes, as well as the interactions in forest management and agricultural practices in communities originating from the State of Mexico, Mexico, to relate them to the local-scale objectives of the biocultural landscape model. With a qualitative approach, a participatory workshop was held aimed at members of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and academics specializing in the topic, which consisted of two stages. In the first stage, by work teams, the dimensions that characterize the aspects of the biocultural landscapes of native communities were identified, as well as the three most important dimensions of each aspect; In the second stage, in a group manner, the forest-agriculture, forest and agriculture interactions were identified, as well as their relationship with the local objectives of the implementation of the biocultural landscape model. Concluding that the identification of interactions in forest management and agricultural practices in native communities could facilitate the design and implementation of the different objectives at the local scale of said model

All-particle cosmic ray energy spectrum measured by the HAWC experiment from 10 to 500 TeV

We report on the measurement of the all-particle cosmic ray energy spectrum with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory in the energy range 10 to 500 TeV. HAWC is a ground based air-shower array deployed on the slopes of Volcan Sierra Negra in the state of Puebla, Mexico, and is sensitive to gamma rays and cosmic rays at TeV energies. The data used in this work were taken from 234 days between June 2016 to February 2017. The primary cosmic-ray energy is determined with a maximum likelihood approach using the particle density as a function of distance to the shower core. Introducing quality cuts to isolate events with shower cores landing on the array, the reconstructed energy distribution is unfolded iteratively. The measured all-particle spectrum is consistent with a broken power law with an index of $-2.49\pm0.01$ prior to a break at $(45.7\pm0.1$) TeV, followed by an index of $-2.71\pm0.01$. The spectrum also respresents a single measurement that spans the energy range between direct detection and ground based experiments. As a verification of the detector response, the energy scale and angular resolution are validated by observation of the cosmic ray Moon shadow's dependence on energy.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables, submission to Physical Review

Search for very-high-energy emission from Gamma-ray Bursts using the first 18 months of data from the HAWC Gamma-ray Observatory

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-ray Observatory is an extensive air shower detector operating in central Mexico, which has recently completed its first two years of full operations. If for a burst like GRB 130427A at a redshift of 0.34 and a high-energy component following a power law with index -1.66, the high-energy component is extended to higher energies with no cut-off other than from extragalactic background light attenuation, HAWC would observe gamma rays with a peak energy of $\sim$300 GeV. This paper reports the results of HAWC observations of 64 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by $\mathit{Swift}$ and $\mathit{Fermi}$, including three GRBs that were also detected by the Large Area Telescope ($\mathit{Fermi}$-LAT). An ON/OFF analysis method is employed, searching on the time scale given by the observed light curve at keV-MeV energies and also on extended time scales. For all GRBs and time scales, no statistically significant excess of counts is found and upper limits on the number of gamma rays and the gamma-ray flux are calculated. GRB 170206A, the third brightest short GRB detected by the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor on board the $\mathit{Fermi}$ satellite ($\mathit{Fermi}$-GBM) and also detected by the LAT, occurred very close to zenith. The LAT measurements can neither exclude the presence of a synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) component nor constrain its spectrum. Instead, the HAWC upper limits constrain the expected cut-off in an additional high-energy component to be less than $100~\rm{GeV}$ for reasonable assumptions about the energetics and redshift of the burst.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, published in Ap

Observation of the Crab Nebula with the HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory

The Crab Nebula is the brightest TeV gamma-ray source in the sky and has been used for the past 25 years as a reference source in TeV astronomy, for calibration and verification of new TeV instruments. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC), completed in early 2015, has been used to observe the Crab Nebula at high significance across nearly the full spectrum of energies to which HAWC is sensitive. HAWC is unique for its wide field-of-view, nearly 2 sr at any instant, and its high-energy reach, up to 100 TeV. HAWC's sensitivity improves with the gamma-ray energy. Above $\sim$1 TeV the sensitivity is driven by the best background rejection and angular resolution ever achieved for a wide-field ground array. We present a time-integrated analysis of the Crab using 507 live days of HAWC data from 2014 November to 2016 June. The spectrum of the Crab is fit to a function of the form $\phi(E) = \phi_0 (E/E_{0})^{-\alpha -\beta\cdot{\rm{ln}}(E/E_{0})}$. The data is well-fit with values of $\alpha=2.63\pm0.03$, $\beta=0.15\pm0.03$, and log$_{10}(\phi_0~{\rm{cm}^2}~{\rm{s}}~{\rm{TeV}})=-12.60\pm0.02$ when $E_{0}$ is fixed at 7 TeV and the fit applies between 1 and 37 TeV. Study of the systematic errors in this HAWC measurement is discussed and estimated to be $\pm$50\% in the photon flux between 1 and 37 TeV. Confirmation of the Crab flux serves to establish the HAWC instrument's sensitivity for surveys of the sky. The HAWC survey will exceed sensitivity of current-generation observatories and open a new view of 2/3 of the sky above 10 TeV.Comment: Submitted 2017/01/06 to the Astrophysical Journa

Constraining the pˉ/p\bar{p}/p Ratio in TeV Cosmic Rays with Observations of the Moon Shadow by HAWC

An indirect measurement of the antiproton flux in cosmic rays is possible as the particles undergo deflection by the geomagnetic field. This effect can be measured by studying the deficit in the flux, or shadow, created by the Moon as it absorbs cosmic rays that are headed towards the Earth. The shadow is displaced from the actual position of the Moon due to geomagnetic deflection, which is a function of the energy and charge of the cosmic rays. The displacement provides a natural tool for momentum/charge discrimination that can be used to study the composition of cosmic rays. Using 33 months of data comprising more than 80 billion cosmic rays measured by the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, we have analyzed the Moon shadow to search for TeV antiprotons in cosmic rays. We present our first upper limits on the $\bar{p}/p$ fraction, which in the absence of any direct measurements, provide the tightest available constraints of $\sim1\%$ on the antiproton fraction for energies between 1 and 10 TeV.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by Physical Review