Pollen Types Reveal Floral Diversity in Natural Honeys from Campeche, Mexico

The Yucatan Peninsula, located in southern Mexico, is a central honey-producing region with extraordinary biodiversity of melliferous plants. Approximately 900 plant species have been described as being a source of nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinators. They provide ecosystem services that help to keep plant biodiversity high and mitigate the effects of climate change. This study aimed to reveal the diversity of the pollen content in honey through a melissopalynological analysis of 22 honey samples collected in February–August 2021 from the north-central area of Campeche, Mexico. The extraction of pollen from the honey was carried out using standard methods for melissopalynological analysis. The honeys were classified by botanical origin to determine their floral sources and a diverse spectrum of 19 pollen types from 13 families was identified. Only eight were predominant: Milleria quinqueflora, Gymnopodium floribundum, Terminalia buceras, Amaranthus spinosus, Zea mays, Talisia floresii, Guazuma ulmifolia, and Croton icche. Our research shows the high quality of the honey analyzed and highlights the diversity and critical role of local melliferous flora and crops in beekeeping development in southern Mexico. The results in this study are useful for confirming the botanical origins of honey, generating information for designing nature conservation and agroecosystem management strategies, and increasing the knowledge of beekeepers in Campeche, Mexico

Análisis bibliométrico de la investigación científica sobre modelos para estimar evapotranspiración en cultivos agrícolas

The objective was to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution of the production of scientific articles that used some methodology for the estimation of potential evapotranspiration in an agricultural crop (ETP). We compiled 475 texts available on the Web of Science. The models to estimate the most frequent ETP were those proposed by FAO-Penman-Monteith (31.79%), Pemnan-Monteith (26.11%), and Thornthwaite (11.37%), and were applied mainly to maize, sorghum, soybean and potato crops, in countries such as the United States, China, Brazil, and India, agricultural leaders worldwide. It was found that there was an exponential growth in the publication of texts from 1984 to 2020 (R2 = 0.7624), which demonstrates the relevance of the topic as a mechanism to make water use more efficient.El objetivo fue analizar la evolución espacio-temporal de la producción de artículos científicos que utilizaron alguna metodología para la estimación de la evapotranspiración potencial en un cultivo agrícola (ETP). Se recopilaron 475 artículos científicos disponibles en la Web of Science. Los modelos para estimar la ETP de mayor frecuencia fueron los propuestos por FAO-Penman-Monteith (31.79%), Pemnan-Monteith (26.11%), y Thornthwaite (11.37%), y se aplicaron principalmente a cultivos de maíz, sorgo, soya y papa, en países como Estados Unidos, China, Brasil, e India, lideres agrícolas a nivel mundial. Se encontró que ocurrió un crecimiento exponencial en la publicación de los textos de 1984 a 2020 (R2 = 0.7624), lo que denota la relevancia del tema como un mecanismo para eficientizar el agua

Using splines in the application of the instantaneous profile method for the hydrodynamic characterization of a tropical agricultural Vertisol

An important aspect in the study and understanding of the physical phenomena involved in water movement in the soil-plant system is the need to carry out the hydrodynamic characterization (HC) of non-saturated field soils. Studies of this type have been widely developed in soils of temperate climates, but they are infrequent in the tropics, hence there is a need for further research in tropical Vertisols under field conditions. Hydrodynamic characterization consists of finding the functional relationship between soil hydraulic conductivity (K), matric head (h) and soil moisture content (θ), widely known as K(θ) and h(θ) relationships, being the main objective of this study. The instantaneous profile method (IPM) was applied, in which splines were used for the HC of a bare, tropical agricultural field soil classified as a Vertisol. Field measurements of h and θ were made at five different soil depths (0.15, 0.30, 0.45, 0.60 and 0.90 m) and values of K at the same depths were estimated with the IPM, which allowed for the estimation of pairs of values of the K(θ) relationships in the soil profile. Unlike in other studies with the same objective, the use of splines was proposed to represent the spatial variation of the H(z) and θ(z) functions in the IPM. Subsequently, the van Genuchten equation was adjusted to the specific values determined for the h(θ) relations (r 2 value ranged from 0.65 to 0.87), and the Ks values and the point data of K and θ were used to estimate the accuracy of the equation proposed by Mualem–van Genuchten (M-vG): in this case negative values for the exponent l of the M-vG function were determined for the five soil depths under study, ranging from –7.04 (0.45 m deep), to -13.26 (0.90 m deep). In addition, pedotransfer functions for tropical soils proposed in the literature, based on different soil physical properties, were used to estimate the h(θ) and K(θ) relationships and the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks). Best square root of the mean squared error (SRMSEθ) observed was 0.02853 cm 3 cm -3 at 0.15 m depth and 0.02262 cm 3 cm -3 at 0.9 m depth for h(θ) relations, and in all cases, the SRMSEk values are less than 0.0018 m day -1 for K(θ) relationships. The results reveal the utility of splines in the IPM for characterizing the soil profile K(θ) relationships in field studies, as well as the need for more research to the generation of pedotransfer functions in tropical Vertisols