Uso y manejo de le？a combustible en viviendas de seis localidades de Yucatán, México

the consumption patterns of domestic firewood was analyzed in 1153 homes of six localities of yucatan, mexico, through questionnaires structured applied key informants and field samplings in the extraction sites. in the studied area a high heterogeneity was found, depending on the floristic composition of the site, as well as the relative distance from the place to the metropolis; both factors modify the consumption habits. the average consumption of firewood in the six studied places is of 2,06 kg/day/person, coming from the neighbor vegetation, as well as from the cultivation field and the particular orchards. the recollection is made at a mean distance of 3,8 km from the towns. the basic transportation is by tricycles, the direct load in the collector's back and by truck. the firewood is collected basically as fallen or standing dry material, due to its low relative weight, transporting easiness and rapid ignition. the extracted firewood is used basically for the domestic consumption in the cooking of foods and water boiling. the interviewed users have preference for 41 woody species as fuel, but the main ones are: acacia gaumeri, havardia albicans, lysiloma latisiliquum, gymnopodium floribundum, bursera simaruba, caesalpinia gaumeri, conocarpus erectus and piscidia piscipula, due to their higher abundance, flammability, duration in the fire and low smoke emissions.