Composition, structure and diversity of shrublands in central Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Alanís-Rodríguez, Eduardo; Jiménez-Pérez, Javier; González‐Rodríguez, Humberto; Canizales-Velázquez, Pamela A.; Mora‐Olivo, Arturo; Mata-Balderas, José Manuel; Salas, Julián

doi:10.17129/botsci.60

Cited by 9 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…We found 27 woody species in this study which represents the same number of plant species reported by Jiménez-Pérez et al (2009) and similar to the species recorded by Alanís-Rodríguez et al (2013 , 2015b) (30 plant species) in the Tamaulipan thornscrub. While Canizales-Velázquez et al (2009) reported 52 plant species in a piedmont scrub (a value almost two times higher than our results).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Land abandonment as driver of woody vegetation dynamics in Tamaulipan thornscrub at Northeastern Mexico

Alanís-Rodríguez

Martínez-Adriano

Sánchez‐Castillo

et al. 2023

PeerJ

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Background Vegetation structure is defined as the temporal and spatial distribution of plant species in a particular site. Vegetation structure includes vertical and horizontal distribution and has been widely used as an indicator of successional changes. Ecological succession plays an essential role in the determination of the mechanisms that structure plant communities under anthropogenic disturbances. After an anthropogenic disturbance, such as grazing, forests follow changes in the original composition and vegetation structure, which eventually could restore some of their attributes to become mature forests again. To know how the time of abandonment affects woody plant communities, we ask the following questions: (1) How does the species richness, diversity, and vertical structure (A index) change concerning the time of abandonment? (2) Are species similarities among woody vegetation communities determined by land abandonment? (3) Which woody species have the highest ecological importance in each successional stage? Methods We explored how successional stages after land abandonment mediated the species richness, species diversity (alpha and beta), and ecological importance value index on four areas of Tamaulipan thornscrub. We selected four areas that differed in time of abandonment: 10, 20, 30, and >30 years. The first three areas were used for cattle grazing, whereas the >30-year area was selected as a control since it does not have a record of disturbance by cattle grazing or agriculture. During the summer of 2012, we randomly established four square plots (40 m × 40 m) in each area, separated at least 200 m from each other. In each plot, we recorded all woody individuals per species with a basal diameter ≥1 cm at 10 cm above ground level. We estimated species richness indices, species diversity (alpha and beta), and ecological importance value index. Results We recorded 27 woody species belonging to 23 genera and 15 families. Fabaceae accounted for 40% of the species. Acacia farnesiana was the most important and abundant species in the first three successional stages. We suggested that older successional stages of Tamaulipan thornscrub promote woody plant communities, characterized by a higher complex structure than younger communities. We observed the highest species similarity between the sites with a closer time of abandonment, while the lowest similarity was shown between the sites with extreme time of abandonment. We conclude that Tamaulipan thornscrub shows a similar trend of ecological succession to other dry forests and the time of abandonment has a high mediation on plant dynamics in the Tamaulipan thornscrub. Also, we stand out the importance of secondary forests for Tamaulipan thornscrub woody plant communities. Finally, we recommended future studies include aspects of regeneration speed, the proximity of mature vegetation, and the interactions of plants with their seed dispersers.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Land abandonment as driver of woody vegetation dynamics in Tamaulipan thornscrub at Northeastern Mexico

Alanís-Rodríguez

Martínez-Adriano

Sánchez‐Castillo

et al. 2023

PeerJ

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“…In addition, most of the thornless species tend to be concentrated in the areas of low hills (Pequeño-Ledezma et al 2017). Considering the existing affinity between piedmont scrub and MET (Alanís-Rodríguez et al 2015a), and the physical-biological characteristics found in the present investigation, it could be concluded that the plant association studied corresponds to a transitional plant community between MET and piedmont scrub.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 48%

Composition and structure of a low semi-thorn shrubland in Northeastern Mexico

Vargas-Vázquez

Sanchez-Rangel²,

Vázquez-Reyes³

et al. 2022

Bot. Sci.

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Background: The plant community in southern Texas and the adjacent region in Mexico is Tamaulipan thornscrub (MET). However, the recently published proposals for quantitative hierarchical classification have evidenced the presence of more communities and the need for quantitative descriptions of these associations to determine their conservation status. Question: What is the structure and floristic composition of a semi-thorn shrubland in Reynosa’s northwestern region? Studied species: Tamaulipan low semi-thorn scrubland. Study site and dates: Hills in Reynosa’s northwestern region (Tamaulipas), Mexico. August 2018-July 2019. Methods: Abundance, height and coverage of each plant species were measured on 33 plots of 10 × 10 m. Horizontal structure was analyzed by Importance Value Index, vertical structure was estimated through a modification of the Pretzsch Index and in addition alpha diversity indices were calculated. Results: Richness was 55 species, within 54 genera and 25 families. The importance values were centered mainly in small, spineless shrub species (Lippia graveolens, Calliandra conferta, Turnera diffusa and Krameria ramosissima). The vertical structure presented four defined strata with 50 % of species equally represented in all strata and the remaining 50 % restricted to a single stratum (A = 2.86, Amax = 5.39, Arel = 52.98 %). The species with the highest proportional density were distributed only in stratum IV (0-1.12 m). Conclusions: The community is a clearly defined low semi-thorn scrubland. The structural characteristics indicate that it can be a possible transition plant association between MET and piedmont scrub. This reinforces the proposals of the recently published classification systems. Translate stop Translate stop

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“…Since scrubland and grasslands are not considered as forest (FAO 2010 ), their losses are sometimes overlooked. However, scrubland is the most widespread natural cover in Mexico (Rzedowski 2006 ; Alanís-Rodríguez et al 2015 ) and is undergoing one of the largest rates of depletion in Mexico (Velázquez et al 2003 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying hotspots of land use cover change under socioeconomic and climate change scenarios in Mexico

Mendoza‐Ponce

Corona-Núñez²,

Galicia

et al. 2018

Ambio

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This study identifies the hotspots of land use cover change (LUCC) under two socioeconomic and climate change scenarios [business as usual (BAU) and a pessimistic scenario] at the national level for Mexico for three-time periods. Modelling suggests that by 2050 grassland and tropical evergreen forest will be the most endangered ecosystems, having lost 20-33% (BAU) or 43-46% (pessimistic scenario) of their extent in comparison to 1993. Agricultural expansion would be the major driver of LUCC, increasing from 24.4% of the country in 1993 to 30% (BAU) or 34% (pessimistic) in 2050. The most influential variables were distance from roads and human settlements, slope, aridity, and evapotranspiration. The hotspots of LUCC were influenced by environmental constraints and socioeconomic activities more than by climate change. These findings could be used to build proposals to reduce deforestation, including multiple feedbacks among urbanization, industrialization and food consumption.

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Composition, structure and diversity of shrublands in central Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Cited by 9 publications

References 21 publications

Land abandonment as driver of woody vegetation dynamics in Tamaulipan thornscrub at Northeastern Mexico

Land abandonment as driver of woody vegetation dynamics in Tamaulipan thornscrub at Northeastern Mexico

Composition and structure of a low semi-thorn shrubland in Northeastern Mexico

Identifying hotspots of land use cover change under socioeconomic and climate change scenarios in Mexico

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