Ecophysiology of 8 woody multipurpose species from semiarid northeastern Mexico

Plant water relations of thornscrub shrub species, north-eastern Mexico

“…The strategies include early leaf abscission, limited leaf area, an extensive and deeper root system, epidermal wax accumulation, reduction of water loss by stomatal closure and accumulation of organic and inorganic solutes (Newton et al, 1991). Although two pieces of evidence are available on plant water relations for shrub species of the north-eastern region of Mexico (Stienen et al, 1989;Gonz! alez et al, 2000), this region provides a rich opportunity to investigate ecophysiological aspects of native shrub species and their responses to changes in resource availability, particularly soil moisture content, in order to gain a better understanding of how to sustain and improve productivity.…”

Xylem water potentials of native shrubs from northeastern Mexico

“…At midday, the differences detected among shrub species (Figure 2(b)) could be explained by the physiological differences among them, as the environmental conditions were the same. However, admittedly the root and stem hydraulic resistance, leaf stomatal conductance, the number of the conducting elements, stomatal density and the morphological and anatomical characteristics of leaves and stomata could have exerted important undetermined effects on the diurnal water relations of plant tissues in this study (Stienen et al, 1989;Castro-Díez et al, 2000;Bussotti et al, 2002).…”

“…However, only three scientific publications (Stienen et al, 1989;González et al, 2000González et al, , 2004 are available on plant water relations of native species of the northeastern region of Mexico. The objectives of this study were to assess xylem water potentials and estimate the relationship between plant water potentials with soil water availability and evaporative demand components in four native shrub species.…”

Qualitative and Quantitative Characterization of Wood Fibers of Shrubs and Tree Species of the Tamaulipan Thorn Scrub, Northeastern Mexico and Its Possible Relation to Wood Quality and Utilization

“…The shrubs and trees of the Tamaulipan Thorn Scrub in the semiarid regions of the North-eastern Mexico are of great economic importance for various uses such as timber for furniture, fence, post, firewood and sources of forage for wild grazing animals by containing various macro and micro-nutrients required by the animals, herbs, medicine and reforestation [1] [2]. The utilization of wood for different purposes depends on the structure, physical and chemical characteristics of wood elements, mainly fibre cells which impart mechanical strength to the plant.…”