Functional Diversity in Plants: Implications for Conservation Issues of the Mexican Biodiversity

Tinoco‐Ojanguren, Clara; Andrade, José Luís; Briones, Oscar; Castellanos, Alejandro E.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90584-6_23

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 160 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The present study supports and adds new evidence to previous observations, which suggest rapid modifications that could lead to the degradation of riparian ecosystems in the region [24,29]. Evidence suggests that the main drivers for land cover changes in these ecosystems in Sonora are derived from the unregulated development of primary activities, such as agriculture and cattle ranching [7,12,102]. Our results suggest that anthropogenic activities constitute key controls for the current state of riparian ecosystems in the region.…”

Section: Fragmentation and Implications Of Habitat Losssupporting

confidence: 86%

“…The main drivers for Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULCC) are agriculture, industry, recreation and commerce [3]. LULCC processes are responsible for the shaping and restructuring of large extents of territory, affecting landscape connectivity, promoting habitat and biodiversity loss and modifying ecological function trends [4][5][6][7]. Regardless of the prominent role of LULCC in ecological processes at landscape levels, comprehensive analyses of habitat connectivity and configuration are still sparse for many key environments within large landscapes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Landscape Dynamics in an Iconic Watershed of Northwestern Mexico: Vegetation Condition Insights Using Landsat and PlanetScope Data

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Natural vegetation in arid and semi-arid environments of Northwestern Mexico has been subject to transformation due to extensive and intensive human occupation related mostly to primary activities. Keystone habitats such as riparian ecosystems are extremely sensitive to land use changes that occur in their surrounding landscape. In this study, we developed remote sensing-based land cover classifications and post-classification fragmentation analysis, by using data from Landsat’s moderate resolution sensors Thematic Mapper and Operational Land Imager (TM and OLI) to assess land use changes and the shift in landscape configuration in a riparian corridor of a dynamic watershed in central Sonora during the last 30 years. In addition, we derived a high spatial resolution classification (using PlanetScope-PS2 imagery) to assess the “recent state” of the riparian corridor. According to our results, riparian vegetation has increased by 40%, although only 9% of this coverage corresponds to obligate riparian species. Scrub area shows a declining trend, with a loss of more than 17,000 ha due to the expansion of mesquite and buffelgrass-dominated areas. The use of moderate resolution Landsat data was essential to register changes in vegetation cover through time, however, higher resolution PlanetScope data were fundamental for the detection of limited aerial extent classes such as obligate riparian vegetation. The unregulated development of anthropogenic activities is suggested to be the main driver of land cover change processes for arid ecosystems in this region. These results highlight the urgent need for alternative management and restoration projects in an area where there is almost a total lack of protection regulations or conservation efforts.

show abstract

Section: Fragmentation and Implications Of Habitat Losssupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape Dynamics in an Iconic Watershed of Northwestern Mexico: Vegetation Condition Insights Using Landsat and PlanetScope Data

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although we could not explore the effect of light incidence, the close agreement between morphometric and stomatal trait variation at the low edge of the cloud forest zone suggests a strong influence of relative humidity and light. In ferns, shade-tolerant plants have been proposed to display low phenotypic plasticity in response to changes in light availability compared to sun-tolerant plants [see references in 88 ]. However, in our study, A .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and morphological variation of tree ferns (Cyatheaceae) along an elevation gradient

Merino,

Ramírez-Barahona,

Olson

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Knowing how species and communities respond to environmental change is fundamental in the context of climate change. The search for patterns of abundance and phenotypic variation along altitudinal gradients can provide evidence on adaptive limits. We evaluated the species abundance and the variation in morphometric and stomatal characters in five tree ferns species (Cyathea fulva, C. divergens, C. myosuroides, Alsophila firma and Gymnosphaera salvinii) distributed along an elevation gradient in a well-preserved Mexican cloud forest. Variation at the community and species level was assessed using exploratory and multivariate data analysis methods. We wanted to explore if the species abundance is environmentally determined, to determine the degree of variation along the elevation gradient, to test for differences between zones and associations with elevation, humidity and soil nutrients, and to assess contribution of the intra- and interspecific variation to the community response to elevation and soil nutrients. The studied fern community showed strong species turnover along the elevation gradient, with some influence of soil nutrient concentration, supporting environmental determinism. All measured characters displayed variation along the gradient. Stomatal characters (size and density) had significantly less variation than morphometric characters (trunk diameter, stipe length and blade length), but stomatal density also shows interesting intraspecific patterns. In general, patterns within the fern community suggest a strong influence of species identity, especially of species inhabiting the lower edge of the cloud forest, which showed the clearest morphometric and stomatal patterns, associated to contrasting environments rather than to changes in elevation. The coincidence between morphometric and stomatal patterns in this area suggest hydraulic adjustments in response to contrasting environments. Our results provide evidence that tree ferns species respond to environmental changes through adjustments of morphometric plasticity and stomatal density, which is relevant to predict possible responses to variation in environmental conditions resulting from climate change.

show abstract

“…In tropical forests, environmental factors such as light intensity, relative air humidity, and soil cover by leaf litter affect spore germination, gametophyte development (Flores‐Galván, 2018; López‐Romero et al, 2016; Riaño et al, 2015; Salvador Martínez, 2014), and the abundance, growth, survival, and distribution of sporophytes, and consequently their population structure (Chazdon et al, 1996; Mehltreter et al, 2010). In the understory of the studied cloud forest, the heterogeneity of the light environment caused by clearings and forest edges favors the coexistence of species with different light requirements and habitat preferences (Riaño & Briones, 2013, 2015; Tinoco‐Ojanguren et al, 2018). Due to the very high spore production, the studied species could spread to any microsite in the forest.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population dynamics of three cloud forest ferns of different growth form

Briones

López‐Romero

Mehltreter

et al. 2022

Plant Species Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cloud forests are highly diverse mountain ecosystems, but habitat loss and fragmentation threaten many species with extinction. Demographic parameters are essential to implement effective conservation actions and to understand the mechanisms of species coexistence, but there are very few population models with transition matrices for fern species. We evaluated the demographic dynamics of three coexisting fern species of different growth form in a cloud forest in eastern central Mexico for six years. The matrix analyses showed that the populations of a trunk-forming fern (Cyathea divergens) and a short caulescent fern (Marattia laxa) were stable while the population of a trunkless, herbaceous fern (Parablechnum schiedeanum) was decreasing. Survival was the demographic process of the life cycle that contributed the most to the population growth of the three species. As expected, with shorter longevity and high precocity, P. schiedeanum exhibited the demographic pattern of herbaceous species. In contrast, with greater longevity and a longer maturation period, the demography of C. divergens and M. laxa was more comparable with that of tree species. Our results support the hypothesis that the demography of the tropical fern species can be compared with life-history strategies of angiosperms and gymnosperms.

show abstract

Functional Diversity in Plants: Implications for Conservation Issues of the Mexican Biodiversity

Cited by 5 publications

References 160 publications

Landscape Dynamics in an Iconic Watershed of Northwestern Mexico: Vegetation Condition Insights Using Landsat and PlanetScope Data

Landscape Dynamics in an Iconic Watershed of Northwestern Mexico: Vegetation Condition Insights Using Landsat and PlanetScope Data

Distribution and morphological variation of tree ferns (Cyatheaceae) along an elevation gradient

Population dynamics of three cloud forest ferns of different growth form

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About