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Classification and ordination of main plant communities along an altitudinal gradient in the arid and temperate climates of northeastern Mexico

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Abstract

Quantitative data on the ecology of the main plant communities along an altitudinal gradient in northeastern Mexico were obtained with the aim of identifying the most important environmental variables that affect plant distribution and composition. The main threats to these communities were also investigated. Importance value index (IVi) of the 39 most important species and 16 environmental variables were recorded at 35 altitudinal gradients each spaced at intervals of at least 100-m altitude. Classification and ordination of vegetation showed six well-differentiated but overlapping plant communities: alpine meadow, cold conifer forest, mesic mixed forest, xeric scrub, Tamaulipan piedmont scrub, and halophytic grassland. Altitude, minimum and average temperatures, and organic matter content are the main variables affecting the plant distribution in northeastern Mexico. Urban growth, mechanized agriculture, and changes in land use are the main threats in the short and medium term to plant communities in this area. Climate change also seems to be having an impact at present or in the near future as shown by the presence of exotic shrubs from warmer areas in mesic and temperate areas inhabited by oak and oak-pine forest.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Carmen Yen and Josué Estrada for field assistance and the Programa Interinstitucional para el Fomento a la Investigación (PIFI) of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Km 145 Carretera Nacional Linares-Cd. Victoria, A.P. 41, Linares, Nuevo León, 67700, Mexico

    Eduardo Estrada Castillón, María Magdalena Salinas Rodríguez, Humberto González Rodríguez & César Martín Cantú Ayala

  2. Departamento de Botánica, Ecología y Fisiología Vegetal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de La Laguna, E-38206, Islas, Canarias, Spain

    José Ramón Arévalo

  3. Departamento de Botánica, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Blvd. Antonio Narro, s/n, Buenavista, Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

    José Ángel Villarreal Quintanilla & Juan Antonio Encina-Domínguez

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  1. Eduardo Estrada Castillón
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  2. José Ramón Arévalo
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  3. José Ángel Villarreal Quintanilla
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  4. María Magdalena Salinas Rodríguez
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  5. Juan Antonio Encina-Domínguez
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  6. Humberto González Rodríguez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eduardo Estrada Castillón.

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Communicated by: Beverley Glover

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Castillón, E.E., Arévalo, J.R., Quintanilla, J.Á.V. et al. Classification and ordination of main plant communities along an altitudinal gradient in the arid and temperate climates of northeastern Mexico. Sci Nat 102, 59 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-015-1306-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-015-1306-3

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