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Elevational patterns in the vascular flora of a highly diverse region in southern Mexico

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Abstract

We examined general and family-specific patterns of vascular plant richness along a large elevational gradient (0–3,670 m a.s.l.), assessed the continuity of these patterns and analysed their potential underlying causes in a high diversity region of the Sierra Madre del Sur, Oaxaca, Mexico. We used a vascular plant database constructed previously. The gradient was divided into 18 200-m elevation belts. To examine elevational patterns of richness, we used both observed and estimated (interpolated) species richness, as well as genus and family observed richness, for each belt. A generalised linear model (GLM) was used to assess the effect of altitude on area-corrected species richness (standard area = 100 km2), and a numerical classification of the elevational belts based on species richness was performed. Overall, richness at the three taxonomic levels decreased with elevation, but some individual families departed from this pattern. A sharp drop in species richness was observed at 1,800 m, and the dendrogram separated two elevational floristic groups at this elevation. The GLM revealed a significant negative effect of elevation on species richness. Despite this overall decreasing pattern for vascular plants along this extensive gradient, an examination of some family-specific patterns revealed the existence of other elevation–diversity relationships, indicating taxon-specific responses to elevation. The most noticeable discontinuity in species richness, at ca. 1,800 m, is likely related to a critical temperature isocline.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to all the people who participated in the botanical exploration and the taxonomic determination of thousands of vouchers collected in the region. The senior author thanks the Graduate Programme in Biological Sciences of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and CONACyT for a doctoral scholarship. Funding was provided by SERBO A.C. and CONACyT (Grant no. CB-2009-01-128136). The insightful comments of Robert Colwell, Alberto Gallardo-Cruz, Trudy Kavanagh, Michael Kessler, Emily Lott, Eduardo Pérez-García and two anonymous reviewers improved earlier versions of this manuscript. Edgar J. González, Gilberto Hernández and Marco A. Romero provided assistance in model fitting, GIS use and figure preparation, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociedad para el Estudio de los Recursos Bióticos de Oaxaca, A.C, Camino Nacional No. 80-b, San Sebastián Tutla, Oaxaca, 71246, Mexico

    Silvia H. Salas-Morales

  2. Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, 04510, D.F., Mexico

    Silvia H. Salas-Morales & Jorge A. Meave

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  1. Silvia H. Salas-Morales
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  2. Jorge A. Meave
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Correspondence to Silvia H. Salas-Morales.

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Salas-Morales, S.H., Meave, J.A. Elevational patterns in the vascular flora of a highly diverse region in southern Mexico. Plant Ecol 213, 1209–1220 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-012-0077-6

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