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

PeerJ

article

Eduardo Alanís-Rodríguez¹  Cristian A. Martínez-Adriano¹  Laura Sanchez-Castillo²  Ernesto Alonso Rubio-Camacho³  Alejandro Valdecantos⁴ 

[1] Faculty of Forestry, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon;Faculty of Engineering and Science, Autonomous University of Tamaulipas;Experimental Field Centro Altos de Jalisco, National Institute of Research for Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock;Department of Ecology, University of Alicante

关键词: Cattle grazing;    Ecological succession;    Plant dynamics;    Plant diversity;    Tamaulipan thornscrub;    Vegetation disturbance;    Vegetation structure;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.15438

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

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 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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY