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

Simple item page
AudienciaPúblico en generales_ES
CoberturaMéxicoes_ES
Fecha de ingreso2026-10-05T16:33:31Z
Fecha de publicación2023-01-01
ResumenBackground: 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: We explored how successional stages after land abandonment mediated the species richness, species diversity (alpha and beta), and ecological importance value index on four areas of Tamaulipan thornscrub. We selected four areas that differed in time of abandonment: 10, 20, 30, and >30 years. The first three areas were used for cattle grazing, whereas the >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 x 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.es_ES
Doihttps://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15438es_ES
URIhttps://riuat.uat.edu.mx/handle/123456789/5330
Idiomaenes_ES
EditorialPEERJ INCes_ES
RelaciónPeerJes_ES
URL relacionadohttps://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15438es_ES
DerechosAcceso abierto (Metadatos de producción científica)es_ES
Licenciahttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2es_ES
FuentePeerJ
Palabra claveCorresponding authores_ES
Palabra claveAcademic editores_ES
Palabra claveMykola Karabiniukes_ES
Palabra claveAdditional Information andes_ES
Palabra clavepage 12es_ES
Palabra claveCopyrightes_ES
Palabra claveDistributed underes_ES
Palabra clavethornscrubes_ES
Palabra claveVegetation disturbancees_ES
Palabra claveVegetation structurees_ES
Palabra claveCattle grazinges_ES
Palabra claveEcological successiones_ES
Palabra clavePlant dynamicses_ES
Palabra clavePlant diversityes_ES
Palabra claveTamaulipan thornscrubes_ES
TítuloLand abandonment as driver of woody vegetation dynamics in Tamaulipan thornscrub at Northeastern Mexicoes_ES
TipoArtículoes_ES
ArbitradoHa sido Arbitradoes_ES
AutorAlanis-Rodriguez, Eduardo
AutorMartinez-Adriano, Cristian A.
AutorSanchez-Castillo, Laura
AutorRubio-Camacho, Ernesto Alonso
AutorValdecantos, Alejandro
AutorAlanis-Rodriguez, Eduardoes_ES
AutorMartinez-Adriano, Cristian A.es_ES
AutorSanchez-Castillo, Lauraes_ES
AutorRubio-Camacho, Ernesto Alonsoes_ES
AutorValdecantos, Alejandroes_ES
InstituciónUniversidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas
InstituciónUniversidad Autónoma de Tamaulipases_ES
URL relacionadahttps://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15438
Tipo de artículoIndexado
Tipo de artículoIndexadoes_ES
Volumen11es_ES

Files

Collections

Documentación Cientifica