Daughter cladodes significantly hasten the effects of drought on mother cladodes by competition for the water supply and thus decrease daily carbon gain by mother cladodes, mainly by inhibiting phase IV of CAM.

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Ferocactus histrix is a barrel cactus that is widespread in Mexico. A population located inLlanos de Ojuelos, a semiarid zone representative of many disturbed regions in northcentral Mexico, was studied. Over a period of 10 years (1997 to 2007), the average number of individuals decreased from 21.95 to 3.53 plants per 300 m 2 . A change in population size structure was also registered over this period of time. In 2008, a plot selected on the basis of plant abundance was established within the population and a genetic analysis was conducted with ISTR and ISSR markers. This analysis revealed low levels of genetic diversity (expected heterozygosity (HE) = 0.073, Shannon index (I) = 0.113 and HE = 0.178, I = 0.271, respectively) compared with those of most studied cacti species. The genetic diversity between the different life stages was also evaluated, and a gradual decrease in levels of genetic variation was observed from adults to juveniles and seedlings ( HE = 0.130, I = 0.192 to HE = 0.103, I = 0.157). These differences, however, were not significant. Loci fixation and a decrease in the frequency of rare alleles were observed in seedling and juvenile classes. The decline in genetic variation may be associated with recent bottlenecks experienced by the population of F. histrix. If the sizes of local populations of F. histrix continue to decrease, genetic variation will be gradually lost, and the risk of extinction will increase.

El área protegida Sierra de Quila en Jalisco posee una extensa red de arroyos permanentes y temporales donde los bosques de galería mantienen importantes procesos ecológicos y de conectividad biológica. Este trabajo describe su estructura florística arbórea en siete arroyos ubicados en el intervalo altitudinal de 1 876 y 2 200 m. Se establecieron 29 sitios de muestreo de 500 m2 cada uno (1.45 ha) en los que se midieron todos los individuos leñosos >7 cm de diámetro (DN). Se registraron 881 árboles, pertenecientes a 35 especies de 17 familias, entre los taxa dominantes se registraron Alnus acuminata, Clethra hartwegii, Pinus devoniana, Prunus serotina, Styrax ramirezii y Salix bonplandiana. La riqueza específica entre localidades varió de 10 a 22 especies, mientras que el Índice de Diversidad Shannon-Wiener fue de 1.8 a 2.6 nats y el de dominancia de Simpson de 0.12 a 0.48. El análisis de agrupamiento y el análisis de escalonamiento multidimensional no métrico (NMDS) evidenciaron 40 % de similitud florística entre arroyos. Se observaron diferencias en la densidad de especies latifoliadas entre sitios (p < 0.025), esto se confirma tanto por la disimilitud en la abundancia promedio de los taxa entre los lugares con vertiente norte y sur (PERMANOVA, F = 2.45, p = 0.0001), como la registrada para la altitud de los sitios (PERMANOVA, F= 1.71, p = 0.004).