Aspectos estructurales, composición florística y caracterización ecológica del bosque de oyamel de la Sierra de Zapalinamé, Coahuila, México

Abstract

The sierra de Zapalinamé lies at the southeastern portian of the State of Coahuila, in a transitional area between the Chihuahuan Desert Region and the Sierra Madre Oriental. lt has the status of a protected natural area by the state government. The Chihuahuan desert scrub is the most common vegetation type; however, spruce forest grows where the climate conditions are cold and temperate. Ten circular plots of 1,000 m2 were established to determine the floristic composition, structure of the forest and other ecological variables. Diameter and height were measured for every tree and shrubs and herbs were recorded. Seedlings were evaluated in five plots of 2 m2 per site. Attributes of the vegetation like density, basal area and the importance value of the tree species were estimated. The spruce forest of the sierra de Zapalinamé is found between 2,668 to 3,025 m of elevation where the annual average precipitation rain varies from 560 to 600 mm and with a temperature of 12.5ºC, over litosol soils with a slope of 34% to 70%. The forest is dominated by Abies vejarii, species which grows at elevated places and another important species is Pseudotsuga menziesii. Regeneration is of a few seedlings; nevertheless, due to microclime and soil sorne regeneration is successful. A total 73 species were recorded in these forests, being the most diverse Asteraceae (15 species), Pinaceae (4) and Poaceae (4). Conservation of the spruce forest is important due to its ecological value; in addition Abies vejarii is listed under status of conservation in the Mexican red list, and also because a number endemic species of plants are in this protected area.

Vegetation Structure, Classification and Climatic Characteristics in Temperate-like Mountain Forests Dominated by Abies jaliscana in Western Mexico

“…This replacement has also been observed in montane forests of south Mexico, western Guatemala and Southeast Asia (Hartshorn, 1988;Ohsawa, 1995). It is important to mention that pines and oaks also thrive in the canopy, subcanopy and understorey, a pattern found by other researchers in the west, center and northeast of Mexico in fir forests (Sánchez-González et al, 2006;Encina-Domínguez et al, 2008;Cuevas-Guzmán et al, 2011).…”

“…In Mexico, there are several studies on structural analysis, but very few descriptive ones about floristic composition (Sánchez-González, López-Mata & Vibrans, 2006;Encina-Domínguez, Encina-Domínguez, Mata-Rocha & Valdés-Reyna, 2008;Cuevas-Guzmán et al, 2011;Guerrero-Hernández, González-Gallegos & Castro-Castro, 2014). Furthermore, there is a lack of studies, mainly in subtropical and tropical latitudes, which classify fir forest subtypes and examine changes in temperature and precipitation in relation to elevation, which in turn could correspond with changes in fir forest structure.…”

Caracterización del sotobosque en bosques densos de pino y oyamel en el Nevado de Toluca, México

“…En relación a la regeneración, este presenta un patrón de crecimiento poblacional en forma de "J" invertida, donde la densidad se concentra en las clases diamétricas inferiores y disminuye paulatinamente. Esta situación ha sido observada para otros bosques de Pinus hartwegii (Endara et al, 2012;Murrieta-Hernández, Pineda-López, Noa-Carrazana, Mata-Rosas, Zulueta-Rodríguez y Flores-Estévez, 2014) y Abies religiosa (Encina-Domínguez et al, 2008;Endara et al, 2012;Pineda-López, Ortega-Solis, Sánchez-Velásquez, Ortiz-Ceballos y Vázquez-Domínguez, 2013). La regeneración de una especie arbórea puede depender de múltiples factores, entre los que se encuentran el gremio ecológico (heliófita o esciófita), la tasa de crecimiento, mortalidad o depredación de las plántulas, la competencia inter e intraespecífica de los renuevos, así como variables ambientales, bióticas y antrópicas (Yamamoto, 2000;Villavicencio, Santiago, Godínez, Chávez y Toledo, 2012).…”

Situación actual de la vegetación de la Sierra de Zapalinamé, Coahuila, México

“…De acuerdo con Marroquín (1976b), este bosque crece en la zona de transición entre el Desierto Chihuahuense y la Sierra Madre Oriental. Con menor proporción se presenta el bosque de oyamel con el 0.94 % del área protegida, el cual es considerado por Rzedowski (1978) como parte de dos comunidades del bosque de coníferas: bosque de Abies y bosque de Pseudotsuga, aunque Arce-González & Marroquín (1985) lo nombran como bosque de Pseudotsuga-Cupressus-Abies, donde cohabitan dos especies de ambos géneros de Pinaceae, con pocos individuos de Cupressus, en bosques de laderas de exposición noroeste, en altitudes superiores a 2,700 m (Encina-Domínguez et al 2008, Encina-Domínguez 2015. Esta vegetación es reportada por Henrickson & Johnston (1986) para serranías del centro y norte del estado.…”