tailieunhanh - Environmental and soil variables affecting the structure and floristic woody composition of oak forests of northeastern Mexico

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of environmental and soil factors on the structure and floristic woody composition of oak forests. Oak forests of the Sierra de Zapalinamé in northeastern Mexico (25°N) are distributed in canyons and northwest slopes with higher humidity, surrounded by montane chaparral. | Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Research Article Turk J Agric For (2018) 42: 262-271 © TÜBİTAK doi: Environmental and soil variables affecting the structure and floristic woody composition of oak forests of northeastern Mexico 1, 2 Juan Antonio ENCINA-DOMÍNGUEZ * , José Ramón ARÉVALO SIERRA , 1 3 Eduardo ESTRADA-CASTILLÓN , Miguel MELLADO BOSQUE 1 Faculty of Forestry Sciences, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Linares, Nuevo Leon, Mexico 2 Department of Botany, Ecology, and Plant Physiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain 3 Department of Animal Nutrition, Antonio Narro Agrarian Autonomous University, Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of environmental and soil factors on the structure and floristic woody composition of oak forests. Oak forests of the Sierra de Zapalinamé in northeastern Mexico (25°N) are distributed in canyons and northwest slopes with higher humidity, surrounded by montane chaparral. We carried out a vegetation inventory across an altitudinal gradient. All trees with diameter at breast height of ≥3 cm were identified and measured. In addition, the cover of understory species was measured in each plot. Using multivariate techniques, we detected two oak forest associations: Quercus greggii - Q. mexicana forest and Q. saltillensis - Q. laeta forest. The forests studied are rich in woody species, including 19 tree and 50 shrub species. The number of tree species decreased at lower elevations, but the shrub species increased. Environmental variables evaluated included elevation, precipitation, temperature, soil pH and electrical conductivity, and soil percentage of sand, clay, and silt. All these variables revealed significant differences for the two oak forest associations. With .