Abstract

FOROUGHBAKHCH, R et al. Floristic diversity of a shrubland in northeastern Mexico. Phyton (B. Aires) [online]. 2013, vol.82, n.2, pp.175-184. ISSN 1851-5657.

With the objective of ecologically characterize the woody plant communities, twelve sampling sites were randomly selected based on cartographic material and digital ortophotos from the Tamaulipan matorral located in Northeastern Mexico. In each site, the minimum sampling area was determined. Thereafter quadrats of 10 x 10 m were used in variable numbers for the evaluation of the tree and shrub layers, and of 1 m² for the herbaceous layer. In each quadrat, all individuals of any species were registered, measuring its height and crown projection for the determination of density, canopy cover, frequency and importance value for each species. In order to evaluate the overall community a series of ecological indices were used: richness (Margalef), diversity (Shannon-Weiner), equitativity (Shannon), dominance (Simpson) and similarity (Sorensen and Jaccard). A total of 160 taxa pertaining to 46 families were found. The families with a greater number of taxa were the Poaceae, Asteraceae and Cactaceae with 19, 18 and 14 taxa, respectively, followed by the Fabaceae with 9 taxa, and the Euphorbiaceae and Acanthaceae with 8 taxa. The rest of the families mostly presented less than 3 taxa, and 23 of them were represented by a single taxon. The estimation of the diversity according to the Index of Shannon-Weiner (H') showed that in the herbaceous and shrub strata the communities with greater H' were the same than those of greater richness. The greater values of H' varied between 1.23-1.56. The equitativity index showed a large variation in the tree stratum of the study communities, reaching values between 0.20-0.90.

Keywords : Tamaulipan thornscrub; Diversity; Ecological index; Scrubland; Plant communities.

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