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Is there environmental differentiation in the Quercus-dominated forests of west-central Mexico?

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Abstract

Detailed information on 38 species and 26 environmental variables was recorded from a network of 86 permanent plots across a geographical range of 10 km, in order to determine the patterns of floristic composition in Quercus-dominated forests; to elucidate environmental differentiation in such forests; and to determine whether species are partitioning their environment. To examine likely patterns of floristic composition, a data matrix expressed as relative volume + relative density was used to run non-metric multidimensional scaling. Canonical correspondence analysis extracted the environmental variation that best correlates with the observed patterns of floristic composition. Our results indicate that congeneric Quercus individuals represent the largest proportion of the species pool in the study plots. They coexist with other species having similar ecological requirements in at least three distinct floristic groups. Examination of the two largest groups and their species compositions reveals that one floristic gradient runs across the most xeric zone of the study area, and the second major floristic gradient runs across a mesic zone. The most important environmental variable explaining the observed patterns of floristic composition is altitude, although partial canonical correspondence analysis suggests that micro-habitat heterogeneity (catena position and canopy maturity) was most significant.

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Acknowledgements

We are greatly indebted to Oscar Sánchez Jiménez, Jose María Michel Fuentes and Abel Ceja Gutiérrez for their valuable assistance during the fieldwork. To Saúl Moreno Gómez, for his great help during the early plot establishment. We thank Professor Frans Bongers, Shonil Bhagwat, Ramón Cuevas Guzmán and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions on the manuscript. Ramón Cuevas Guzmán and Luis Guzmán Hernández identified botanical material. Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO) and the Universidad de Guadalajara provided funds for the fieldwork. The senior author was supported by Conacyt (Mexican National Council for Science and Technology) and Promep (SEP) through a Doctorate Scholarship.

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  1. Centro Universitario de la Costa Sur, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Universidad de Guadalajara, Apartado Postal # 108. Autlán de Navarro, CP 48900, Jalisco, Mexico

    Miguel Olvera-Vargas, Blanca L. Figueroa-Rangel & J. Martín Vázquez-López

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  1. Miguel Olvera-Vargas
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Correspondence to Miguel Olvera-Vargas.

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Olvera-Vargas, M., Figueroa-Rangel, B.L. & Vázquez-López, J.M. Is there environmental differentiation in the Quercus-dominated forests of west-central Mexico?. Plant Ecol 211, 321–335 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-010-9792-z

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