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The Evolution of North American Deserts and the Uniqueness of Cuatro Ciénegas

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Plant Diversity and Ecology in the Chihuahuan Desert

Part of the book series: Cuatro Ciénegas Basin: An Endangered Hyperdiverse Oasis ((CUCIBA))

Abstract

With an area of less than 600 km2, the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin harbors one of the most diverse desert landscapes in Mexico. On the general aridity pattern of the Chihuahuan Desert, limited by a very short season of scant summer rain, a unique geology of gypsum soils is superimposed, dotted by montane sky islands where relicts of temperate vegetation that occupied the Mexican Plateau still survive. Plants here show remarkable adaptations to this unique desert environment, including tolerance to gypsum and salinity, seed retention (serotiny) during the dry season, thick, isolateral leaves, and a panoply of different life-forms, including desert annuals, stem- and leaf-succulents, microphyllous shrubs, desert perennial with photosynthetic stems, and drought-deciduous trees, and phreatophytes, tapping the deep with powerful pivot roots. This chapter analyzes the evolution of this diversity of life-forms in the heart of the Chihuahuan Deserts, and discusses the challenges and opportunities it offers for conservation and sustainable resource use.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA

    Exequiel Ezcurra & Lorena Villanueva-Almanza

  2. Evolution and Ecology Department, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Alejandra Martínez-Berdeja

Authors
  1. Exequiel Ezcurra
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  2. Alejandra Martínez-Berdeja
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  3. Lorena Villanueva-Almanza
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Exequiel Ezcurra .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico

    Maria C. Mandujano

  2. Departmento Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico

    Irene Pisanty

  3. Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico

    Luis E. Eguiarte

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Ezcurra, E., Martínez-Berdeja, A., Villanueva-Almanza, L. (2020). The Evolution of North American Deserts and the Uniqueness of Cuatro Ciénegas. In: Mandujano, M., Pisanty, I., Eguiarte, L. (eds) Plant Diversity and Ecology in the Chihuahuan Desert. Cuatro Ciénegas Basin: An Endangered Hyperdiverse Oasis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44963-6_3

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