TY - JOUR
T1 - Factors affecting woody plant species diversity of fragmented seasonally dry oak forests in the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca, Mexico
AU - Aguilar-Santelises, Remedios
AU - Castillo, Rafael F.Del
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Raúl Rivera for field and cartographic work, and Adriadna Ferrer, Soledad Iglesias, Remedios Martínez, Hugo Nieto, Adriana Pacheco, and Victoria Pérez for field work. Suzanna Elkin helped us with the English version. The project was funded by grants from the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (SIP and COFAA), and the European Commission INCO V Program (REFORLAN FP6-2004-INCO-DEV-3 032132). We acknowledge the valuable comments of María Luisa Martínez and two anonymous reviewers. We are especially grateful to the people of Santiago Huauclilla, Santiago Tilantongo, and San Antonio Nduayaco (Santiago Apoala municipal agency), Nochixtlán District villages, who allowed us to carry out this work in their municipalities.
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - We explored the relationship between fragment area, topographic heterogeneity, and disturbance intensity with tree and shrub species diversity in seasonally dry oak forest remnants in the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca, Mexico. The fragments are distributed in a matrix of eroded lands and crop fields, have a complex topography, and are disturbed by plant extraction and trail opening. Sampling was conducted in 12 fragments from 12-3 211 ha. Topographic heterogeneity was estimated by the fragmentfs standard deviation in slope-aspect, slope, and altitude. The density of stumps and roads were used as estimators of disturbance intensity. Fisherfs diversity ranked from 0.95 to 4.55 for the tree layer; and 2.99 to 8.51, for the shrub layer. A structural equation model showed that the diversity of woody plants increases with topographic heterogeneity and disturbance in the remnants. When these 2 variables were considered, diversity tended to decrease with fragment size probably because smaller fragments have a greater perimeter-to-area ratio and therefore proportionally offer more opportunities for pioneer species colonization. Indeed, the tree-to shrublayer diversity ratio increased with fragment size. Conservation strategies in fragmented forests must consider the fragments environmental heterogeneity, the disturbance type and intensity, and the species to be preserved.
AB - We explored the relationship between fragment area, topographic heterogeneity, and disturbance intensity with tree and shrub species diversity in seasonally dry oak forest remnants in the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca, Mexico. The fragments are distributed in a matrix of eroded lands and crop fields, have a complex topography, and are disturbed by plant extraction and trail opening. Sampling was conducted in 12 fragments from 12-3 211 ha. Topographic heterogeneity was estimated by the fragmentfs standard deviation in slope-aspect, slope, and altitude. The density of stumps and roads were used as estimators of disturbance intensity. Fisherfs diversity ranked from 0.95 to 4.55 for the tree layer; and 2.99 to 8.51, for the shrub layer. A structural equation model showed that the diversity of woody plants increases with topographic heterogeneity and disturbance in the remnants. When these 2 variables were considered, diversity tended to decrease with fragment size probably because smaller fragments have a greater perimeter-to-area ratio and therefore proportionally offer more opportunities for pioneer species colonization. Indeed, the tree-to shrublayer diversity ratio increased with fragment size. Conservation strategies in fragmented forests must consider the fragments environmental heterogeneity, the disturbance type and intensity, and the species to be preserved.
KW - Fragmentation
KW - Human disturbance
KW - Seasonally dry oak forest
KW - Species-area relationship
KW - Structural equation modeling
KW - Topographic heterogeneity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84883591763&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.7550/rmb.30458
DO - 10.7550/rmb.30458
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:84883591763
SN - 1870-3453
VL - 84
SP - 575
EP - 590
JO - Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad
JF - Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad
IS - 2
ER -