Vegetation Ordination at the Southern Chihuahuan Desert (San Luis Potosi, Mexico)

Cover data for 93 perennial plant species from fifty 1 ha sites, were used to ordinate desert vegetation in relation to 50 environmental variables at El Huizache Corridor. Cumulative variance recovered in the Bray and Curtis variance-regression ordination was substantial (80%). Community structure o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant ecology 2004-01, Vol.174 (1), p.79-87
Main Authors: Huerta-Martínez, Francisco Martín, Vázquez-García, José Antonio, García-Moya, Edmundo, López-Mata, Lauro, Vaquera-Huerta, Humberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Calcium
Climate change
Community structure
Conservation
Desert plants
Desert soils
Deserts
Endemism
Habitats
Landscape
Ordination
Organic matter
Plant communities
Plant ecology
Plant species
Plants
Soil depth
Soil ecology
Species
Species diversity
Synecology
Terrestrial ecosystems
Vegetation
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Summary:Cover data for 93 perennial plant species from fifty 1 ha sites, were used to ordinate desert vegetation in relation to 50 environmental variables at El Huizache Corridor. Cumulative variance recovered in the Bray and Curtis variance-regression ordination was substantial (80%). Community structure of desert plant communities at El Huizache Corridor may be influenced primarily by a combination of landscape and edaphic variables, which in turn may determine the distribution and abundance of moisture and nutrients, and perhaps promote habitat specialization and or competitive exclusion. Secondly, to a lesser extent, climate variables could be influencing community organization at small scale gradients, the longer the gradient the more relevant climatic factors become. First axis represented a landscape gradient; it was positively correlated to exposure, geology, slope angle, rocks, stoniness, iron, January mean temperature, and organic matter content; it was negatively correlated with latitude, longitude, soil depth, and potassium content. The second axis represented mainly a climatic gradient; it was positively correlated with mean precipitation of January, February, July, August, September, November, December, annual mean precipitation, Lang's Index, organic matter content, and stoniness. The third axis represented an edaphic gradient; it was positively correlated with electrical conductivity, Mn, Zn and elevation, and negatively correlated with pH, nitrates, Ca, and disturbance. These findings should guide conservation efforts to maintain species diversity and endemism at this area.
ISSN:1385-0237
1573-5052
DOI:10.1023/B:VEGE.0000046063.12313.74