Abstract

CASTELLANOS-CASTRO, Carolina  and  BONFIL SANDERS, Consuelo. Field establishment and initial growth of cuttings of three species of Bursera Jacq. ex. L.. Rev. mex. de cienc. forestales [online]. 2010, vol.1, n.2, pp.93-108. ISSN 2007-1132.

Bursera trees are characteristic and dominant elements of many tropical dry forests in Mexico. Therefore, it is important to develop protocols that facilitate the introduction of plants either for plantations or during the ecological restoration of disturbed sites. In this work we evaluated field survival and growth of rooted cuttings of three Bursera species: B. linanoe, B. glabrifolia and B. copallifera , in sites with different soil characteristics. At the onset of the rainy season, thirty rooted cuttings per species/site were planted in each of two disturbed sites; growth was evaluated during this season (four months) by means of a classical growth analysis and by registering height and diameter of cuttings in the field each month. Additionally, survival censuses were carried out during a year. At the end of the rainy season, B. linanoe s howed the highest survival (77.5%) and B. copallifera the lowest (42.3%); height and diameter increments were observed only in B. linanoe . In relation to biomass allocation, leaf variables were sensitive to the effect of site quality, while root biomass and root/shoot ratio showed significant increments in all sites. A year after sowing, survival diminished in all species, but the initial species survival pattern was kept. Survival was higher in sites where biomass increment and root development were higher during the growing season, while in those sites where growth was limited survival was also low.

Keywords : Growth analysis; tropical dry forest; Bursera; site quality; Mexico; ecological restoration.