Abstract

GONZALEZ CUBAS, Rigoberto et al. Tree diversity and structure in an Abies vejarii Martínez at the south of Nuevo León state. Rev. mex. de cienc. forestales [online]. 2018, vol.9, n.45, pp.36-65. ISSN 2007-1132.  https://doi.org/10.29298/rmcf.v9i45.142.

To evaluate species diversity and tree density in natural forests of Abies vejarii in south Nuevo León, a directed sampling was applied in four Permanent Forest Research Sites of 2 500 m2, at 100 m high between each community. Tree diameter information was recorded for normal diameters greater than 7.5 cm. Species composition, diversity, density of individuals, basal area and dominance by species between altitudinal gradient were determined. A statistical analysis was performed with the hypothesis of equality of medians with Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test; the effect of distance at altitude was evaluated by means of species rarefaction curves and tablecloth tests. It was a total of 553 individuals of 7 families, 10 genera and 15 species. Pinaceae and Fagaceae reached the highest importance value index; the first contributed with most species. The average forest density was 523 ha-1 individuals with an average basimetric area of 30.44 m2ha-1. The Shannon-Weiner index (H ') varied from 1.47 to 1.76. The mantel test did not recognize significant differences in the distance between the communities (p> 0.05); the Kruskal-Wallis test and the rarefaction curves revealed that the richness of species varied significantly (p <0.05). The most frequent diameters are less than 40 cm. It is concluded that the greatest diversity of species occurred in the lower elevation community and the structure corresponds to that of an irregular mature forest without management.

Keywords : Abies vejarii Martínez; rarefaction curves; altitudinal gradient; diversity indexes; Kruskal-Wallis test; tablecloth test.