Background:

The fundo legal (FL) represents a strip of vegetation that surrounds many towns in the Yucatan Peninsula. The main function of the FL is the provision of ecosystem services.

Hypothesis:

Does the composition and structure of the FL vegetation differ from the mature vegetation (VM) of the Yaxcabá municipal seat? / The FL and the VM are similar in terms of their floristic richness but not in their structure.

Place and dates of study:

In the VM and the vegetation of the FL of the municipal seat of Yaxcabá, Yucatán from February to July 2017.

Methods:

They were made 32 sampling units (SU) located in the predominant soil types (hollum and kankab); 24 SU were performed within the FL and 8 SU in the VM. In each SU, all individuals > 2.5 cm in diameter were recorded. The richness and diversity of species was compared between FL and VM through rarefaction to standardize the sampling effect and through a linear model and a post hoc test the structural differences between both types of vegetation could be defined.

Results:

The results revealed similarity in richness, tree density and species diversity between FL vegetation and VM. However, the basal area was significantly lower in FL.

Conclusions:

The formal differences between the vegetation structure of the FL with respect to VM show us that the sustainable use of FL is possible.