FLORA AND PHYTOGEOGRAPHY OF THE CAÑÓN DE ITURBIDE, NUEVO LEON, MEXICO

2013·3.8 MB·

by  María Magdalena Salinas-Rodríguez

AND
FLORA PHYTOGEOGRAPHY
OF THE
CANON
DE NUEVO
MEXICO
ITURBIDE, LEON,
Magdalena
Salinas-Rodriguezand
Maria
Eduardo
Estrada-Castillon Jose Angel
Villarreal-Quintanilla
Buenavista,
Saltillo
MEXICO
Coahuila,
Nuevo MEXICO
Linares, Le6n,
ABSTRACT
A w
y Terrestrial Region 82. floristic survey
Pausras Mexico
Clave: Caft6n de Noreste de
Iturbide, flora, fitogeografta,
The Cafion de Iturbide area located at the Gran Sierra Plegada in the State of Nuevo Leon and ranges from 700
is
m
good and whose
condition,
to 2,900 in elevation. The area covered by forests and shrublands, in relatively
is
Commission Knowledge and Use
The National for the of
Doristic components have not been studied deeply.
Region 82. represents an important area
Biodiversity (CONABIO) has designated as the Priority Terrestrial It
it
in the corridor Madre connecting the preserved forests for the transit of carnivorous spe-
of the Sierra Oriental,
and
Puma jaguar Panthera onca jaguarundi
cies such concolor
cougar
as black bear (Ursus americanus ( ),
( ),
),
maroon-fronted parrot (Rhynchopsitta
(Pu the terrisi
mayagouaroundi migration corridor to )
also serves as a
It
).
knowledge
which This study aims to contribute to the of the
endemic Madre Oriental.
is to the northern Sierra
regional
and
flora
origin.
its
J
- »«*- Res.
Inst Texas 803-8
7(2):
Study area
The was
study carried out in the Priority Terrestrial Region 82 (Arriaga-Cabrera et 2000). embraces a
al. It
o
surface area of 42,200 ha (Fig. 1) and is located at 24 40, 19"-24°55,43"N and 99°45,36M-99°59, 50"W. Its geolo-
gy is constituted mainly of sedimentary calcareous, folded, anticlinal and synclinal rock layers from the upper
cretaceous (Rzedowski 1978), giving rise to steep sierras with narrow central valleys. The dissolution of the
rock by water has formed narrow canyons within the Cation de Iturbide study area such as El Potosi, Jaures,
Canon
Caribeflo, Venado, Seco, Las Monedas, Pablillo, and La Escondida, as well as several important moun-
such La
tains, as Sierra Muralla, Sierra Borrada, Sierra Cieneguita, Sierra El Gabacho, Sierra El Novillo, and
Sierra Santa Maria (INEGI 1986, 2010). The area part of the San Femando-Soto Marina hydrographic
is la re-
gion, in the Rio San Fernando hydrographic and (CONAGUA
subregion, the Rio Conchos-Chorreras basin
The warm
2007). climate varies from (low parts) to temperate (higher parts), and from wet to dry, in this case
from West
East
to respectively. Climatic differences are caused by the Sierra Madre Oriental rising from the
Llanura
Costera del Golfo Norte (Gulf Coastal Plain) toward the Altiplano Mexicano (Mexican
Plateau), pro-
ducing a condensation
effect, that generates rains in the eastern slope of the mountain chains where fog occurs
commonly,
while the western slopes develop a “rain shadow” with dry or semi-dry climate, forming low
forest
known
of oaks, also as chaparral. The study area has three main climate types: (A)C(Wi) or semiwarm-subhu-
C(w
mid, or temperate subhumid, and
0) BSlh(x’) or semiarid-temperate (Garcia 1998). The main soils of the
cm
area are shallow lithosols, limited in depth to 10 above bedrock (FAO-UNESCO The main
1988). vegetation
mixed
types are
forest (Quercus-Pinus), conifer forest Pinus broad
( leaf forest,
), p
scrublands, and
chaparral (Alanls 2004; Velazco
2009).
and work
Field lab
Thirty sample
sites representing all the plant communities previously recognized were randomly and
selected
georeferenced. Plant specimens were
from
collected 2011
July to April 2012. All specimens were deposited in
herbarium
in the Faculty of Forest Nuevo
Sciences, Linares, Leon, Mexico
(CFNL). Taxa were using
identified
several
floristic studies for the area or near as well as monographs most
it for genera (Banda
1974; Briones 1991;
Estrada 2007; Estrada et al. 2012; Gonzalez 1972, 2003; Hernandez Luna &
1998; et 2004; Martinez Diaz
al.
&
Salas 1995; Gonzalez-Medrano &
1972; Mickel Smith
2004; Puig
1991; Rojas 1965; Velazco 2009; Villarreal
We
Estrada
2008). also consulted and used CFNL
the databases
for the herbarium, Hinton Herbarium
(Gale-
ana, and TEX/LL,
N.L.),
(Austin, Texas).
Sampled
sites were compared according A
to their plant
diversity. species matrix based on presence
(l)-absence data was used comparison among
(0) for
sites using Sorensen
Similarity Coefficient (Mueller-
&
Dumbois
Ellenberg by means
1974)
of the
polythetic
agglomerative technique (Gauch Manly
1990)
1982;
UPGMA
and
the method was
used
for cluster analysis, using the MVSP Package (KCS
2005). Vegetation types
&
are according Miranda
to Hemindez-Xolocotzi
and
(1963) Rzedowski
(1978). Floristic affinities are accord-
ing (Rzedowski
to
1962, HemSndez-Xolocotzi
1978),
(1953), Briones and
(1991), Garcia
(2009).
Floristic composition
A
of 113
total families, 410 genera, 698 and
species, 70
infraspecific taxa of vascular were
plants recorded.
(Table Appendix).
1, Families with the highest number
of
genera, number
highest
of species, and genera with the
number
highest of species are shown
in Tables and
2, 3, 4, respectively. Seven of the families (6%) include 43% and
49%
of the genera and
species, respectivelywhile
the twelve most
diversified genera 23%
include of the total genera.
The
Magnoliophyta common
are the most
Canon
plants in de
Iturbide
bile Coniferophyta and Cycadophyta are
the
less diversified groups. The
Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and
Poaceae
families are the n and
diversified families,
it
Desmodium
Euphorbia
(13), Dalea and
(12), Quercus
(9), (10) stand out as then
rsified genera.
etal.. Flora of Canon de Iturbide,
Salinas-R. I
Origin
of the and
flora phytogeography
e most °mmon
c
genera in the study area are from arid areas of the world and from Tropical America (Table
5 The
dmont
' Ple scrub community contains the highest number of genera. This type of vegetation is located
ln lower «s
a
P of the area, at the foot of the mountains, in transition -with Tamaulipan thorn scrub, and is
it
common
to find genera from warm and
such Zanthoxylum, Phoebe,
areas as Acacia, Bauhinia, Berberis, Eheretia,
^swell
as those
belonging to the American tropics such as Acaciella, Casimiroa, Caesalpinia, Amyris, Condalia,
0r
ia, Decatropis, and Commonly found
Esenbeckia, Eysenhardtia, Gochnatia, Helietta, Persea, Schaefferia.
er
baceous
species
are Capsicum, Course-
Abutilon, Acalypha, Waltheria, Phyllanthus, Priva, Tragia,
Indigofera,
tia
GlIia
Santana,
' Mimosa, and
’ Passijlora, Verbesina.
Several
genera with nearctic and temperate are most commonly found in the oak-pine forests and
affinity
Parral communities, in the highest parts of the mountains and in the western flanks, where it is common to
g
Pmus
and
Quercus as the dominant tree layer elements, associated with shrubby genera such as Juniperus,
P
^
nus
erc
’ is, Ceanothus, Prunus, Crataegus, Garrya, andJuglans, while the herbaceous layer is mainly rep-
ented by
Aster,
Conopholis, Hedeoma, Hymenoxys, Asclepias, Centaurium, Evolvulus, Hackelia, Packera, Par-
ocissus,
among
Philadelphia, Tagetes, Taraxacum, Urtica, Vitis, Artemisia, and Eryngium, others. Also, in the
Parral
community,
Quercus the genus dominant in the shrub layer, along with several genera of Rosaceae
is
tem
Perate and dry areas such as Amelanchier, Cercocarpus, Cowania, Crataegus, Vauquelinia, and
Th
e pure oak
forests found in the study area have an of neotropical elements followed by
ir
c
Table 1.F
Table 2. Families with the highest number of genera in the study area.
etal.. Flora of Canon de Iturbide, Mexico
Salinas-R.
much
nearctic origin elements. The former are better represented in the herbaceous layer by the genera Agera-
tina. Begonia, Bouvardia, Castilleja, Cheilanthes, Cologania, Desmanthus, Desmodium, Mimosa, Phaseolus, Rivina,
and and such and
Salvia, Stevia, several vines as Gonolobus, Ibervillea, Matelea, Melothria, Serjania, Smilax. Ele-
ments from temperate origin distributed in the study area are Arbutus, Carya, Celtis, Cercis, Pistacia, Prunus,
and
Quercus, Ungnadia. noteworthy the presence of ferns such as Adiantum, Anemia, Asplenium, Cheilan-
It is
many
thes, Uavea, Mildella, Pellaea, and Pleopeltis because are epiphytes adapted to live on the bark of the oaks
among
and
the litter that keeps the moisture they need to thrive.
The
southwestern shadow” and shows
portion of the study area in the “rain of the sierra evident semi-
is
arid conditions that favor the development of desert scrub plant communities, which include mostly nearctic
genera, highlighting species of Ambrosia, Baccharis, Bahia, Bouteloua, Dasylirion, Dyssodia, Lesquerella, Leuco-
phyllum, Machaeranthera, Mortonia, and Also, the xerophytic vegetation hosts the greater number of
Nissolia.
Mexican
typical genera such
as Agave, Ferocactus, Glandulia
Riparian communities are found along seasonal and permanent rivers and also in some creeks with sea-
sonal streams common
that retain moisture. The most genera from warm-areas found in these ecosystems are
Commetina,
Cyperus, Digitaria, Oplismenus, and Paspalum, but also present are genera with cosmopolitan dis-
tributions such
as Apium, Eleocharis, Lobelia, Rumex, and Samolus, and even genera from temperate origin such
as Arundo, and The most
Astranthium, Coriandrum, Equisetum, Geranium, Rorippa, Seymeria, Talinum. evi-
Iris,
dent and
and
distinctive genera in the tree layer of the riparian areas are Platanus, Salix, Sambucus.
According
to the cluster analysis and the dendrogram (Fig. based on presence-absence of species, five
2),
ntain groups
of plant associations are recognized: xeric scrublands, oak-pine forest (with different plant asso-
&
ciations), piedmont scrub, Tamaulipan thorn scrub and agricultural lands (Rzedowski 1978; Miranda
Hernandez
1963).
m
Group
I includes three sites located at xeric scrubland at an elevation of 1310 to 1500 and is repre-
sented by
the presence of the species Acacia berlandieri, A. roemeriana, Agave lecheguilla, A. striata, Berberis
lata
Echinocereus Platy<xanthus, Euphorbia antysiphilitica, Ferocactus hamatacanthus, Fraxinus greggii.
Goch°
Group
II is a heterogeneous complex of where oaks and pines are the dominant elements at an eleva-
sites
tion of 600
to 2000 m; however, shows differences. includes six subgroups of plant associations.
floristic It
it
Subgroup m
IIA
includes two dominated by 10-15 pure oak-pine temperate forests at an elevation of
sites tall
000
m. The
dominates
include Quercus polymorpha, Pinus cembroides, pseu-
Q. canbyi, Q. laceyi, Q. P.
affinis,
strobus,
associated to Carya ovata, Cercis canadensis, Juglans mollis, Juniperus deppeana, Pistacia mexicana,
Verbesina
olsenii. Subgroup IIB, made up of five sites (elevation of 1100 to 1500 m) and consists of a semi-
tfry oak
scrubland
in transition with pine forest. Subgroup lib is similar to the Subgroup IIA but with a greater
number
of
Rosaceae
The dominant subgroup Amelanchier
species. species in this are denticulata, A. paniculata,
m
myris
adrensis,
Buddleja cordata, Ceanothusfendleri, C. greggii, Dalea capitata, D. melantha, D, luteajunipe-
^gosturanaj.flaccida,
Undleya Pinus cembroides, pseudostrobus, Pistacia mexicana, Quercus
mespilioides, P.
Miformis, Q
galeanensis, and Rhus These
Q. laeta, Q. microlepis, Q. sideroxyla, Q. striatula, virens. sites are
808
Canon de
Salinas-R. et al.. Flora of 809
Comarostaphylis Croton
eguilla, polifolia, ciliato-glandulifer, Dasylirion berlandieri,Juniperus deppeana, O. engel-
mannii, Painteria eleachistophylla, Pistacia mexicana, Tecoma stans, Vauquelinia corymbosa ssp. heterodon, and
m
Subgroup
Yucca treculeana. IIF included two sites of pure oak forest located at 750 to 950 and is dominated
by Dioon angustifolium in the lower strata and by Juglans mollis, Esenbeckia berlandiri, Quercus canbyi, and
Q.
Some
rizpphylla in the higher strata. epiphytes were also recorded such as Tillandsia bartramii, recurvata, and
T.
T.usneoides.
m
m
Group III includes six sites reaching 600 to 1100 along the Cabezones-Potosi canyon, showing 4-5
a
piedmont scrub physiognomy with abundant thorny and non-thorny
tall species. Several species are charac-
community,
teristic of this plant highlighting species of the genera Acacia, Bauhinia, Buddleja,
Celtis, Cercis,
Colubrina, Cordia, Decatropis, Diospyros, Ebenopsis, Ehretia, Erythrina, Esenbeckia, Havardia, Helietta, Phoebe,
and when
Ungnadia, Zanthoxylum, but
also, adjacent riparian habitats, they share several species such as Adi-
antum
capillus-veneris, Cyperus minimae, C. odoratus, C. thyrsijlorus, Equisetum hyemale, Lobelia cardinalis,
Platanus rzedowskii, Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum, Sambucus and
nigra ssp. canadensis, Salixjaliscana,
nigra,
S.
m
Group IV medium
includes four sites located at altitudes ranging from 1500 to 1530 in agriculture
Laguna
lands in de Santa Rosa, and adjacent to the semi-dry oak scrubland. dominated by weed species in
It is
the herbaceous such
strata as Abutilon hypoleucum, Altemanthera caracasana, Amaranthus Ambrosia
hybridus.
psilostachya, Anagallis arvensis, Anoda Astragalus hypoleucus, Argemone mexicana, Bidens
cristata,
Jerulifolia,
Boerhavia
anysophylla, Bouchetia erecta, Cirsium vulgare, Calyptocarpus Dyssodia papposa, Gaura
vialis, coc-
dnea,
Helianthus annus, Ipomoea coccinea, Kallstroemia parvifolia, Lactuca serriola, Meximalvafilipes, Nicotiana
trigonophylla, Oenothera rosea, Parthenium incanum, Ricinus communis, Solanum eleagnifolium, Taraxacum
offici-
nale, Urticachamaedryoides, Verbena Carolina, and Zinnia peruviana.
V
Group
Finally, corresponds to a single site in the lowest part of the study area ranging from 600 to 650
m
on
the boundary with Tamaulipan thorny scrub. This group shows species not found in the other
site's
samples such
as Acacia amentacea, Bemardia
Acaciella angustissima, myricifolia, Caesalpinia mexicana, Capsi-
cum
annuum
var. minus, Canavallia Colubrina Croton
villosa, Celtis laevigata, C. pallida, greggii, cortesianus, C.
fruticulosus, Dyospyros
texana, Ehretia anacua, Hibiscus martianus,Karwinskia humboldtiana, Randia rhagocar-
W
and
Schaefferia
cuniefolia.
Endemism
and
protection status
The
study
area hosts at least five endemic species for Nuevo Le6n Mexican state: Notholaena leonina, living in
oak-pine
Canon
forests, in the Arroyo Seco; Verbesina olsenii, inhabiting mainly oak forest, adapted to live in
®oist
ravines, near the Caracol Waterfall; Anoda leonensis, inhabiting piedmont scrub in transition to oak for-
La
Palma
and Canon
El Caribeno; Thelocactus tulensis, recorded in the rosetophyllous desert scrub,
®°nt
scrub
near Canon
El Caribeno. In addition Dioon angustifolium, is narrowly endemic to the mountains of
de
and
Linares counties in Nuevo Le6n, and to the Sierra de San Carlos, Tamaulipas (Astorga et al 2005).
35
’ Part °f this work, a new Asteraceae species was discovered: Verbesina lanulosa (in press), which lives in
e
1 transition
between the piedmont forest and oak forests near the settlement of La Salitrera. The new species
recorded
in the piedmont scrub on rocky hillsides, with high sun exposure. From the total species known
01
this area we (NOM SEMARNAT
recorded seven species protected by Mexican laws - 059 2010) (Table
6).
CONCLUSIONS
The
heterogeneous
topography and climates over the study area allow for the development of rich plant
all
v
ersity
as
well
as contrasting plant communities and different life forms. The plains, mountains, creeks, and
different and home
variable ecosystems that are to countless species of very different origins. The
classifi^ate
cation
of
vegetation allowed us to recognize different patterns of plant association based on plant diver-
T
he
most
V*
diverse plant vegetation types were the oak and the oak-pine forest, although in this plant com-
unity
were
more
who
sampling
sites, our results agree with those of Estrada (2007), found that of all sampled
810
Journal of the Botanical Research
Institute of Texas
7(2)
Tuu
6. Species protected by Mexican law in the study a
vegetation types (which are close our study mixed oak and
to area), forests of conifer always kept greater
diver-
sity of species. Nearby areas with similar plant communities are found in the south of Nuevo Leon (Cerro Pena
Nevada) and
Tamaulipas
(Sierra de San Carlos), and both of them contain shrub and communities.
forest In
Pefta Nevada, Moreno-Talamantes recorded 485 most them
(2012) taxa, of of nearctic origin, while in the
Si-
erra de San Carlos, Martinez (1995) recorded 676 taxa, most of them from neotropical The Canon de
origin:
Iturbide shares strong similarities with both of them, but
its flora is richer in diversity since has all ecosys-
it
tems found in both areas, and it can be highlighted as an area for conservation of plant diversity and en-
its its
demism. endemic
Five species in the State of Nuevo Leon were recorded Anoda
in the area: leonensis, Carda-
mine
Dioon
auriculata,
angustifolium, Notholaena and From
leonina, Thelocactus tulensis, Verbesina olsenii. the
NOM
768
taxa recorded, seven of them are protected by 059-SEMARNAT-2010: Agave Braheaber-
bracteosa,
Dioon
landieri,
angustifolium, Echinocactus platyacanthus, Litseaglauscecens, Pinus and Thelocactus
strobiformis,
The new
tulensis. discovery of a species, Verbesina lanulosa (in press), in this area shows that more botani-
still
work
cal is necessary to complete the floristic studies of northeastern Mexico. The plant diversity recorded in
Canon
the de
Iturbide includes genera and from
species
different origins, but the tropical elements are quanti-
most
tatively the important ones, since they represent about 52% of families, 68% of genera, and 32% of the
and
species, they
are well represented in the different plant communities, piedmont oak
especially scrub, for-
811
1207,2124a