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An analysis of the forest utilization effect on the structural diversity in «El Cielo» cloud forest, Tamaulipas, Mexico

2005; National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology; Volume: 14; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5424/srf/2005142-00885

2171-9845

José Javier Corral‐Rivas, Óscar Alberto Aguirre Calderón, Javier Jiménez Pérez, Sacramento Corral-Rivas,

Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

This study intends to analyze the forest utilization effect on the structural diversity in «El Cielo» cloud forest, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The purpose was to know how the forest utilization modified the species composition, the spatial structure and the dimensional structure in this forest ecosystem. The assessment was done by means of comparing the stand structure of two experimental plots with different historical of management using several indices. These indices are derived from the neighbourhood relations between the trees that constitute an ecosystem. The basis for the calculation of these indices was the sampling method so-called here «structural group of five trees». The results indicated that the plant community covering an area of half hectare was a mixture of tropical and template trees of approximately 30 different species with a density larger than 1,000 trees ha-1. The comparative structural analysis indicated significant evidence that the forest utilization decreased the species diversity, modified the spatial distribution and changed the dimensional differentiation.