Diversity and ecological importance of tree vegetation in El Tecuan Park in Durango

Abstract

Protected natural areas look for the conservation of biodiversity. The objective of the study was to describe the tree species diversity and its ecological importance in the El Tecuan Ecological Park in Durango, Mexico. A systematic stratified sampling was carried out with 168 circular sites of 1,000 m² each, distributed in 511.16 hectares of the Park, representing a sampling intensity of 3.2%. At each site, all individuals with a diameter at breast height greater or equal than 7.5 cm were measured. The tree species diversity was estimated with the Shannon index, while the ecological importance of the species was described with the parameters abundance relative, based on the tree density, and the ecological importance value. Results showed the presence of four genera: Arbutus (Ericaceae), Juniperus (Cupressaceae), Pinus (Pinacea), and Quercus (Fagacea). The Shannon index was of 1.89, suggesting mid to high tree species diversity. The observed growing stock was of 153.73 m³ ha^-1 and the dominant diameter and height classes were 10 cm and 5 m, respectively. The Pinus genus had greater richness with nine species; of which P. cooperi was the one that presented the highest values ​​of density (32.15%), dominance (37.77%) and of ecological importance value (28.23%), however, Quercus sideroxyla was the one that registered the highest relative frequency (18%). The results obtained will allow the development of sustainability actions for the conservation of tree species diversity I the study area.