Diversidad, estructura y composición de las cubiertas del suelo de la Zona de Restauración y Protección Ambiental Cañadas del Río Chiquito de Morelia, Michoacán, México

Abstract

The Cañadas del Río Chiquito  ZRPA is a small protected natural area that lacks basic information for its management. To address this deficiency, the diversity, composition and structure of its vegetation covers were analyzed. The vegetation covers were delimited by visual supervision on a satellite image. Their structure, composition and plant diversity were analyzed with allometric measurements, diversity indices and rarefaction curves. Eight covers were identified: closed and open oak forest (BEc and BEa, respectively), closed and open subtropical scrub (MSc and MSa, respectively), closed pine forest (BPc), eucalyptus plantation (PE), induced grassland and crops; BEc being the largest (84.6 ha) and BPc the smallest (4.6 ha). 215 species, 136 genera and 52 families were recorded. 89.7% of the species were native, 25.1% endemic and 4.1% exotic. The main families were Asteraceae (21.4%), Fabaceae (16.7%) and Poaceae (9.3%). The most diverse covers were: BEc and MSc. The MSc, BEa and MSa covers were dominated by secondary species of tropical deciduous forest. The area has highly disturbed areas; however, given its high diversity, it is still important for the conservation of flora. The composition and structure of its covers suggest a high plant resilience, which should be taken advantage of for its management.La Zona de Restauración y Protección Ambiental Cañadas del Río Chiquito carece de información base para su manejo. Por lo que se analizó la diversidad, composición y estructura de sus cubiertas vegetales; se delimitaron por supervisión de una imagen satelital; y se analizaron con cuadrantes, índices de diversidad y curvas de rarefacción. Se identificaron ocho coberturas: bosque encino cerrado y abierto, matorral subtropical cerrado y abierto, bosque pino cerrado, plantación eucalipto, pastizal inducido y cultivos. Se registraron 215 especies, 136 géneros y 52 familias. 89.7% de las especies fueron nativas, 25.1% endémicas y 4.1% exóticas. Las principales familias fueron Asteraceae (21.4%), Fabaceae (16.7%) y Poaceae (9.3%). Las cubiertas más diversas fueron: Bosque de Encino cerrado y Matorral Subtropical cerrado. Las cubiertas abiertas estuvieron dominadas por especies secundarias de bosque tropical caducifolio. En resumen, la zona tiene una fuerte perturbación; pero dada su alta diversidad y composición vegetal, es importante para la conservación