Abstract

MARTINEZ-ANTUNEZ, Pablo; HERNANDEZ-DIAZ, J. Ciro; WEHENKEL, Christian  and  LOPEZ-SANCHEZ, Carlos Antonio. Density estimation of conifer species from environmental variables. Madera bosques [online]. 2015, vol.21, n.1, pp.23-33. ISSN 2448-7597.

Conifers are the most important source of raw material for the Mexican timber industry, besides they are a source of environmental services and are habitat of many living organisms. In order to evaluate if it is possible to predict species density of conifers by utilizing environmental variables, this study was conducted using multiple linear regression analysis by the method known as stepwise. Twenty species of conifers of five different genus and eleven environmental variables were analyzed. The results revealed that there is a small linear relationship between the abundance of the species and the analyzed predictors. However, some of the study findings indicate that the abundance for 60% of the selected conifer species is affected by at least four environmental variables, including mainly, the precipitation during the growing season (April to September), the average length of the frost-free period, the altitude above the sea level and the mean annual precipitation.

Keywords : elevation; Durango; frost period; multiple linear regressions; Sierra Madre Occidental; climate variables.

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