Abstract

VASQUEZ-CORTEZ, Vicente Florencio et al. Does commercial debarking of a medicinal tree impact its population-spatial structure? The case of Hintonia latiflora in Mexico. Madera bosques [online]. 2020, vol.26, n.2, e2622037.  Epub Feb 17, 2021. ISSN 2448-7597.  https://doi.org/10.21829/myb.2020.2622037.

The population structure and the patterns of spatial distribution and correlation among developmental stages of Hintonia latiflora , a species threatened in Mexico by the commercial harvest of its bark, are documented. Six plots (three in harvested sites and three in not harvested ones) of 20 m × 100 m were established for the census of all plants and they were categorized into three stages of development based on the total height and basal diameter; all individuals were located by their cartesian coordinates. The population structure was analyzed by a density histogram; whereas bias and kurtosis were used to determine the harvest effect on size categories. Univariate and bivariate spatial patterns were determined using Ripley's L(t) and L 12 (t) functions, respectively, and the statistical significance was 99% using Monte Carlo simulations. Density between harvested sites vs. not harvested was statistically different (p < 0.013), but the population structure was similar, with a positive asymmetric distribution pattern (S 3 = 0.947 and S 3 = 1.063) and leptokurtic (S 4 = 2.006 and S 4 = 2.400). The univariate distribution pattern in all cases was aggregated (L(t) > 0), whereas the spatial correlation in populations subject to debarking reflected a combination between independence and spatial attraction at different distances. This information provides a basis for the sustainable management of H. latiflora and represents the first study in Mexico that analyzes the debarking of a medicinal resource on its population-spatial structure.

Keywords : copalchi; bark harvest; spatial ecology; Ripley´s K(t); quina; non-timber forest resources.

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