Abstract

VILLA-GALAVIZ, E.; HERNANDEZ-LOPEZ, L.; HARKER, M.  and  NERI-LUNA, C.. Description of soil and floristic composition of the habitat of Lobelia villaregalis (Campanulaceae), a species endemic to Jalisco, Mexico. Polibotánica [online]. 2020, n.49, pp.30-49.  Epub June 20, 2020. ISSN 1405-2768.  https://doi.org/10.18387/polibotanica.49.3.

Lobelia villaregalis is a plant endemic to Jalisco, Mexico. The habitat where it grows is not well known and for this reason conservation strategies and the definition of potential distribution in other sites have not been defined. In this study a description of soil characteristics and floristics are presented for a ravine and a rock face where the plant grows. In both places, the soil is infertile, sandy loam only 1.5 cm deep where the roots present low percentages of colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Mixed pine-oak forest occurs in the two sites. The vascular flora includes 140 taxa in 102 genera and 44 families. Asteraceae is the most abundant representing 32% of the taxa, followed by Poaceae and Pteridaceae (with 6% and 5% respectively). Herbs dominate the flora including 73% of the taxa followed by trees (13%) and then shrubs (11%). With respect to the total richness, 31 species (22.1%) are shared by the two locations while 101 (72%) are known in “La Venta” of which 70 are exclusive to this location, while in “El Espinazo” 70 taxa (50%) are known and 39 are not shared. The floristic composition of the mixed forest as well as the physical conditions of the localities indicate that L. villaregalis prefers relatively conserved habitats with high humidity and pronounced walls or slopes with sandy substrate. The results suggest that the conservation of such habitats would be the appropriate strategy to protect the species in question.

Keywords : Lobelia; endemic species; La Primavera; protected areas; arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; conservation.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )