CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PIEDMONT SCRUB VEGETATION IN RELATION TO THE CAPACITY FOR ANIMAL LOAD

Abstract

The piedmont scrub vegetation was characterized in Linares Nuevo León, México, with the aim of relating it to the capacity for animal load, particularly species for hunting, considering gallery vegetation, fragments with anthropogenic impact as a result of its agricultural antecedents, areas that received mechanical treatments, as well as areas devoted to livestock production covered with grasses. The evaluation was done in winter time, 2010, which represents the most critical period in terms of fodder production available for wild fauna and domestic livestock. The characterization recorded 57 species of plants belonging to 21 families, with Fabaceae standing out with 11 species. The taxa that stood out the most were from the family Rubiaceae: Randia aculeata, Fabaceae: Havardia pallens and Vachellia farnesiana; Ebenaceae: Diospyros palmeri and Taxodiaceae: Taxodium mucronatum. The biomass production per plant community showed differences, with gallery presenting the lowest production (0.34 ton ha^-1), followed by piedmont scrub and the areas with mechanical treatment, with values of 0.57 ton ha^-1 and 0.52 ton ha^-1, respectively, while the surface covered with grass obtained 1.479 ton ha^-1. The estimated load capacity was 32 animal units (UA), although among plant communities the UAs that can withstand it vary as a result of the structure, plant composition, dietary habits, and size of the hunting species that are located in the land property, giving values of 114.1 Texan white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus texanus), 70.5 chital deer (Axis axis), 87.8 common fallow deer (Dama dama), 17.6 red deer (Cervus elaphus) and 187.5 African antelope (Antilope cervicapra).