Botanical Sciences 93 (2): 345-355, 2015 TAXONOMY AND FLORISTIC DOI: 10.17129/botsci.60 COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE AND DIVERSITY OF SHRUBLANDS IN CENTRAL NUEVO LEON, MEXICO EDUARDO ALANÍS-RODRÍGUEZ1,5, JAVIER JIMÉNEZ-PÉREZ1, HUMBERTO GONZÁLEZ-RODRÍGUEZ1, PAMELA A. CANIZALES-VELÁZQUEZ1, ARTURO MORA-OLIVO2, JOSÉ M. MATA BALDERAS3, JAVIER HERNÁNDEZ SALAS4 1Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Linares, Nuevo León, Mexico 2Instituto de Ecología Aplicada, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico 3Gestión Estratégica y Manejo Ambiental, S.C., Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico 4Facultad de Ciencias Agrícolas y Forestales, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Ciudad Delicias, Chihuahua, Mexico 5Author for correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: The aim of this study was to carry out a comparative analysis at the plant community level of the fi ve most common types of shrublands (semithorn shrubland, microphyllous desert shrubland, rosetophyllous desert shrubland, piedmont scrub, and tamaulipan thornscrub) in the state of Nuevo Leon (northeastern Mexico). Twenty-fi ve sampling sites (100 m2 each one) were established in each shrubland type (125 in total) to evaluate the vegetation structure. At each sampling site, we estimated the plant density (N ha-1), plant coverage (m2 ha-1), specifi c richness (S), and alpha diversity index (H’). One way-analysis of variance was used to compare plant attributes between the plant communities. In the studied fi ve plant communities, a total of 85 vascular plant species were registered, belonging to approximately 65 genera and 28 families. The most representative families were Cactaceae (18 species), Fabaceae (16 species), Asteraceae (six species), and Agavaceae (fi ve species).