DIVERSITY OF VASCULAR PLANTS OF THE PHYSIOGRAPHIC PROVINCE OF THE SIERRA MADRE ORIENTAL, MEXICO

Background: The Sierra Madre Oriental is a Physiographic Province located in northeastern Mexico and has distinctive geological, climatic, and edaphic characteristics. The flora in this region has not been inventoried as a whole. Question: What is the floristic diversity of the Physiographic Province of the Sierra Madre Oriental? What is the geographic affinity of its genera? Site and years of study: The Physiographic province of the Sierra Madre Oriental. The work was conducted from August 2012 to December 2020. Methods: An exhaustive search for information was carried out using various sources such as herbaria, databases, floristic works, and monographs. To each species was registered the type of vegetation, geographic affinity and endemism. Results: A total of 6,981 species are registered; 1,542 are endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental. The most diversity families were Asteraceae (1,000 species), Fabaceae (495), Cactaceae (365) and Poaceae (328). The temperate forests housed the greatest number of species (2,906). Queretaro was the richest state (2,803), followed by Coahuila with (2,710) and Nuevo Leon (2,406). The greatest number of genera of the species in the Sierra Madre Oriental have geographical boreal affinity (2,742), followed by species with tropical affinity (2,020), endemics to Mexico (1,227), with a cosmopolitan distribution (803), and from the deserts of the world (189). Conclusions: The Sierra Madre Oriental is home to more than a quarter of the vascular flora and 13 % of the endemic plants from Mexico. The area combines genera of different geographic affinities, mostly boreal, followed by tropical and endemic.

Automated summary

Sierra Madre Oriental in northeastern Mexico is home to 6,981 plant species, with 1,542 being endemic. The most diverse families are Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Cactaceae, and Poaceae. The temperate forests host the highest number of species, with Queretaro being the richest state in terms of plant diversity.