Jorge Antonio Gomez-Diaz

Universidad Veracruzana | UV · Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas

The scientific work of Alexander von Humboldt was influenced by his interaction with the diversity and natural wealth of the Neotropics. He proposed that climate determines plant diversity along elevational gradients based on his observations. Here, we evaluated the most prominent climate-based hypotheses in explaining plant diversity along an elev...

The region of central Veracruz is considered a biodiversity hotspot due to its high species richness and environmental heterogeneity, but only 2% of this region is currently protected. This study aimed to assess the current protected area system’s effectiveness and to identify priority conservation areas for expanding the existing protected area sy...

Antecedentes: Los manglares están en constante transformación por procesos ecológicos y antrópicos. El uso de imágenes de satélite a través de la teledetección ayuda a entender y estudiar la dinámica y los cambios espacio temporales de los manglares. Pregunta: ¿Cuál es la dinámica de la cobertura del manglar en el municipio de Alvarado usando una...

In this work, we contribute to the knowledge of how two environmental gradients (elevation and forest-use intensity) interactively affect the tropical plant diversity of six different vascular plant groups (trees, shrubs, lianas, terrestrial herbs, epiphytes, and ferns). The results were obtained in the frame of the interdisciplinary research proje...

The Neotropical realm hosts some of the Earth’s most species-rich biodiversity hotspots, with vascular epiphytes significantly contributing to this diversity. However, many regions of the Neotropics where epiphytic species of restricted distribution are reported coincide with threatened ecosystems, such as the tropical montane cloud forest. Moreove...

The Neotropical realm hosts some of the Earth's most species-rich biodiversity hotspots, with vascular epiphytes significantly contributing to this diversity, regionally accounting for up to 39% of the vascular flora. However, many regions of the Neotropics where epi-phytic species of restricted distribution are reported coincide with threatened ec...

Temperature and precipitation influence insect distribution locally and drive large-scale biogeographical patterns. We used current and future climate data from the CHELSA database to create ensemble species distribution models for three Atta leaf-cutting ant species ( Atta cephalotes , A . mexicana , and A . texana ) found in Mexico. These models...

Las especies endémicas tie-nen una distribución restringida, lo que conlleva un mayor riesgo de extinción en caso de destrucción de su hábitat. Algunas de estas especies pertenecen a grupos poco conocidos, cuya determinación taxonómica requiere del apoyo de un especialista. Por esta razón, en los herbarios frecuentemente se encuentran ejemplares ma...

Ceratozamia morettii, C. brevifrons and C. tenuis are cycads considered endangered in montane forests in the center of Veracruz state. However, the amount of theoretical and empirical information available on the historical distribution of these species and how they could be affected in the future by the effects of climate change is still limited....

Se presenta un estudio sobre recolección de productos forestales no maderables (PFNM) en la población de El Escobillo, Veracruz, México, y zonas adyacentes del Parque Nacional Cofre de Perote (PNCP). Se registraron 70 especies (45 plantas vasculares, dos briofitas y 23 hongos), clasificadas en siete categorías de uso, destacando el comestible (31)...

Background and Research One noteworthy element found throughout the tropical anthropogenic mosaic is the live fence, which is established within agricultural matrices and its structure within the landscape retains ecological processes, but few are recognized as elements of biological and cultural conservation. Methods In this study, we have resear...

El aumento en las tasas de deforestación en los trópicos es una de las principales amenazas para la biodiversidad. Es importante conocer la distribución potencial de las especies, para elaborar estrategias de conservación. En este estudio nos preguntamos: ¿Cuál es la distribución potencial y actual de Cedrela salvadorensis a nivel mundial? y ¿Cuále...

Background: Tropical montane forests are important reservoirs of carbon and biodiversity but are threatened by deforestation and climate change. It is important to understand how forest structure and aboveground biomass change along gradients of elevation and succession. Questions: What are the interactive effect of elevation and two stages of succ...

Los bosques húmedos tropicales están dentro de los tipos de vegetación más ricos en especies de la tierra, sin embargo, nuestra comprensión de su diversidad es todavía fragmentaria, a pesar de la alarmante tasa de destrucción de estos bosques. Para estudiar el impacto de la influencia antrópica sobre la diversidad de epífitas vasculares y orquídeas...

Mountains cover 12% of the earth’s surface and 23% of the Mexican territory. Our goal with this essay is to provide the readers with a current and objective definition of what a mountain is, as well as to inform them in a simple way about the biological importance of mountains as guardians of biodiversity and providers of ecosystem services. To do...

Las pteridófitas presentan su mayor diversidad entre los 1,000 y 2,000 msnm, debido a que la humedad ambiental en estas alturas intermedias es alto y constante, encontrándose en ecosistemas como el bosque mesófilo de montaña. Sin embargo, este tipo de vegetación se ve afectado por actividades antrópicas como la deforestación y fragmentación, result...

The use of non-timber forest products forms part of the strategy contributing to the well-being of populations near forest areas. Chamaedorea is one of the most important palm genera that is globally commercialized profitably for its attractive foliage used in floral decorations. In our study area located in the central region of Veracruz, Mexico w...

The elevational gradient at the Cofre de Perote in the central region of Veracruz State (eastern Mexico) is considered as one hotspot of plant diversity in the Neotropics. This is mainly due to the landscape heterogeneity and transition between biogeographical areas. In this study, we assessed the distribution patterns of vascular plant diversity,...

Background and Aims Shrubs are an important floristic element of tropical forests; however, research on plants with this growth form is still scarce. the main objective of this study was to analyze the influence of elevation and disturbance on shrub richness and distribution patterns in the central region of Veracruz, Mexico. Methods An elevational...

Homegardens are small-scale agroforestry systems consisting of parcels of land on homesteads in which diverse plant species are cultivated in several strata, often integrating herbaceous, tree, vine, crop, and animal components. Among the vines in Mayan homegardens in Yucatán is the pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus), a cactus with edible fruit. We use...

La participación ciudadana es uno de los temas más importantes en la declaración de Río y la Agenda 21 de la conferencia sobre Medio Ambiente y desarrollo. El principio 10 de la declaración de Río establece que el mejor modo de solucionar los problemas ambientales es con la participación de todos los ciudadanos involucrados en los correspondientes...

Background: The loss of functional keystone species may lead to the loss of key functions in the ecosystem. Few studies so far have addressed the functionality of specific morphological traits of ferns. Aims: Evaluate the functional diversity and how habitat degradation affected the functional diversity of fern assemblages. Methods: Along an elevat...

Resultados Se registraron 132 especies de arbustos, lo que representa el 8.6 % de los arbustos reportados para Veracruz. Los pisos altitudinales con mayor riqueza de especies en los tres hábitats fueron 500 m (38) y 1,000 m (49). El impacto de la intensidad de uso de suelo varia independientemente de la altitud, teniendo una mayor influencia en los...

Deforestation and fragmentation are threats to the conservation of species and have consequences for ecosystem functions. The focus of this study was to elucidate forest cover change in the period of 1993 to 2014. Our study area is in the central region of Veracruz, Mexico. Land cover and land use classes for the Years 1993, 2000, and 2014 were der...

México is a cultural and biological megadiverse country with an increased anthropogenic pressure on its tropical landscapes. The study area was the ejido “Los Ídolos”, Misantla, Central Veracruz, Mexico. The main objective of this research was to identify how the woody plant diversity of agroforestry systems contributed to the cultural, economic, a...

Wild edible fruits are a complement to the diet, generate income, and contain cultural values for local populations. In Mexico, their presence is threatened mainly by deforestation. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the distribution of 106 wild edible fruits from Veracruz state in several vegetation types and consider the effect of land-use...

Terrestrial herbs are important elements of tropical forests; however, there is a lack of research on their diversity patterns and how they respond to different intensities of forest-use. The aim of this study was to analyze the diversity of herbaceous angiosperms along gradients of elevation (50 m to 3500 m) and forest-use intensity on the eastern...

Presence/absence data of the herbaceous angiosperms found at the plots sampled along the elevational gradient at the Cofre de Perote, central Veracruz, Mexico. (CSV)

Questions How do species richness and composition of fern assemblages change with elevation and, within elevational belts, in differently impacted forest habitats? Is there a relationship between fern assemblages and microclimate, both along gradients of elevation and disturbance? Which species are most sensitive to habitat disturbance and microcl...

Background: Terrestrial herbs are a significant floristic element of tropical forests; however, there is a lack of research focused on this plant group. Question: Which are the patterns of species distribution of herbaceous angiosperms along gradients of elevation and forest disturbance at Cofre de Perote, central Veracruz, Mexico? Studied species:...

Terrestrial herbs are an important element in tropical forests; however, there is a lack of research on their diversity patterns and how they respond to different forest use intensities. Studying the richness and distributional patterns of this group along elevational gradients is important in order to understand the general processes that influenc...

Veracruz hosts a high plant diversity of herbaceous angiosperms that is threatened by land use changes and shows a lack of research. For these reasons, we studied this plant group in central Veracruz, Mexico, along an elevational gradient at the slopes of the volcano Cofre de Perote between 40 and 3,520 m. The aim was to gather information about fl...

Los rasgos foliares pueden ser usados para evaluar las respuestas adaptativas de las plantas al estrés ambiental. En este estudio se presenta la revisión de varios helechos encontrados en bosque mesófilo de montaña y vegetación derivada de la perturbación antrópica en distintas altitudes. El objetivo del trabajo fue explorar la forma en que los hel...

Veracruz hosts a high plant diversity of herbaceous angiosperms that is threatened by land use changes and shows a lack of research (Olguín, 2011). We studied this plant group in central Veracruz, Mexico, along an elevational gradient at the slopes of the volcano Cofre de Perote between 40 and 3,520 masl. The aim was to compare alpha and beta diver...

La presión humana sobre los ecosistemas es una de la mayores amenazas a la biodiversidad en los trópicos (Melo et al., 2013). La región mesoamericana de México es considerada un hotspot de diversidad vegetal que se encuentra altamente amenazada (Myers et al., 2000). En el centro de Veracruz está la zona de transición entre el trópico y el subtrópic...

La evaluación de ecosistemas es subjetiva, dificultando comparar sitios, pero al disponer de un método validado, este tiempo puede ser reducido, obteniendo resultados más precisos. El objetivo del trabajo fue explorar la forma en que se adaptan diferentes helechos a distintos ambientes, para conocer los efectos que la alteración de los hábitats tie...

Anthropogenic influence on the diversity of vascular epiphytes in central Veracruz

Las plantas epífitas son un componente importante de los bosques húmedos tropicales, son embargo se encuentran bajo presión por la pérdida del hábitat donde se desarrollan. Este estudio intenta analizar y comprender la perdida en riqueza y composición epifítica cuando un bosque conservado es transformado en bosque secundario o acahual. El trabajo s...