Laura Yáñez-Espinosa

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• Ph.D. (Botany)
• Professor at Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí

Scrub mangrove forests, dominated by Rhizophora mangle L., are characterized by high porewater salinity, which might compromise individual sap flow rates (SF) due to seasonal and diurnal microenvironmental variations. We tested the functional, anatomical, and SF responses of 12 individuals to microenvironmental variables such as solar radiation, ph...

Although mangrove forests are great carbon sinks, they also release carbon dioxide (CO2) from soil, plants, and water through respiration. Many studies have focused on CO2 effluxes only from soils, but the role of biogenic structures such as pneumatophore roots has been poorly studied. Hence, CO2 effluxes from pneumatophores were quantified at sedi...

Las cactáceas presentan una elevada diversidad y son un grupo emblemático del paisaje mexicano. Estas plantas proveen de alimento y refugio a muchos animales de zonas desérticas, pero al descomponerse sus tejidos ofrecen una nueva fuente de recursos para una fauna muy particular, la entomofauna (algunos insectos y otros artrópodos). En este trabajo...

Cactus species are well represented in arid and semiarid environments, where they sometimes even dominate the landscape, forming true cactus forests. In this review, we summarize for the first time the importance of cactus species as a wood resource for a neglected saproxylic (dead wood-dependent) entomofauna associated with decomposing and decompo...

Antecedentes y Objetivos: México presenta gran diversidad de flora vascular dada su conformación geográfica, orográfica y climática. Sin embargo, muchos sitios tienen inventarios florísticos incompletos o inexistentes. Es el caso del Área Natural Protegida Parque Nacional El Potosí que, a pesar de ser establecido en 1936, carece de un inventario ac...

Antecedentes: En la región de la Reserva de la Biosfera Sierra del Abra Tanchipa, la apicultura es una alternativa de producción sostenible. Su manejo, requiere conocer la riqueza, distribución y fenología de la flora melífera. Preguntas: ¿Cuáles son las especies melíferas del paisaje aledaño a la Reserva? ¿Cuál es su origen, forma de crecimiento,...

Oaxaca is one of the five Mexican states with the highest biological richness and one of the most diverse in ethnic composition. Knowledge and use of plant resources have been part of their culture and maintenance in territories with different ecological, geological, and climatic conditions. Oaxaca contains 43.9% of the Mexican flora, with about 10...

Vivipary is the germination of seeds within a fruit before they are shed from the parent plant. It occurs in a broad range of habitats and species, including cacti under harsh environmental conditions. Thus, an anatomical differentiation involving high water conduction is expected in viviparous cacti seedlings under water deficit stress. Wide-band...

Background Climate change is expected to alter future rainfall regime in arid zones, which may impact gypsophilous plant diversity components in the Chihuahuan Desert. Aims We investigated the effects of different rainfall timings and amounts on the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic components of a gypsophilous plant community. Methods We u...

El carbón vegetal es un producto forestal maderable valorado por su uso energético en el ámbito doméstico e industrial. En San Luis Potosí su demanda es de 2200 t año-1, lo que propicia su elaboración y transporte ilegal. Estas actividades ilegales conducen el aseguramiento precautorio del producto por PROFEPA, pero resulta difícil documentar las e...

RESEARCH ARTICLE| JULY 07 2022 Leaf traits variation of Myriocarpa longipes and Brosimum alicastrum in relation to microclimatic gradient in tropical dolines of Mexico1 Laura Yáñez-Espinosa; Joel Flores; Javier Fortanelli-Martínez; Joab Raziel Quintero-Ruiz; José Arturo De Nova-Vázquez; Humberto Reyes-Hernández The Journal of the Torrey Botanical...

Predation of seeds of the cycad Dioon edule by mice has been previously documented, demonstrating that the seeds’ toxins are not harmful when combined with a varied diet. However, there is scarce evidence that they are a seed disperser. In a tropical oak forest in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, we experimented with seeds of D. edule and Quercus polymorph...

Key Message The aerenchyma in the stem bark of mangroves allows a gas flow pathway outside the xylem, mainly in the lower stem, as the aerenchyma is similar to aerial roots. Abstract Mangroves have developed a network of gas spaces in aerenchyma tissue to allow an internal pathway for gas flow into the roots. The presence of aerenchyma in the stem...

Las interacciones planta-animal son esenciales dentro de los ecosistemas, ya que su estructura y función depende de redes de polinizadores, depredadores y dispersores. En la RBSAT las poblaciones de Dioon edule están dispersas, como en toda la Sierra Madre Oriental. Las plantas presentan un patrón de distribución agregada, que se atribuye al gran t...

Background: Mangrove plant species have distinctive anatomical and physiological responses to cope with a wide range of salinities and inundations. These strategies pertain a safe and efficient water use and transport, essential for survival. Questions: How are the anatomical and physiological attributes of the hydraulic architecture of seedlings...

Cactus species are key components in American deserts and have a high socioeconomic value. Climate change exerts a threat to biodiversity, structure and functioning within deserts and many cactus species are predicted to face extinction because of climate change. Defining which plant species could tolerate climate change effects in desert ecosystem...

Salvia circinnata Cav. (Syn. S. amarissima Ortega), Lamiaceae, is a Mexican medicinal plant used in traditional medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal illness, cancer, and diabetes. Samples of ten natural populations were analyzed by application of a systematic approach which involved the combination of DNA barcoding, GC–MS, HPLC–DAD, and H...

The distribution of the endangered species Dioon edule is in populations scattered throughout the Sierra Madre Oriental in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Its habitat is tropical dry forests at lower elevations and oak forests at higher elevations, mainly disturbed by anthropic activities. We determined and analyzed nine populations’ demographic structure...

The near-threatened cycad Dioon edule (Zamiaceae) is distributed in the Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexico. An important ancestral cultural tradition in the region is seed collecting by indigenous and nonindigenous communities to prepare food up to more than six times a year, without the regulation of the frequency of collection and the number of seed...

Dioon edule Lindl. It is an endemic plant of Mexico, its populations are fragmented in the Sierra Madre Oriental (SMO). Predation of its fruits by small rodents has been reported, which can make a short distance dispersal of the seeds. However, little is known if there are other species capable of predating or dispersing seeds over great distances,...

Key message The epiphyte Tillandsia recurvata modifies the anatomy of the xylem, phloem and periderm of its host Prosopis laevigata, these modifications affect water flux and photosynthetic activity in this host. Abstract The relationships between epiphytes and host plants are commensal interactions, where epiphytes obtain support to growth withou...

Antecedentes y Objetivos: Ceiba aesculifolia y C. pentandra (Malvaceae) son dos de las cuatro especies de Ceiba presentes en México. Se conocen como “pochotes”; sus cortezas tienen usos ornamentales y medicinales. Con la finalidad de encontrar atributos distintivos entre estas dos especies de amplia distribución en el país, se realizó un estudio co...

Nama aff. stenophylla plants grow on mining waste abandoned 100 years ago, exposed to high concentrations of heavy metals. Accumulation of heavy metals in plant biomass has been related to the phyto-accessible fractions of these, so we assessed the effect of those heavy metals in different concentrations on the germination and development of seedli...

Based on their morphological traits and elevation distribution, we analyzed fifteen populations of Dioon edule and D. angustifolium located in the Sierra Madre Oriental in an elevation gradient from 294 to 1314 masl, to identify the forms proposed by Whitelock (2004). A non-parametric test was applied to find differences among elevation and populat...

Global warming may increase the danger of local extinction for plant species with low tolerance to high temperatures. Tillandsia recurvata is a bromeliad epiphyte native to semiarid ecosystems of America. In North-Central Mexico, Prosopis laevigata (mesquite) is the main phorophyte of T. recurvata. Climate change models indicate that temperature wi...

Global warming may increase the danger of local extinction for plant species with low tolerance to high temperatures. Tillandsia recurvata is a bromeliad epiphyte native to semiarid ecosystems of America. In North-Central Mexico, Prosopis laevigata (mesquite) is the main phorophyte of T. recurvata. Climate change models indicate that temperature wi...

Vivipary implies that seeds germinate inside the fruit still attached to the mother plant. Vivipary may constitute an adaptive trait, which may allow the quick establishment of seedlings in harsh environments. The Bromeliaceae includes ca. 3,140 species in many ecosystems, but vivipary appears to be infrequent in bromeliad epiphytes. In this resear...

La especie Dioon edule pertenece a la familia Zamiaceae Se trata de plantas dioicas que pueden llegar a medir hasta 4 m de altura y presentan grupos de 50 a 150 hojas agrupadas en corona en el extremo superior del tallo. Su distribución es amplia, abarcando los estados de San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Veracruz, Hidalgo y el sur del estado de Tamaulip...

La información existente sobre las áreas verdes públicas en San Luis Potosí, México, es escasa y se concentra mayormente en la zona urbana de la capital del estado, que cuenta tanto con extensiones considerables de áreas verdes periféricas, como las áreas naturales protegidas establecidas en 1996: Parque Urbano Paseo de la Presa y Ejido San Juan de...

La riqueza florística de las gimnospermas en México está constituida por aproximadamente 129 especies (Cycadales, Cupressales, Pinales y Ephedrales), lo que representa 15% de la diversidad mundial. Aunque en estudios previos se mencionan solo 29 especies para San Luis Potosí, se sabe que actualmente en la entidad se distribuyen 39 especies y dos va...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of mucilage and its removal, as well as phytohormones [gibberellic acid (GA3) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)] in light and in darkness on germination of five cactus species (Coryphanta maiz-tablasensis, Echinocactus platyacanthus, Ferocactus latispinus, Ferocactus pilosus and Stenocereus queretaroens...

El establecimiento de los mangles, es particularmente difícil debido al suelo inestable, la inundación y la salinidad en la que se desarrollan. La viviparidad es una de las muchas estrategias que les permite establecerse en dichas condiciones. En el caso de Rhizophora mangle L., desarrolla un propágulo que además de unidad dispersora hidrócora, amo...

Rhizophora mangle es una especie con alta plasticidad, debido a ello puede distribuirse a lo largo del gradiente de inundación y salinidad en el bosque de manglar formando tipos ecológicos. Dicha distribución es posible porque presenta diversas adaptaciones fisiológicas y anatómicas, entre la que destaca la viviparidad, donde la planta madre tiene...

Background: Dioon angustifolium is an endemic species distributed in the northernmost Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexico. It is classified as an endangered species due to anthropogenic activities like illegal extraction for commercial purposes. Question: What is the current status of Dioon angustifolium populations structure in its distribution range?...

Interest in invasive species has increased around the world over the last several decades. In Mexico, studies on invasive species date as early as 1939 and the number of publications has increased considerably in recent decades. However, to our knowledge, the analysis of information gaps and research priorities is lacking. Therefore, it is necessar...

Cylindropuntia imbricata is a common cactus species from North American deserts that has extrafloral nectaries (EFNs). We assessed: (i) the anatomical structure of the EFNs of C. imbricata to determine whether they are vascularized or not, and (ii) whether water availability in the soil and soil temperature are related to the abundance of ants visi...

Dolines are karst depressions whose environmental and climatic characteristics in tropical regions are not well known. By measuring and analyzing different components of the microclimate in two dolines located in Tamasopo, Mexico, we aim to contribute to the understanding of the climatic conditions in these formations. The variables analyzed includ...

Iresine is an American genus that belongs to Amaranthaceae s.l. To understand its stem anatomy and correlation with the habit and habitat, a comparative study was carried out. We present the most extensive stem anatomical survey of Iresine to date. Our observations agree with wood descriptions for other Amaranthaceae having simple perforation plate...

Antecedentes y Objetivos: En México existen alrededor de 156 especies de gimnospermas nativas pertenecientes a seis familias. Para el estado de Oaxaca, se registran 45 especies de gimnospermas y sus habitantes poseen un sobresaliente conocimiento ancestral en el uso tradicional de este grupo taxonómico. El presente estudio contribuye al registro y...

Las especies que conforman el bosque del manglar se distribuyen a lo largo de gradientes de salinidad, nutrientes y nivel de inundación, lo que da como resultado diferentes tipos ecológicos (chaparro, franja, petén y cuenca). Debido a esas condiciones ambientales, algunas especies como Rhizophora mangle L., presentan una adaptación reproductiva (vi...

Rhizhophora mangle L. es una especie de manglar que presenta adaptaciones a un amplio rango de salinidad e inundación. Una de ellas es la viviparidad, confiriéndole reservas para amortiguar las condiciones adversas durante su establecimiento. Sin embargo, cuando se agotan las reservas, es indispensable que las plántulas hayan desarrollado estrategi...

The environmental variability at local scale results in different physiognomic types of mangrove forest. However, this variability has never been considered in studies of mangrove genetic variability. This study analyzed the genetic and morphological variability and structure of Rhizophora mangle at regional and local scales in the Yucatan Peninsul...

We assessed inter-seasonal dynamics of seed banks, dormancy and seed germination in three endemic Chihuahuan Desert succulent species, under simulated soil warming conditions. Hexagonal open top-chambers (OTCs) were used to increase soil temperature. Seeds of Echinocactus platyacanthus (Cactaceae), Yucca filifera and Agave striata (Asparagaceae) we...

Background: México es el cuarto país en el mundo con mayor extensión de manglar y el 55% de este se encuentra en la península de Yucatán. A nivel local, la hidrología, topografía y disponibilidad de nutrientes resulta en ecotipos estructuralmente diferentes. En la península de Yucatán el manglar chaparro es el ecotipo más extenso, el cual se caract...

Recruitment from seeds is among the most vulnerable stage for plants as global temperatures change. While germination is the means by which the vast majority of the world's flora regenerate naturally, a framework for accurately predicting which species are at greatest risk of germination failure during environmental perturbation is lacking. Taking...

Dolines are karst depressions whose environmental and climatic characteristics in tropical regions are not well known. By measuring and analyzing different components of the microclimate in two dolines located in Tamasopo, Mexico, we aim to contribute to the understanding of the climatic conditions in these formations. The variables analyzed includ...

Human-induced warming may increase the risk of local extinction for plant species with low tolerance of elevated temperatures. The Chihuahuan desert harbors the highest diversity of globose cacti in the world and most of them are at risk of extinction. Predictive models of climate change indicate an increase in summer temperature of 1–2°C by 2030 f...

The Huasteca Potosina is a tropical region which since the mid-twentieth century has generated policies and strategies aiming the boost of the economy of the region, however, various factors have allowed the development of some municipalities while others have remained behind. In this paper is shown an analysis of the economic potential of each of...

Applications of remote sensing in agriculture have increased in recent years, especially for the development of sensors with better spatial and spectral resolutions. The objective of this study was to assess and evaluate the spatial and spectral variability of infection Diatraea saccharalis of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) through optical senso...

Las investigaciones presentadas en el libro “Tópicos Ambientales y Conservación de Ecosistemas Naturales” reúne trabajos de especialistas de diferentes campos de la ciencias ambientales, y fueron realizadas en el marco de los Programas Multidisciplinarios de Posgrados en Ciencias Ambientales (PMPCA) de la Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Mé...

Plants have multiple strategies, including phytochemicals that protect their vulnerable tissues against pathogens and herbivores. Dioon edule, like all cycads, possess unique azoxy-type compounds, azoxyglycosides (AZGs) as a chemical defense; however, the ontogenetic variability of these compounds in this long-lived cycad is unknown. Here, we inves...

Applications of remote sensing in agriculture have increased in recent years, especially for the development of sensors with better spatial and spectral resolutions. The objective of this study was to assess and evaluate the spatial and spectral variability of infection Diatraea saccharalis of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) through optical senso...

Este estudio evaluó la morfometría de variables de orientación y tamaño de las espinas, con el objetivo de indagar sobre la utilidad de los patrones de espinación en la identificación de las especies del género Neobuxbaumia (Cactaceae: Cactoideae: Echinocereeae). Este análisis se apoyó en un procedimiento de determinación taxonómica tradicional y e...

Dispersion and runoff of mine tailings have serious implications for human and ecosystem health in the surroundings of mines. Water, soils and plants were sampled in transects perpendicular to the stream Santiago in Zimapan, Hidalgo, which receives runoff sediments from two acidic and one alkaline mine tailing. Concentrations of potentially toxic e...

The endangered cycad Dioon edule requires shade provided by filtered sunlight under the canopy of trees or maternal plants during initial growth stages. It is known that germination improves under shade, but there is no report of radiation conditions. In order to understand how photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) affect germination traits, we...

Physical dormancy is the water impermeability of the seed coat caused by one or more palisade cell layer(s) called macrosclereids. The specialised structure for water entry sites is the water gap, which serves as a detector of environmental cues for germination. In Fabaceae, the water gap is the lens, although another seed structure for water entry...

Figure 2. Responses of Opuntia streptacantha seedlings under combined water and light treatments at 15, 30 and 45 days. a) osmotic potential (MPa) and, b) titratable acidity (mmol equiv. H+ m-2). Bars represent the means 6 SE (P , 0.001; n = 3). Different letters indicated differences between treatments and days.

Most wild Lupinus spp. (Fabaceae) grow in pine and pine-oak forests with natural and induced fi res. Their seeds have physical dormancy, which can be broken in response to appropriate environmental signals, such as high temperatures, humidity, and fi re. We applied heat treatments to break seed dormancy of L. elegans and L. rotundifl orus from the...

Most wild Lupinus spp. (Fabaceae) grow in pine and pine-oak forests with natural and induced fires. Their seeds have physical dormancy, which can be broken in response to appropriate environmental signals, such as high temperatures, humidity, and fire. We applied heat treatments to break seed dormancy of L. elegans and L. rotundiflorus from the Sta...

Dioon edule seedling mortality is mostly attributed to dehydration by prolonged drought, even when they present xeromorphic characteristics like the adult plants. The effect of germination date (GD) and soil water deficit on seedling tolerance to water stress was assessed. The seedlings germinated and grown from mature seeds every month from Decemb...

We investigated if seeds of Agave lechuguilla from contaminated sites with heavy metals were more tolerant to Cd ions than seeds from noncontaminated sites. Seeds from a highly contaminated site (Villa de la Paz) and from a noncontaminated site (Villa de Zaragoza) were evaluated. We tested the effect of Cd concentrations on several ecophysiological...

Cacti establish mostly occurs under the canopy of nurse plants which provide a less stressful micro-environment, although mechanisms underlying this process are unknown. The impact of the combination of light and watering treatments on Opuntia streptacantha (Cactaceae) seedlings was examined. Ecophysiological [titratable acidity, osmotic potential...

El objetivo de la presente investigación es analizar y comparar los cambios de uso del suelo en los bosques húmedos, tomando para ello dos sitios de estudio con características geográficas y ambientales similares, la Huasteca Potosina en el estado de San Luis Potosí, México y la región serrana, parte del Bosque del Atlántico en el estado de Rio de...

We describe strobilus and seed development in a Dioon edule (chamal, palma, dameu’) population characterized by low seedling and high adult tree density, in order to improve conservation decisions for this endangered cycad species. Female strobili required 16-17 months and male 4-5 months to develop. During this period 80% female and 100% male stro...

El herbario es una colección de plantas, de ser posible con todas sus partes, flores, frutos y semillas, susceptibles de conservarse por tiempo indefinido y que sirven de apoyo para la investigación en el campo de la taxonomía, ecología, morfología y todo aquello relacionado con el estudio de la botánica. La forma de realizar las labores básicas en...

The riparian areas are formed by the interaction of terrestrial and aquatic environments in watersheds. The land use and cover in these regions and the lack of conservation of water resources have influenced the quality of them. This study proposed to map the results of quality of riparian zones by using the SVAP index into three sub-basins located...

Native communities’ erosion of ethnobotanical knowledge of food plants is a global concern. This investigation focuses on a Xi’iuy community in the Sierra Madre Oriental, San Luís Potosí, México. A total of 21 randomly - selected families participated (22% of the total population). The 56 people who were interviewed an average of 2.7 per family wer...

Herbaria preserve plant specimens which are essential for the study of plants. However, most of society is unconscious of the main goal of herbaria, resulting in underutilized generated information and difficulting financial support to develop their activities. Herbaria show common problems, regarding lack of physical space for specimen storage, pr...

The aim of this work was to evaluate some attributes associated with the quality of four species of nopalito (O. robusta, O. ficus-indica, O. undulata x O. tomentosa and N. cochenillifera) at three growth stages produced under hydroponic and greenhouse conditions. The following attributes were evaluated: resistance to longitudinal and transversal f...

A close relationship between leafing, flowering, fruiting and radial growth has been conjectured to occur in tropical and subtropical rainforest trees. Radial stem growth, in particular, has been associated with the activity of the two secondary meristems, the vascular cambium and, to a lesser degree, the phellogen. In tropical trees vascular cambi...

Avicennia germinans es una especie de mangle que presenta marcada tolerancia a la salinidad, pero sólo se habían observado tendencias a aumentar el tamaño de los caracteres del xilema secundario a bajas concentraciones de salinidad. En la Laguna de la Mancha, Veracruz, esta especie se distribuye en un gradiente de salinidad amplio, lo que hace inte...

Growth and physiological response of woody plants to flooding have been analyzed in detail; however, relatively few studies have been oriented towards the effects of water immersion on cambial activity and wood and bark anatomy of trees that are growing in prolonged flooding conditions. These studies are important to understand the possible effects...

Cycads are currently suffering significant habitat loss from deforestation, agricultural expansion, and illegal harvesting. Dioon purpursii Rose has restricted distribution and small populations, which until now are endemic in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and it has been included in the category of threatened and vulnerable. Three sites with D. p...