Variations in beta diversity among plant types with different water dependence in arid palm groves of the Baja California Peninsula
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22201/ib.20078706e.2025.96.5386Keywords:
Aquatic plants, Arid wetlands, Floristic similarity, Sonoran DesertAbstract
The palm groves of the Baja California Peninsula constitute a semi-isolated network of arid wetlands spanning over 1,000 kilometers. The plant species within them exhibit varying degrees of water adaptation, including 3 types
of hydrophytes (aquatic, subaquatic, and tolerant species), and non-hydrophytic or intolerant species. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of different water dependence among these distinct groups on their floristic similarity
change between palm groves, relative to the geographical distance separating them. After reviewing scientific literature, we compiled the floristic lists of 25 palm groves across the region, finding 518 species (27 aquatic, 57 subaquatic, 53 tolerant, and 381 intolerant species). We utilized the Sørensen similarity index to estimate similarity in the 4 plant groups and analyzed how similarity changes with respect to the distance between palm groves. Floristic similarity decreased with increasing distance in the 4 plant groups according to a negative exponential
model (S = S0·e-bd), with the rate of decrease (b) growing as water dependence of plants decreased (bAquatic = 0.0010, bSubaquatic = 0.0016, bTolerant = 0.0029, bIntolerant = 0.0046). In summary, the aquatic adaptation of plants within the Baja California Peninsula palm groves affects the geographical pattern of beta diversity in these wetlands.
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