Wood density of 64 species present in medium sub-evergreen forest in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

The location and shape of the Mexican Republic means that they present remarkable characteristics in their territory, one of those notable characteristics being the vegetation such as the medium sub-evergreen forest, which presents a great variety of species with different densities of wood. The density of wood is specific to each plant species, and depends on the amount and type of cellular elements that constitute it, in addition to being necessary for the calculation of biomass for the estimation of carbon sequestration. The objective of this research is to compile the basic wood density of 64 species present in the medium sub-evergreen forest, and to provide a database that can be consulted in Mexico. A floristic inventory was carried out in a segment of 100 ha in medium sub-evergreen forest in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, using the method of circular plots of 500 m² compensated with the slope according to different authors. Based on the classification of the type of vegetation cover by Rzedowski (1978), the different species present (arboreal and woody shrubs) in the study area were recorded. The identification of the species found in said vegetation cover was carried out by visiting forest herbaria, likewise, a bibliographic review of the basic density of the wood of the identified species was carried out using different sources such as specialized books, scientific articles, international databases, and specialists on the subject. A total of 3,685 individuals of 64 species distributed in 57 genera were recorded, listing minimum, average and maximum values ​​of the shrub and arboreal stratum of the wood densities.