• Inicio
• Noticias

noticias

Versión en Español

Vegetal Ecology

Date: (11/9/2009)

Facultad de Ciencias Forestales

The risk caused by a vegetal specie disappearance affects the life of everybody who lives in the planet. That is why the researches are carrying out some investigations in order to preserve the vegetation.

Doctor Enrique Jurado Ybarra, School of Forestry (FCF, Spanish abbreviation) researcher and professor.

By Gabriela Hernandez Villanueva

According to the Organization for the Millennium Seed Bank, everyday, plants species face the risk of extinction.

Globally, in the last two decades, the researches about ecology and vegetal conservation have been multiplied for benefit to endangered species.

Not all plants can survive and develop in certain environments, because every type of vegetation has their own characteristics such as seed size, propitious environment for its germination, among other ones), all the studies are so important for vegetal species development and conservation.

When we visit rural areas in Mexico, even those located out of our borders, and we observe their vegetation, at first, we do not relate them to terms as: reforestation, regional plants, seeds or germination. However, there is a world of study and analysis behind what we see.

On this context, the research carried out – about seeds’ germination- by Doctor Enrique Jurado Ybarra, who is a researcher and professor of the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon School of Forestry (FCF, Spanish abbreviation) is so important.

“The way of how a seed creates a plant, that will create more seeds, is to think in a different way of what most of the people think. People see a tree and they say: ‘this tree creates seeds.’ When I see a seed, I say: “this seed creates a tree, which is a part of the cycle.”

“A seed is an embryo, a baby and dehydrated plant with a sandwich,” said Enrique Jurado Ybarra.

The researcher, who has a vast knowledge in arid plants from Australian desert, explained that germination plants studies take a lot of time, because these seeds need to be weighted, measured, germinated, and to be observed to know the processes which stimulate and limit its germination.

The Importance of Conserve Native Species

“For several decades –in Mexico- where reforestation concepts or urban gardening were used to refer to plants –which are not adapted to this weather- sow from other countries or continents.”

“We had some cases where the plants got dry and cold. This was happening when –in our country- there are very valuable plants such as ‘anacahuita,’ which is Nuevo Leon representative plant.”

“But, previously, nobody knew how to get it produced, in other words, the direct extraction from wild samples was made most of the times and later they were transplanted. With this process the nature was plundered and most of these plants died.”

“Now, we now that we can go to gather a short percentage of wild fruits and process the seeds in order to obtain plants from the germination. A part of our research has contributed to know when we can gather them, the manner of germinate them, the steps that must be followed in order to these seeds produce plants in a nursery for being gardening plants later,” said Jurado Ybarra.

Ybarra, who is also a School of Forestry professor, has carried out germination studies for endangered species, mainly cactus. Likewise, he has studied pine germination.

“With our native species, I have been focused on prickly thicket from Tamaulipas, because it is the common vegetation –from Coahuila to Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon- in Northeast Mexico.”

“We have been studied the ebony, “anacahuita, mezquite, huisaches,” and other ones, because they are also native plants and key species in thicket’s environment. Now we know its production cycle and we recognize that in order to conserve these species, we need to create reforestation programs.”

“However, we did not know all this knowledge some decades ago. Now we know, how to produced them, spread them, how to create manage plans to keep producing these plants,” said researcher.

The right process is to sow native plants of the place, because besides growing in its habitat and getting adapted to the climate change which could be present in the different seasons, the plants also require less maintenance.

“The native plants attract the local fauna such as butterflies and local birds; they are recognized and consume the fruits as well as nest in themselves, while exotic species are ignored,” finished Doctor Enrique Jurado Ybarra.