Editors' Choice paper of the third quarter of 2024

07 October 2024

A map of the natural vegetation of Mexico, which combines the bioclimatic classification (thermo- and ombrotypes) of the country with a coarse formation typology of three main physiognomies (forest, shrubland, herbaceous and non-vascular vegetation), is the latest research publication to be chosen by the Chief editors at the Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS) journal for their quarterly recognition.

Titled “A coupled cartographic approach between bioclimatology and vegetation formations of Mexico”, the research paper is authored by Dr Fernando Gopar-Merino (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) and colleagues at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and University of Leon (Spain). The study is part of the VCS special collection: “Neotropical vegetation”, published in collaboration with the Latin America and the Caribbean Section of the International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS).

In their study, the research team reported 17 types of typologies. Of these, the most widespread are the Infra-Thermo-Meso-Supratropical arid shrublands, which cover large parts of northern Mexico.

“The present survey provides a novel attempt to correlate bioclimatic classification data with physiognomic vegetation types of Mexico, as a long-term objective to delineate plant formations representing spatially explicit ecosystem types,” say the authors. “Detailed data on types within formation (e.g. order and alliances) and vegetation communities (associations) are yet to be compiled and analysed so that proper classification and cartographic analyses are simultaneously performed.”

Why did the journal's Chief editors choose this particular paper?

“The study represents an important baseline work for the further exploration of the vegetation of this hyper-diverse country,” they explained.


Image caption: Vegetation map of the natural vegetation of Mexico. This photo refers to the Editors’ Choice article by Gopar-Merino et al. (2024). Photo credit: Gopar-Merino et al.


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