Plant Diversity and Ecology in the Chihuahuan Desert

Section I - The natural history of the plant diversity in the Chihuahuan desert.- Chapter 1 - Vegetation and species richness in the Chihuahuan Desert.- Chapter 2 - Biogeography and phylogeography of the plants of Chihuahuan Desert.- Chapter 3 - The Chihuahuan Desert, climate change and paleovegetation during the mid-Holocene and Last Maximum Glacial.- Chapter 4 - Plants in the desert: diversity and life-forms.- Section II - Cuatro Cienegas Basin, a refugia within the Chihuahuan desert.- Chapter 5 - Reproductive biology of Grusonia bradtiana (Cactaceae) from the Chihuahuan desert.- Chapter 6 - How did Fouquieria come to the Chihuahuan Desert?.- Chapter 7 - Between Aridity and Opulence: Resources of the Mexican Desert.- Chapter 8 - Ecological importance of Bajadas in the Cuatrocienegas region: a floristic diversity and vegetation analysis.- Chapter 9 - Gypsophilous species of Cuatro Ciénegas.- Chapter 10 - The ages of life: the changingforms and the history of Coryphantha werdermanni throughout its development.- Chapter 11 - Cuatrocienegas: a refugee for the living rock cactus, Ariocarpus fissuratus.- Chapter 12 - Reproductive biology and conservation of the living rock Ariocarpus fissuratus.- Chapter 13 - Effect of reproductive modes on the population dynamics of an endemic cactus from Cuatro Ciénegas.- Chapter 14 - Conservation status, germination and establishment of the divine cactus, Lophophora williamsii (Lem. ex Salm-Dyck) J. M. Coult., at Cuatrocienegas.- Chapter 15 - Genetic and ecological characterization of Arundo donax and Phragmites australis in the Cuatro Ciénegas Valley.- Section III - Perturbation caused by the overexploitation of the aquifer, conservation and management.- Chapter 16 - Disturbance and the formation and colonization of new habitats in the terminal part of the Churince System.- Chapter 17 - Riparian species and habitats in a semiarid

María C. Mandujano studied Biology at the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM), and obtained her PhD from the National Autonomous University (UNAM), prior to completing her postdoctoral studies at New Mexico State University, awarded with a grant for a plant ecology project on the LTER (long term ecological research) program. She is currently a researcher at UNAM's Ecology Institute, where she and her students have been studying various ecological aspects of cacti and pollinators in Cuatro Ciénegas and Mapimí, in the Chihuahuan Desert, and more recently in the drylands of Querétaro. Dr. Mandujano works with threatened and invasive plant species along the North American Deserts, being Cuatro Ciénegas one of her favorite places, as a centre of endemism and a unique oasis. She has made important contributions to the demography, life history and floral biology of desert plants, especially in cacti. She is the editor of the Mexican Journal Cactáceas y Suculentas Mexicanas.

Irene Pisanty studied Biology at the School of Sciences (Facultad de Ciencias) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where she also obtained her Master's degree in Ecology and Environmental Sciences. She is currently an Associate Professor at the same School of Sciences, where she teaches on ecology, population ecology, natural resources and life histories. She is also interested in the implementation of environmental policies based on sound scientific knowledge and worked as a project manager for Ecosystem Conservation at the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (1995-1998), and as a senior advisor to the president of the National Institute of Ecology (INE) (2001-2007). She is currently exploring the responses of soils and plants to water overexploitation and the disturbances it is producing in the Basin, as well as the functional responses of plants in gypsum environments.

Luis E. Eguiarte studied Biology at the School of Sciences