XVI International Botanical Congess
The ecological relationships between Ferocactus histrix and associated nurse plants, pollinators and seed dispersers growing in a semiarid environment in the central part of Mexico are described in this work. About 49% of the individuals grow on low fertility rocky soils, 38% under the canopy of other shrubs, and 11% in open areas. Within the second condition, we observed that F. histrix commonly grows under the canopies of both Jatropha dioica and Trixis angustifolia mainly. The most important pollinators are Perdita bicolor, Ashmeadiella sp. and Dialictus sp., and the most important seed dispersers are: Lepus callotis, Sylvilagus sp. and Tamias bulleri. Those species don´t damage neither the seeds structure nor the physiology, in addition reduces the time required for germination compared with the seeds obtained directly from the fruit.