Floristic Composition, Structure, and Diversity of a Fragmented Forest Remnant in the Ecuadorian Chocó: The Case of ‘La Montaña enclave’
Floristic Composition, Structure, and Diversity of a Fragmented Forest Remnant in the Ecuadorian Chocó: The Case of ‘La Montaña enclave’
Raúl Valentín Mora-Yela1,2*, Cesar Tapia Bastidas3, Joaquín Giménez de Azcárate-Cornide4, Fernando David Sánchez-Mora5, Carlos A. Salas-Macías5,6 and Adriana Beatriz Sánchez-Urdaneta5,7
ABSTRACT
Floristic composition is a key indicator of a region’s biodiversity, as it helps identify the species present, their interactions, and the special distribution of plant communities. The objective of this study was to assess the floristic composition, structure, and diversity of vegetation units at the ‘La Montaña enclave’ (210 ha), circumscribed at the Estación Experimental Tropical Pichilingue, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP), Los Ríos province, Ecuador. Thirty-one temporary sampling plots, each measuring 20 m × 20 m (400 m²) were established to evaluated the presence of plants, the diameter and height of trees. The importance value index (IVI) was calculated based on abundance, frequency and dominance relative. The plant units were grouped according to floristic and structural similarities. The floristic inventory encompassed a total of 23 botanical families, 55 species and 366 individuals. The families with the most representatives were: Moraceae, Malvaceae, Fabaceae, Mimosaceae, and Arecaceae. The study identified three vegetation units: forest, flood and swamp zone. Anacardium excelsum was the dominant species in the forest zone, while Erythrina glauca and Cecropia peltata were the dominant species in the swamp and flood zones, respectively. The forest zone had the highest diversity of species (HSD= 0.906, H’= 3.015 y Dmg= 7.913), followed by the flood zone (HSD= 0.861, H’= 2.392 y Dmg= 4.348) and the swamp zone (HSD= 0.666, H’= 1.258 y Dmg= 1.228). The floristic inventory provides information about plant biodiversity which helps to understand its structure and arboreal composition. The findings provide a baseline for prioritizing restoration actions in lowland evergreen forests of the Ecuadorian Chocó.
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