Floristic characterization thesemi-deciduous mesophytic forest natural reserve "El Mulo", Artemisa, Cuba

Abstract

The study was conducted in the nature reserve "El Mulo," and the objective was to characterize the mesophilic semi-deciduous forest of this area, which is one of the three core areas of Managed Resource Protected Area "Sierra del Rosario" in the province Artemisa, Cuba. We are analyzing horizontal and vertical structure, and the Alpha and Beta diversity is performed. The index ecological importance's value of species was obtained by the sum of the parameters of horizontal structure. Were prepared graphs of relative abundance for the 15 most important species from the ecological point of view. Were identified 19 families, 42 genera and 45 species of angiosperm woody plants? In total 1 468 individuals were recorded in the six sampled plots. The composition and structure found in the investigation corroborates the presence of mesophytic semi-deciduous forest in the area. The parameters of the horizontal structure that most affect the ecological importance of the species are abundance and dominance relative. The dominant species in the sampling sites have been mostly introduced. The relationship established between sites, species and some environmental variables indicates that Ficus aurea Nutt., Erythrina poeppigiana O. F., Laurocerasus occidentalis Roem., Guarea guidonia L.Sleumer y Oxandra lanceolata SW: Baill., reached the highest values ecologically important.