Abstract

AGUIRRE MENDOZA, Zhofre  and  GEADA-LOPEZ, Gretel. Conservation status of the dry forests of the province of Loja, Ecuador. Arnaldoa [online]. 2017, vol.24, n.1, pp.207-228. ISSN 1815-8242.  http://dx.doi.org/10.22497/arnaldoa.241.24107.

To determine forest types based on floristic composition and abundance of species, 100 plots of 20 x 20 m were sampled in the dry forest of the province of Loja. The hierarchical cluster analysis was carried out using the Sorensen distance measure to typify each type of forest; Sorensen quantitative and qualitative index was calculated. The conservation status was determined by using matrices of qualification that consider six variables: forest structure, management and use, associated population, environment matrix, presence of water sources and social and environmental problems, which are rated based on 26 indicators, whose results are expressed in four ranges: 0-25 % (bad), 25.1 to 50 % (regular), 50.1 to 75 % (good) and 75.1 to 100 % (very good). There are three types of dry forest, determined by the presence of Terminalia valverdeae, Simira ecuadorensis, Cordia macrantha (forest type I); Handroanthus chrysanthus, Citharexylum gentryi, Calliandra taxifolia (type II forest), and Eriotheca ruizii, Ipomoea pauciflora, Leucaena trichodes and Erythrina velutina (type III forest), which present remarkable differences in the field because of the species and structural characteristics. The forest, in general, is in good conservation status (57.6 %). Forest I is in good condition (67.5 %) with a very good tendency, forest II is in good conservation status (57.1 %) and forest III in good condition (55.2 %) with a tendency towards regular.

Keywords : conservation status; indicator species; types of forest; dry forest.

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