Abstract

SANTA CRUZ, Lázaro et al. Inventory of the palm trees of the western slopes of Peru. Arnaldoa [online]. 2018, vol.25, n.3, pp.857-876. ISSN 1815-8242.  http://dx.doi.org/10.22497/arnaldoa.253.25304.

The Andes Mountains generate three hydrographic basins: The Pacific and the Atlantic basins, and the high elevation endorheic system of Lake Titicaca. In Peru, palm trees are largely diversified and documented in the eastern side of the Andes (Atlantic basin), in comparison to the Pacific basin, where the scarcity in the distribution of palm trees is evident before the extensive desert of Peru-Chile. This study seeks to inventory and determine the palm tree distribution in the Pacific basin of Peru. A bibliographical review and examination of herbarium collections from the study area where done, this was complemented with new specimens collected in the province of Santa Cruz (Cajamarca). A total of 7 species of palm trees were registered, distributed in 4 genera; genus Ceroxylon with greatest presence, with 4 species, followed by Geonoma, Chamaedorea and Aiphanes with one species each one. The species found in Cajamarca are: Ceroxylon quindiuense, C. parvifrons, C. parvum, C. vogelianum and Geonoma undata, and in Tumbes: Chamaedorea linearis and Aiphanes eggersii. A good representation of the Andean genera Ceroxylon is due to the dispersion and continuity or previous subcontinuity of the cloud forests with the inter-Andean slopes at Huancabamba deflection. Geonoma undata was registered in one location (Monteseco), but it is absent in nearby forests and isolated from populations of the eastern slopes. Aiphanes eggersii is an endemic palm tree of Tumbesian seasonally dry tropical forests shared by Peru and Ecuador, while Chamaedorea linearis is a species of wide Andean-Pacific distribution, with presence in subhumid montane forest of Tumbes. Amotape-Huancabamba deflection allowed a flow between the western and eastern slopes which explains the presence of palms species of the genera Ceroxylon and Geonoma; for Ceroxylon this biogeographic region was a place of speciation due to the presence of endemic species Ceroxylon parvum, C. peruvianum and C. quindiuense (Peruvian)

Keywords : Andes Mountains; dry cloud forest; seasonally dry tropical forest; Peruvian Pacific basin.

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