(INGENIERIA AGRONOMICA, 2021-05)
SANCHEZ SANCAN, GARY EFRAIN; ALCIVAR CHAVEZ, WALTER IVAN
DRY FORESTS ARE ONE OF THE ECOSYSTEMS WITH THE GREATEST DEGRADATION WORLDWIDE, DUE TO ANTHROPOGENIC ACTIVITIES. IN MANABÍ, THESE ECOSYSTEMS ARE HOME TO MANY SPECIES WHOSE POPULATIONS HAVE UNDERGONE SOME TRANSFORMATION DUE TO THE CHANGE IN LAND USE. USING A GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS), 24 PERMANENT CIRCULAR PLOTS WITH AN AREA OF 500 M2 WERE RANDOMLY CONSIDERED, CONSIDERING THREE ELEVATIONAL FLOORS (200-250; 251-300 AND > 300 MASL). IN THESE PLOTS, DATA ON DIAMETER AT BREAST HEIGHT (DBH) WERE RECORDED IN INDIVIDUALS WITH DBH> 5 CM AND TOTAL HEIGHT. BASED ON THESE DATA, STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS (ABUNDANCE, FREQUENCY, DOMINANCE, AND THE IMPORTANCE VALUE INDEX) WERE CALCULATED. 627 INDIVIDUALS WERE FOUND, GROUPED IN 11 FAMILIES, 20 GENERA AND 21 SPECIES. THE FOREST UNDER STUDY TENDS TO HOMOGENEITY WITH DOMINANCE OF SPECIES SUCH AS CEIBA TRISCHISTANDRA (A. GRAY) BAKH, BURSERA GRAVEOLENS, CORDIA LUTEA LAM, ERIOTHECA RUIZII (K. SCHUM.) A. ROBYNS, ERYTHRINA VELUTINA WILLD AND COCHLOSPERMUM VITIFOLIUM (WILLD.) SPRENG; THESE SIX SPECIES REPRESENT 74% OF THE SPECIES FOUND.