Estructura Diamétrica del Bosque Seco en Dos Localidades al Sur de Manabí, Ecuador.

Abstract

Dry forests in Ecuador face ineffective protection, which generates disturbances that compromise their resilience, as in other Latin American countries, dry forests are the most affected, with the main causes being the expansion of livestock farming and agriculture, being Ecuador the country with the highest deforestation rate in the region. This study focuses on analyzing the diameter structure, determining the tree composition and evaluating the diversity of the dry forest in the Permanent Sampling Plot (PPM) in the communities of Joa in Jipijapa and Los Bajos de Montecristi, both located in the southern area of Province of Manabí, Ecuador. The tree composition in the Joa dry forest was 6 families, 10 genera and 10 species, totaling 249 individuals. In Los Bajos, 13 families, 16 genera and 17 species were identified, comprising 156 individuals. The dominant families in Joa were Fabaceae and Malvaceae, the most important species being Cordia lutea Lam, Ceiba trischistandra (A. Gray) Bakh, Eriotheca ruizii (K. Schum.) A. Robyns and Erythrina velutina Willd. In Los Bajos, the most represented families were Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Capparaceae and Cordiaceae, with the species with the highest Importance Value Index (IVI) being C. lutea, C. trischistandra, E. ruizii and Capparis sp. The diameter structure of the total population in the studied forests presents an inverted "J" shape, which indicates that they are regenerating naturally in a continuous growth process, like the species with higher IVI, except C. trischistandra in the commune of Joa. The diametric analysis of forests represents a tool for decision-making in terms of species conservation.