An alternative view of the seasonally dry forests of tropical Latin America: The floristic approach

PRADO, D.E.

Edimburgo

Simposio; Plant Biodiversity Symposium, International Conference on Tropical Savannas & Seasonally Dry Forests; 2003

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

Prado, D.E.: An alternative view of the seasonally dry forests of tropical Latin America: The floristic approach. Plant Biodiversity Symposium, International Conference on Tropical Savannas & Seasonally Dry Forests, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland (14-20 SET/03). ABSTRACT: The seasonally dry areas of the tropics have received scarce attention from academics and conservationists in comparison to that given to the vegetation of the rain forests. The present concept of seasonally dry forests includes structural types of woody vegetation related to climatic seasonality in the tropics of Latin America, with a well-defined dry season of variable length. They extend from the Pacific coast of Mexico to NW and NE Argentina. There is a link between the Latin American seasonally dry forests which exceeds the mere physiognomy, and that is their floristic composition. It has been demonstrated both by studying the distribution of their woody species and by comparison through phytosociological and numerical analysis, that the floristic links between these forests is very strong indeed. This new interpretation leads to several derivations with impact in phytogeography, historical biogeography, species diversification and even economic botany. Therefore there is a common floristic stock linking all the seasonally dry forests of Latin America for historical and biogeographical reasons. If these forests are separated in different formations because of their physiognomy, this could be useful for management purposes because of their similar ecology, but it may not be so for conservation strategies and for the preservation of biodiversity and genetic resources.