An alternative view of the Seasonally Dry Forests of Tropical Latin America: the floristic approach

PRADO, D.E.

Terrestrial Ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean: a conservation assessment

WWF & Island Press

Lugar: Washington, DC; Año: 2010;

The seasonally dry areas of the tropics have received scarce attention from academics and conservationists, despite humans have inhabitated, used and changed them for centuries. Seasonally dry tropical forests occur on fertile soils with a moderate to high pH and nutrient status and low levels of aluminium. Such soils are favourable for agriculture, which has resulted in destruction of these forests in many areas, a problem exacerbated by the large human populations in many Neotropical dry forest life zones. As a consequence, only a small fraction of them remains intact and the areas preserved are minimal compared to their original expanse in Latin America. The tendency is starting to change slowly, but until recently research on ecosystem dynamics and processes, and very particularly conservation efforts, rarely addressed these forests. 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, it could be useful for management purposes because of their similar ecology, but it may not be so for conservation strategies. The issue remains open as regards where to look for genetic resources and biodiversity pools.