PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF PLANTS SPECIES IN AMAICHA DEL VALLE

VIVAS, GILDA LUCIANA; JUÁREZ, VIVIANA; ROBLES, CECILIA INÉS; SALVA, ANA GABRIELA

Tafí del Valle

Jornada; XXXIII Jornadas Científicas de la Asociación de Biología de Tucumán; 2016

Asociación de Biología de Tucumán

Mountains are high plant diversity areas, and might be vulnerable to climate change, thus numerous plant species survive near their physiological bound of development; such as temperature or water and nutrient availability. Basic information contribution of vegetal species and long-term monitoring allows the detection of changes caused by climate. Ground cover and vegetal richness were analyzed in Los Cardones (2725 m.a.s.l.), Amaicha dell Valle, Tucuman. This study was conducted in two seasons; February 2015 (summer) andMay 2016 (fall). The classic method of point interception was used, by setting points (every 50cm) along a line (50m) and recording the first plant or soil contact in each mark. The results of the points show the percentage of different species and ground cover. In a preliminary analysis, a higher percentage of bare ground was found in fall compared to summer; while stony soil was similar in both seasons. 43 plant species (35 vascular and 8 non-vascular)were identified in summer, whereas only 14 vascular species were recorded in May. The organic cover (manure) was registered at 15% in February and at 1% in May. These differences would be reflecting the climate conditions of both seasons (dry and rainy). This work represents a firsthand inventory of plant biodiversity for this region. We consider this study as the beginning of a long term monitoring of the flora of the region which will assess potential impacts of environmental changes.