Forests and Landscapes of Dominican Republic

Aims: This, in conjunction with the diversity of the substrates and the fact that the island is home to the highest mountains in the Caribbean and with a high rate of endemic species, allows them to be differentiated into three major groups –dry forest, cloud forest and the transition between dry and cloud forests. The forests in the Dominican Republic grow in a tropical climate with ombrotypes ranging from arid to humid-hyperhumid due to the moisture-laden Atlantic winds; and infra-, thermo-, meso- and supratropical thermotypes. Establish the diversity, ecology and forest types in Dominican Republic. Methods: We identified all species through field surveys and comparative analyzes of how forest types, structure, diversity and ecology.Results: We consided these forests to be endemic to the island of Hispaniola, as the dry forest presents 81 endemic species, of which 10 are trees, 65 shrubs, 5 creepers, and 1 herbaceous species; while the cloud forest has 19 trees, 20 shrubs, 8 creepers, 4 epiphytes and 6 herbaceous species. Conclusions: We highlight the absence of endemic epiphytes in the dry forests, which are in a poor state of conservation and subject to greater human pressure than the cloud forest

Distribution patterns of endemic flora to define hotspots on Hispaniola

Nineteen areas on the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) were studied with the aim of determining the distribution pattern of the endemic flora in these areas, and their variability with altitude. The main concentration of endemic species occurs in mountains with a medium altitude and in certain mountain sites (palaeo-islands), which coincide with hotspots; a lower number of endemics are found in low-lying areas (coldspots), due to the degradation of their habitats. A total of 1,582 endemic species were studied and were distributed in 19 areas. The whole island is of outstanding interest for its richness in endemics; it has 2,050 endemic species, representing 34.16% of its total flora. The territory in the study is home to 1,284 genera of which 31 are endemic to the island, including monotypical genera such as Tortuella abietifolia Urb. & Ekman, and endemic genera such as Hottea, containing seven endemic species. The sites with the highest rate of endemics are area A16 in the central range with a total of 440 endemic species, of which 278 are exclusive to the territory; and the Sierra de Bahoruco, la Selle, La Hotte and Tibur on in area A12, where we found 699 plants of which 482 are endemic and exclusive to the area; and A13 with 173 and 129 respectively. This work highlights the exceptional floristic diversity in endemic species and genera and analyses their distribution patterns as a tool for conservation in this area of the world, whose high endemicity rate makes it one of the most significant hotspots in the Caribbean

Knowledge for a Better Conservation: Syntaxonomic Review of Caribbean Pine Forests (Cuba, Hispaniola)

A phytosociological review is carried out of the pine forest formations on the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola (Caribbean), due to the diversity of soils and environments. We collected 10 plant associations belonging to the class Byrsonimo-Pinetea caribaea growing on siliceous, calcareous and sandy substrates and 21 associations on special, serpentine and ophite substrates and on ultramafic rocks belonging to the class Caseario crassinervis-Pinetea cubensis, exclusive to Cuba; while the association of pine forests on serpentines in Hispaniola is included in the class Phyllantho orbicularis-Neobracetea valenzuelanae with a Caribbean distribution. The comparative phytosociological and statistical study reveals phytosociological anomalies in the inclusion of various syntaxa, and in the description of other syntaxa according to the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature (ICPN). We therefore propose a change in status for several of the subassociations described: subass. ilicetosum repandae: syn. var. con Ilex repanda; subass. schmidtottietosum shaferi: syn. var. with Schmidtottia shaferi; subass. acrosynanthetosum trachyphylli: syn. var. with Acrosynanthus trachyphyllus; subass. psychotrietosum grandis: var. con Psychotria grandis; subass. notodonetosum roigii: syn. var. with Notodon roigii. We also propose a nomen novum: jaquinietosum oxhyphyllae Reyes & Acosta 2012 ex Cano et al. hoc loco

Phytosociological study, diversity and conservation status of the cloud forest in the Dominican Republic

The study of the forest in rainy environments of the Dominican Republic reveals the presence of four types of vegetation formations, clearly differentiated from each other in terms of their floristic and biogeographical composition, and also significantly different from the rainforests of Cuba. This leads us to propose two new alliances and four plant associations located in northern mountain areas exposed to moisture-laden winds from the Atlantic: All. Rondeletio ochraceae-Clusion roseae (Ass. Cyatheo furfuracei-Prestoetum motanae; Ass. Ormosio krugii-Prestoetum montanae); and All. Rondeletio ochraceae-Didymopanion tremuli (Ass. Hyeronimo montanae-Magnolietum pallescentis; Hyeronimo dominguensis-Magnolietum hamorii). We pay special attention to the description of cloud forest types, since they have a high rate of endemic species, and therefore there are endemic habitats, which need special protective actions. Therefore, we apply the Shannon diversity index to characteristic, companion, non-endemic, and endemic species. As result, the association Ormosio krugii-Prestoetum montanae has a Shannon_T = 2.4 and a value of Shannon_E = 0, whereas the other 3 associations have a better conservation status with Shannon values in all cases > 0: This is due to a worse conservation status of the Eastern Cordillera, in comparison with the Central Cordillera and Sierra de Bhaoruco. Due to human activity, some areas are very poorly conserved, as evidenced by the diversity index and the presence of endemic tree and plant elements. The worst conserved in terms of the relationship between characteristic plants vegetation (cloud forest) in areas with high rainfall are in the Dominican Republic, along with its floristic diversity and state of conservation. This study has made it possible to significantly increase the botanical knowledge of this important habitat.Research group RNM: 211 of the Junta de Andalucia (Spain) and AECI projectinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Morphometric analysis and bioclimatic distribution of Glebionis coronaria s.l. (Asteraceae) in the Mediterranean area

We present a revision of Glebionis coronaria in the Mediterranean area based on: a) micro-morphology of the disc floret cypselas observed with a high-resolution confocal microscopy; b) measurements of the disc cypsela with a stereoscopic microscope – duly scaled; c) its distribution in several bioclimatic belts; d) field observations; e) comparisons of herbarium samples. Because of this study, we propose the elevation of Glebionis coronaria var. discolor to the rank of species, as Glebionis discolor comb. & stat. nov., based on morphological and ecological characteristics such as the disposition of the intercostal glands, the size of the disc cypsela wings and its distribution according to the bioclimatic belts. Glebionis coronaria, with totally yellow ray florets and intercostal glands aligned, is exclusive to the thermo-Mediterranean bioclimatic belt, while Glebionis discolor, with white ray florets on a yellow base and intercostal glands arranged randomly, is found in the thermo- and meso-Mediterranean belt. Illustrations of micromorphological characteristics of the cypselas, an identification key, a taxonomic synopsis including information on nomenclatural types, synonyms, descriptions of the taxa, and, as supplementary information, a list of the specimens examined and bioclimatic classification of samples localities are also presented

Expansion of the Juniperus Genus due to Anthropic Activity

This work contains a study of Juniperus forests in the southern Iberian Peninsula and aims to determine their floristic composition and their biogeographical, ecological and bioclimatological distribution. The analysis of Juniperus formations revealed a series of different plant communities. The presence of endemic companions in these plant communities justifies the study of these islands: Echinospartum ibericum Rivas Mart., Sánchez Mata & Sancho, Adenocarpus argyrophyllus (Rivas Goday) Caball., Digitalis purpurea L. subsp. mariana (Boiss.) Rivas Goday, Sideritis lacaitae Font Quer, Coincya longirostra (Boiss) Greuter & Burdet, Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link subsp. bourgaei (Boiss.) Riv.-Mart., Cytisus striatus (Hill) Rothm. subsp. eriocarpus (autor), Genista polyanthos R. Roem. Ex Willk., Dianthus crassipes R. de Roemer, Dianthus lusitanus Brot. Digitalis thapsi L., Digitalis purpurea L. subsp. Heywoodii P. Silva & M. Silva, subsp. mariana (Boiss) Rivas Goday, Securinega tinctoria (L.) Rothm., Lavandula stoechas L. subsp. luisieri (Rozeira) Rozeira, lavandula stoechas subsp. sampaiana Rozeira, Genista hirsuta Vahl, Thymus mastichina (L.) L., Thymus grantensis Boiss. subps. micranthus (Willk.) O. Boòs & Vigo, Thymus zygis Loefl ex L. subsp. gracillis (Boiss.) Boiss., Antirrhinum graniticum Roth. subsp. onubensis (Fernández Casas) Valdés. The territories in the study are of community interest (SCI) due to the presence of habitats such as Habitat 8220, which includes the plant associations Digitali thapsi-Dianthetum lusitani Rivas-Martínez ex Fuente 1986, Jasiono marianae-Dianthetum lusitani Rivas Goday (1955) 1964, Coincyo longirostraae-Dianthetum lusitani Melendo in Cano, Melendo & F. Valle 1997, and is the motive for the need to conserve these areas. However the dominant species in these environments is Juniperus oxycedrus L. subsp. lagunae (Pau ex C. Vicioso) Rivas Mart., and all the other –mainly endemic– species are located within its vicinity. These zones can thus be classified as hotspots with particular interest for conservation. Areas dominated by Juniperus are currently becoming more widespread due to the greater prevalence of rock beds, which increase every year in response to deforestation and forest fires. This phenomenon leads to the extension of edaphoxerophilous zones and a decrease in climatophilous zones, and creates more potential areas that can potentially act as a refuge for endemic species

New Contributions to the Ericion umbellatae Alliance in the Central Iberian Peninsula

The study of heathlands dominated by Erica australis, E. umbellata and Cistus populifolius in the centre and west of the Iberian Peninsula allows us to separate the eight shrubland communities. The taxonomic analysis of E. australis distinguishes two subspecies: E. australis subsp. australis and E. australis subsp. aragonensis. The statistical treatment confirms the differences between the subal liances Ericenion aragonensis and Ericenion umbellatae. This ecological, bioclimatic, biogeographical and floristic study has allowed us to differentiate three new associations from the remaining five: TCp = Teucrio oxylepis-Cistetum populifolii nova. HEau = Halimio ocymoidis-Ericetum australis nova. DEu = Drosophyllo lusitanicae-Ericetum umbellatae nova. ECp = Erico australis-Cistetum populifolii Ri vas Goday 1964. PCp = Polygalo microphyllae-Cistetum populifolii Rivas Goday 1964. HEa = Halimio ocymoidis-Ericetum aragonensis Rivas-Martínez 1979. HEu = Halimio ocymoidis-Ericetum umbellatae Rivas Goday 1964. UEu = Ulici eriocladi-Ericetum umbellatae

Ecological and syntaxonomic analysis of Pinus halepensis mill. in the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands

This work aims to review the natural communities of Pinus halepensis in Spain. The methodology consisted of subjecting 400 phytosociological relevés to georeferencing and statistical, biogeographical, and bioclimatic treatment. We analyse the communities of Pinus halepensis on the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands. Five syntaxa with association rank are described in several works and included in the alliances Rhamno-Quercion and Oleo-Ceratonion. Ephedro-Pinetum halepensis was initially proposed as a community by Torres et al. and subsequently raised to the rank of association by Rivas-Martínez et al. In this work, we have separated the plant communities dominated by Pinus halepensis, which was previously included in other syntaxa, and as a result, we propose four new associations and a new alliance for the Iberian Peninsula: ass. Bupleuro rigidi-Pinetum halepensis; ass. Ephedro nebrodensis-Pinetum halepensis; ass. Rhamno angustifoliae-Pinetum halepènsis; ass. Rhamno laderoi-Pinetum halepensis; all. Rhamno lycioidis-Pinion halepensis. In view of the fact that some of the communities have been published as edaphoxerophilous and climatophilous, we suggest separating the climatophilous from the edaphoxerophilous character in the diagnosis of the communities, and have therefore recently proposed the ombroedaphoxeric index Ioex (Ioex = Pp − e/Tp × CR), which considers positive precipitation Pp, positive temperature Tp, residual evapotranspiration (e), and water retention capacity CR (0.25, 0.50, 0.75). In conclusion, we propose the associations mentioned above, which will allow the implementation of a reforestation treatment in accordance with the natural environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New Method for Increasing Sustainable Agricultural Yield

The main objective of this study is to look for a new method, to obtain the maximum production, and the minimum economic and environmental cost. Scientific advances in bioclimatology have brought a greater understanding of the functioning of plant individuals, populations and communities, and the study and interpretation of bioclimatic indices reveals the close relationship between the values of these indices and crop yields. In cases where insufficient meteorological data are available to allow the various formulas to be applied, thermoclimatic and ombroclimatic bioindicators must be used, some of which have been collected by us in previous works. This paper contains a bioclimatic study of the southern Iberian Peninsula in relation to the main olive varieties grown in these territories. We establish the values of some key indices for cultivation: continentality index (Ic), which determines the annual thermal range and allows us to establish the period of vegetative activity (PAV); the ombrothermic index (Io), which measures the ombrotype in the different sites; and the thermicity and compensated thermicity index, which denote the thermotype in the territory (It/Itc). In the relationship between the value of the bioclimatic indices and olive production, good fits are obtained in the regression analysis with R2> 0.90, and is very positive influence of the different parameters used. In conclusion the greatest influence on the production of Ic is between 18.5-19.5, Io 3.5-4.5 and It / Itc 320-350. This allows to obtain areas of maximum production with a lower economic cost

Endemic Hemicryptophyte Grasslands of the High Mountains of the Caribbean

Cano Ortiz, A., Quinto Canas, R., Pinar Fuentes, J. C., del Rio, S., Pinto Gomes, C. J., & Cano, E. (2022). Endemic Hemi-cryptophyte Grasslands of the High Mountains of the Caribbean. Re-search Journal of Ecology and Environ-mental Sciences, 2(1), 1–20. Retrieved from https://www.scipublica-tions.com/journal/in-dex.php/rjees/article/view/18