Authors
VÍCTOR ARROYO‐RODRÍGUEZ, Eduardo Pineda, Federico Escobar, JULIETA BENÍTEZ‐MALVIDO
Publication date
2009/11/18
Journal
Conservation Biology
Volume
23
Issue
3
Pages
729-739
Publisher
Blackwell Publishing Inc
Description
We evaluated the importance of small (<5 ha) forest patches for the conservation of regional plant diversity in the tropical rainforest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. We analyzed the density of plant species (number of species per 0.1 ha) in 45 forest patches of different sizes (1–700 ha) in 3 landscapes with different deforestation levels (4, 11, and 24% forest cover). Most of the 364 species sampled (360 species, 99%) were native to the region, and only 4 (1%) were human‐introduced species. Species density in the smallest patches was high and variable; the highest (84 species) and lowest (23 species) number of species were recorded in patches of up to 1.8 ha. Despite the small size of these patches, they contained diverse communities of native plants, including endangered and economically important species. The relationship between species density and area was significantly different among the landscapes, with a …
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V ARROYO‐RODRÍGUEZ, E Pineda, F Escobar… - Conservation Biology, 2009