Riqueza y Distribución Ecológica de Especies de Pteridofitas en la Zona del Río Yavarí-Mirín, Amazonía Peruana

• Published in: Biotropica Vol. 39; no. 5; pp. 637 - 646
• Main Authors: Cárdenas, Glenda G, Halme y Hanna Tuomisto, Kati J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Spanish
• Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.09.2007; Blackwell Publishing
• Subjects: ferns; ferns and fern allies; floristic analysis; pteridophytes; rain forest; rain forests; species distribution; species diversity; Tropical Biology
• ISSN: 0006-3606; 1744-7429
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2007.00308.x

We studied the ecological distribution of pteridophytes (ferns and fern allies) along eight 8-km transects covering 12.7 ha in Peruvian Amazonia. Subunits of 200 m² of the transects have previously been classified into four different forest types, and here we document and quantify the floristic differences among these forest types. Pteridophytes have been suggested as an indicator group to classify rain forest habitats, but this requires that the ecological preferences of the species are well documented and consistent across geographic regions. Here we analyzed in detail the distribution and diversity patterns of 130 species across the four rain forest types. Relative species abundance and species diversity were similar among some of the forest types and differed among others, but the species composition differed markedly. Our results largely confirmed the earlier interpretation of the edaphic preferences of the pteridophyte species in western Amazonia. This supports the proposition that deterministic processes have an important role in influencing the floristic composition of Amazonian forests.