Floristics of the cloud forest and border vegetation in Avándaro, Valle de Bravo, Mexico state, Mexico

Abstract

The cloud forest studied in this work is located at the central part of the border between the Mexican Transvolcanic Belt and the Balsas basin. The floristic list of the area includes 98 families, 245 genera and 391 species of vascular plants. The arboreal vegetation is divided into three strata, a higher (40 m) mostly constituted by oaks and Zinowiewia integerrima, a medium (20 m) by Carpinus caroliniana, Ternstroemia lineata subsp. lineata and Tilia americana, among others, and a lower one (5-15 m) by Clethra spp., Cleyera integrifolia, Cornus disciflora, Garrya laurifolia, Meliosma dentata, Oreopanax xalapensis, Parathesis melanosticta, Styrax argenteus and Symplocos citrea. Shrubby and herbaceous layers are rich because the disturbance caused by the surrounding agricultural and recreational areas. We discussed the conservation status of the cloud forest based on environmental indicators derived from the floristic results.

Keywords

• biogeography
• vegetation types
• Mesoamerican flora