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Abstract:
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"Inferring the total biodiversity richness of a particular region by means of surrogates variables, has been suggested as an alternative to address the difficulty of listing in a rapid and accurate manner the biodiversity in our planet. A widely used alternative to confront this problem is the application of indicator groups. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of tree species richness as an indicator group for other growth forms in the tropical dry forest of Colima.
Vegetation surveys were conducted in 13 sites that differ in altitude and geomorphology, in which four 10 × 10 m plots were established. All plant species in each plot were surveyed, recording growth form and leaf size category for each species. The total number of taxa registered was 499, of which 208 were identified to species level, with the following proportion by growth form: trees (34%), herbs (20%), shrubs (18%), lianas (14%), vines (11%) and epiphytes (3%). The growth form with the highest number of species was that of trees, whereas Leguminoseae was the family with the greatest number of arboreal species. Arboreal species were present in five leaf size categories, highlighting the mesophyll and macrophill size categories for their high number of species. The total number of species between sites and
the number of arboreal species defined by leaf size category were highly
variable. Species richness of trees or some of their sub-groups (Leguminoseae species, and leaf size) did not demonstrate a statistically significant association with other growth forms. Other studies in tropical forests indicate that trees provide almost 50% of the correlations in species richness between different growth forms, and in 43% of the cases the number of tree species was statistically related with other growth forms. The results of this study demonstrate that despite the fact that tree growth forms in the tropical dry forest of Colima fulfilled several of the requirements necessary to be considered as a biodiversity indicator group; this growth form cannot be used for this purpose. However, the study suggests exploring this approach at other scales of analysis, and in other sites where the tropical dry forest occurs in Mexico."
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