Patrones de diversidad de especies vasculares en bordes de carretera a lo largo de un gradiente altitudinal en ecosistemas andinos tropicales

Abstract

Abstract:Evaluated patterns of vascular species diversity in response to elevation and soil characteristics on roadsides in a tropical Andean biome. The study area was in the southern Ecuadorian Andes, in an altitudinal gradient ranging from 1.000 m to 2.600 m a.s.l. Where we recorded species richness and abundance in transects perpendicular to the road. The effects of elevation and soil characteristics on species abundance and richness were evaluated using Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Species composition through a non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis. We used an ISA analysis was performed to determine the indicator species. Elevation and soil characteristics are not condition species richness, however, the composition indicated greater floristic similarity in the high elevations E1 and E2 differing from the low elevations E4 and E5, while the intermediate elevation E3 has similarity with both groups. The indicator species indicated a preference for environmental and soil conditions associated with the microhabitats.