Composition, structure and diversity of Tziritzicuaro tropical dry forest tree community, Balsas Watershed, Michoacan, Mexico

We characterized the composition, structure and diversity of tropical dry forest trees at Tziritzicuaro, municipality of La Huacana, in the Depresion del Balsas, Michoacan. We sampled all trees that were rooted inside 36 plots of 100 m(2) (0.36 ha) with a diameter at breast height (DBH) >= 1 cm. A total of 78 species, including 50 genera and 24 families were recorded. Fabaceae was the most important family respect to the number of species (24), genera (14) and individuals (274). It was recorded a total of 1 013 individuals and 2 313 stems. Basal area, cover and height average were of 0.18 m(2), 310 m(2) and 5 m, respectively. The average of species richness was of 10 species, with a mean value of Fisher alpha=8. The tropical dry forest studied shares comparable characteristics to similar communities located in other parts of Mexico and the Neotropics, this enable to confirm patterns previously detected in the composition, structure and diversity of this vegetation type.