Diversity and floristic composition of the Los Buhos Forest located in the province of Chimborazo, Ecuador

To promote conservation processes it is essential to know the biodiversity under analysis. The objective of the present work was to determine the composition, diversity and floristic importance of El Bosque Los Buhos to generate a baseline that allows the management of the resource for academic purposes. A description of the floristic composition was made, the alpha (alpha) and beta (beta) biodiversity indexes were determined and the ecological importance of the species (IVI's) was calculated. The data indicate that the floristic composition of the forest is formed in three strata by 56 species, 18 orders and 27 families. The arboreal stratum presents a biodiversity average (2,534-Margalef) and high dominance (0,8367-Simpson), the shrub layer has low biodiversity (1,811-Margalef) and low dominance (0,4441-Simpson), and the herbaceous stratum presents biodiversity average (3,882-Margalef) and high dominance (0,7101-Simpson). The species with the highest IVI's for the arboreal stratum are Mimosa quitensis (Benth. 1848), Acacia retinodes (Schltdl. 1847), y Tecoma stans (L. Juss. ex Kunth. 1819). For the shrub layer are Agave americana (L. 1753), Lantana megapotamica (Spreng. Tronc. 1974), Retama sphaerocarpa (L. Boiss. 1840) y Opuntia cylindrica (Lam. DC. 1828). Finally for the herbaceous stratum is Carpobrotus edulis (L.N.E.Br. 1926).