Assessing landscapes: a case study of tree and shrub diversity in the seasonally dry tropical forests of Oaxaca, Mexico and southern Honduras

Abstract

Tropical dry forests, with their distinct and economically important diversity, are acknowledged conservation priorities because of alarming rates of forest conversion. Whilst it is realised that terrestrial conservation requires an understanding of landscape level patterns of diversity, forests are rarely assessed accordingly. Here we demonstrate that, in the case of the seasonally dry tropical forests of the Pacific watershed of Mesoamerica, landscape level assessment of woody diversity can inform decision making relevant to both between-landscape and within-landscape prioritisation. We report floristic surveys of dry forest landscapes in Oaxaca, Mexico and southern Honduras. It is noted that these forests are floristically similar to other seasonally dry tropical forests in the neotropics. By calculation of Genetic Heat Indices, a relative measure of the concentration of restricted range species in a sample, we determine that the conservation of the tree diversity of the coastal lowlands of Oaxaca should be prioritised over that of southern Honduras. The current conservation status of forested areas in Oaxaca is briefly described. We suggest that the greater degree of anthropogenic disturbance in southern Honduras may explain the relative lack of restricted range species there. We argue that some forest fallows can act as analogues of mature forest and therefore landscape elements other than mature forest need to be included in forest conservation assessments. We conclude that diversity sampling of any forest type should not be limited to mature forests, but extended to other elements of forested landscapes.