Abstract
The floristic study and the conservation value analysis of forest from the Jordan river middle basin are addressed in this research. This vegetation forms part of the subtropical mountain forests or Yungas, one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. Present forest species were surveyed, and the vegetation Interest Conservation index (INCON) was determined based on a series of conservation value criteria (Phytocenotic, Territorial, Mesological, Ethnobotanical, Perceptual and Didactics) recorded in the field. Available data on socio-cultural aspects of the area was also included in the study. All plants were identified up to genera and/or species. INCON was calculated from the sum of scoring assigned to each analyzed criterion. As a result, 42 forest species were identified; for each one, its conservation status was performed, including the altitudinal vegetation belt, biogeographical origin (at least for the genus), and their ethnobotanical value. The INCON obtained (135 points) showed the high natural, ethnocultural, landscape, and educational value of these forest vegetation according to the criteria analyzed. This information provides a useful tool to have a more precise knowledge of the diversity conservation status of Las Yungas. It also serves to recognize the biological and environmental relevance of this area, whose usefulness can be used for conservation purposes or decision making on protection plans.
Highlights
The floristic studies and vegetation assessment allow for updating the species list of a region, and to know the diversity and to evaluate the conservation status of the existing vegetation formations
In the far north of Argentina, there is a remarkable formation of subtropical mountain forests or “Yungas” that is very well represented in the Provinces of Jujuy and Salta
Throughout the area, there is a dense formation of subtropical mountain forests or Yungas that belong to the classic Tucumano-Bolivian Rainforest (Hauman, 1931) and represent the transition between the upper belt of the Montane Rainforest and the Montane Forest of the Yungas Phytogeographic Province (Cabrera, 1994) (Figure 3, Appendix 2)
Summary
The floristic studies and vegetation assessment allow for updating the species list of a region, and to know the diversity and to evaluate the conservation status of the existing vegetation formations. The northern Yungas of Argentina constitutes a dense pluviseasonal formation that develops along a marked altitudinal (400–3500 m asl), bioclimatic, topographic, and geomorphological gradient Such environmental complexity determines the great biological diversity and the high number of endemisms that exhibit its flora and vegetation adapted to climatic conditions specified by alternating warm-humid and temperate-dry seasons, with frosts and winter snowfalls in the summit areas. Throughout the area, there is a dense formation of subtropical mountain forests or Yungas that belong to the classic Tucumano-Bolivian Rainforest (Hauman, 1931) and represent the transition between the upper belt of the Montane Rainforest and the Montane Forest of the Yungas Phytogeographic Province (Cabrera, 1994) (Figure 3, Appendix 2) These forests are assimilated to the Sub-Andean and Montane Boliviano-Tucumano semideciduous and seasonal evergreen vegetation of the Bolivian-Tucumanan Biogeographic Province (Tropical South Andean Region) (Navarro, 2011; Navarro & Maldonado, 2002; Rivas-Martínez et al, 2011). According to the Territorial Ordination Plan of Native Forests in Jujuy Province, it has the Red category for Forest protection that defines it as an area of high conservation value that should not be transformed
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