Conservation and resilience of plant formations in the Central-West Cayo Coco Ecological Reserve
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Abstract
The application of ecological indicators in the vegetation formations under study showed that the coastal and subcoastal xeromorphic shrubland presented the highest synanthropism although also the highest number of introduced taxa, while in the forest the lowest number of introduced taxa and better state of conservation and resilience were observed. In the evergreen coastal and subcoastal microphyll forest, the native synanthropic taxa predominated, mainly the primary intraphytes (24.4%), normal extrapophytes (20%) and recovering intraphytes (17.8%); in the coastal and subcoastal xeromorphic shrubland, the secondary extrapophytes (27.3%); and in the sandy coast vegetation complex, the primary intraphytes (25%). The strong presence of native synanthropic species in these formations showed their high capacity for resilience. These species adapted to disturbances while maintaining the stability of the vegetation. The native taxa increased the number of individuals in the early stages of succession and persisted as dynamic equilibrium was established in the ecosystem. In the territory, only 5.7% of invasive species were listed, of which 1.3% were potentially invasive. The small number of introduced taxa and invasive species showed that despite the disturbances that occurred, the level of impact was low.
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