Population status of two species of Ericaceae in the High Montane Forest

Abstract

In this work, a demographic study of Gaultheria glomerata and Disterigma empetrifolium was carried out in the Indiviso sector of the Baquerizo Moreno parish, Píllaro canton, Tungurahua province. The vegetation was analogous between montane forest and shrubby moorland, located at coordinates 01°18'S; 78°30'W, altitude 3400 m.a.s.l., where the Braun-Blanquet methodology for vegetation cover was adapted by means of plots, which were established randomly, the minimum distance between plot and plot was considered to be 100 meters. In the field work, the existing vegetation cover was quantified by percentages within 10 plots of 10x10m, in each of them were evaluated its subquadrants in the form of L, at each meter. The species were identified in the Herbarium of the ESPOCH, and the calculated data were 35.69% of vegetation cover for Disterigma empetrifolium and 13.19% for Gaultheria glomerata, which are in an abundance index of 2-3 on the Blanquet scale that tells us that it belongs to a medium abundant and abundant cover, Therefore, it was determined that Disterigma empetrifolium has a cover between 25-50%, thus concluding that it is in index 3 on Blanquet's scale, and Gaultheria glomerata was found in a percentage of 5-25%, concluding that this species is in index 2 on Blanquet's scale.