FLORISTIC COMPOSITION OF THE TAURA RIVER BASIN GULF OF GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR

Abstract

The Taura River basin is made up of the river of the same name, which, with a length of 1,962 km², reaches the sea, flowing through the Gulf of Guayaquil into the Pacific Ocean, on the coast of Ecuador. Said basin houses a large human development that to a greater or lesser degree could affect the flora of the sector. The objective of this research was to record the Floristic Composition of said basin, floristically characterizing its estuaries and banks, in order to contribute to the floristic knowledge of the Gulf of Guayaquil of the largest in South America. For which eleven stations were established along the riverbank of the basin, with mangrove ecosystems; and formations of lacustrine grasslands of lowlands of tropical dry forest, in which the plant species present were evaluated, based on a population estimate, while the abundance of the herbaceous stratum was evaluated based on the area of its coverage with respect to 100 m² . The monitoring was carried out both in the rainy regime and without it during the years 2006, 2012, 2018, 2020. A total of 42 species, 37 genera and 23 families were recorded in the eleven sampled stations. 55% are monocots, 40% eudicots and 5% ferns. In Monocotyledons, the Poaceae family is mostly represented with 12 species. The phytocoenosis in the Taura river basin has been influenced by the season of more or less precipitation within the same year, characterized mainly by the plant communities of riverine forest (BR) and herbaceous scrub (MH) and mangrove hydrophilic forest. (BH-M).