Variación Morfológica en Semillas de 20 Especies Leñosas Nativas en un Bosque Seco Sudamericano

Abstract

Dry forests are fragments of high biological diversity and are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic factors. Lack of biological studies in these ecosystems aggravates the problem further. Knowing the plants structures that could modulate their attitude to different environmental and anthropic conditions is fundamental. The objective of the present work was to identify the morphological seed traits diversity of forest species distributed in a remnant of Ecuadorian dry forest. Much of the species presented oval seeds, round with a hard, smooth and shiny seed coat. The small size identified in seeds follows patterns similar to those found in other dry forests of the region, except for dispersion type that was different. Seeds morphological traits found are important for their management and conservation, but fundamental for the survival in situ when facing future adverse environmental conditions in arid zones.