Rain Forests in Subtropical Mountains of Dominican Republic

Abstract

This article presents a study of the cloud forest dominated by the Prestoea montana (R. Graham) Nichols. This is a hyperhumid forest located in ravines and shaded areas with cloud condensation, and at heights ranging from 350 - 1250 masl. This type of forest is always found in thermal and mesotropical belts, without ever reaching the supratropical belt. This study was based on works published by other authors and on our own field sampling. The article begins by describing the geological, bioclimatic, biogeographic and floristic aspects of the areas in the study, specifically the hyperhumid areas in the central and eastern mountains. Due to the scarcity of phytosociological works on this area, we apply a statistical treatment to compare our communities with other associations described in Cuba. This comparison reveals that these forest groups are floristically quite distant from each other, both with regard to allianceand association species. We therefore propose two new communities: Cyathea furfuracea Baker and Prestoea montana (Grah.) Nichol; Ormosia krugii Urb. and Prestoea montana (Grah.) Nichol.