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Dry forest is more threatened but less protected than evergreen forest in Ecuador’s coastal region

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2020

Carlos A Rivas Open the ORCID record for Carlos A Rivas [Opens in a new window] ,
Rafael M Navarro-Cerillo ,
Jon C Johnston  and
José Guerrero-Casado
Carlos A Rivas*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Portoviejo, Manabí, Ecuador
Rafael M Navarro-Cerillo
Affiliation:
Department of Forest Engineering, Laboratory of Dendrochronology, Silviculture and Global Change – DendrodatLab – ERSAF, University of Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, Crta. IV, km. 396, E-14071 Córdoba, Spain
Jon C Johnston
Affiliation:
Department of Wildlife, Humboldt State University, 1 Harpst Street, Arcata, CA95521, USA
José Guerrero-Casado
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarios, Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Portoviejo, Manabí, Ecuador
*
Author for correspondence: Carlos A Rivas, Email: [email protected]
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Summary

The Ecuadorian coast has two main types of forests, which are differentiated by their phenology: dry forests are deciduous and more humid forests are evergreen. Less of the dry forests on the Ecuadorian coast is protected (13% of its area) than the evergreen forests (28%), and the area devoted to the protection of dry forests (1069 km2) is substantially less than the area devoted to the protection of evergreen forests (2800 km2). Yet the conservation status of dry forests is more critical, with 83% of their area classified as having very low connectivity, 70% as being highly fragile and 86% as being highly threatened. In addition, the dry forests have fewer protected areas than the evergreen forests. It is therefore necessary to increase the protection of deciduous ecosystems as part of a comprehensive national strategy because they support high levels of biodiversity and many endemic species.

Keywords

deciduous forestsdry forestsevergreen forestsforest conservationprotected areas
Type
Report
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 79 - 83
Copyright
© Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2020

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