Diversidad de especies vegetales en bosques con distintos grados de perturbación en la Reserva Natural Itabó, Itaipú Binacional, Paraguay

Abstract

As part of the work on the role of the ecosystem services performed by forests, the Plant Diversity Index was calculated. In the Itabó Natural Reserve of the Itaipu Binational Entity, Alto Paraná Ecoregion, Alto Paraná Department, two types of forests were selected: modified and unmodified. The objective was to compare plant diversity between both forests. For the determination of diversity, the absolute and relative abundance of tree species of those individuals with a diameter-at-breast-height (BHD) of 10 cm or more on a surface of 1 ha for each type of forest is calculated. Several types of indexes were used, among which those of Margalef and Menhinik stand out, which specify the data of the richness of the plant species, and are based on the total number of individuals and the number of species. The Shannon-Wiener index was also used, which relates the number of individuals with each of the species in the sample present in the plot. The Simpson index was used, which considers the probability that two randomly selected individuals will be of the same species; and finally, the similarity of species was calculated according to Jaccard, Sorensen, and Morisita-Horn. The results indicated that the two forests do not show significant differences in the diversity of species, both share between 43 and 60% of the species, with a 54% similarity.