RT Journal Article
T1 Riparian or phreatophile woodland and shrubland vegetation in the Central Chilean biogeographic region: phytosociological study
A1 Amigo Vázquez, Javier
A1 Flores Toro, Lorena de Lourdes
A1 Caballero Serrano, Verónica
K1 Baccharis salicifolia
K1 Mediterranean rivers
K1 Salix humboldtiana
K1 Syntaxonomy
K1 Willow woodlands.
AB The Mediterranean territory in Chile is an extensive area whose natural vegetation has suffered the impact of man-made activities far more severely than anywhere else in the country. Its northernmost section (the Atacama and Coquimbo regions) is characterised by ombroclimates that range from ultra-hyperarid to arid, and by highly irregular river courses with limited spaces for phreatophilic vegetation that have been exploited by humans as fertile farmlands. However, in the river valleys of the Central Chilean biogeographic province, where the ombroclimate is at least semiarid, there may be permanent watercourses that drain from the Andean mountain range towards the Pacific Ocean that contain representations of riparian or phreatophilic vegetation linked to riverbanks or alluvial terraces, in spite of the inevitable human influence. We studied the most conspicuous plant communities with the most highly developed biomass in these riparian environments, namely willow stands dominated by Salix humboldtiana and accompanied by some autochthonous woody species, in order to clarify their floristic composition and their correct ordination within the syntaxonomy of Chilean vegetation. The data collected suggest  the  existence  of  a  phytosociological  association:  Otholobio  glandulosi-Salicetum  humboldtianae  ass.  nova,  as  the  majority  association  in  the  Central  Chilean  province.  Another  possible  association  which  replaces  this  (Baccharido salicifoliae-Myrceugenietum lanceolatae prov.) is also proposed in the transition to a humid ombroclimate and Temperate macrobioclimate.The floristic contents of these Chilean communities are compared with other associations dominated by Salix humboldtiana described  for  other  territories  bordering  Chile:  Argentina,  Bolivia  and  Peru.  However,  given  that  they  are  all  located  in  a Tropical macrobioclimate and their companion flora is therefore clearly different from the flora present in the Chilean communities,  we  propose  the  creation  of  a  new  phytosociological  class  to  include  these  syntaxonomically:  Mayteno boariae-Salicetea humboldtianae class. nova. This work also ascribes the association Tessario absinthioidis-Baccharidetum marginalis (representing  a  prior  dynamic  stage  to  Otholobio  glandulosi-Salicetum  humboldtianae)  to  the  class  Tessario integrifoliae-Baccharideteasalicifoliae.
PB Universidad Complutense de Madrid
SN 2603-9109
YR 2019
FD 2019
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/21709
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/21709
LA eng
NO Amigo Vázquez, J., Flores-Toro, L., & Caballero-Serrano, V. (2019). Riparian or phreatophile woodland and shrubland vegetation in the Central Chilean biogeographic region: phytosociological study. Mediterranean Botany, 40(2), 243-258. https://doi.org/10.5209/mbot.63049
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026