Resumen

SMITH, Robert F  y  FIELD, Andy. Aspectos de la Ecología de Gyranthera Caribensis Pittier (Bombacaceae) y su implicación en la conservación de algunos bosques del Norte de Venezuela. Acta Bot. Venez. [online]. 2001, vol.24, n.2, pp.144-202. ISSN 0084-5906.

The individual large trees of the endemic Gyranthera caribensis Pittier were mapped to the extremes of their distribution, from the states of Miranda and Vargas to Zulia, although, in some parts, the aereal photographs needed were not available. This tree that prospers in areas with more than 1 500 mm of annual rainfall, approximately; it is used here as a precise indicator of the zones of wet forest where few rainfall stations have been placed. Populations of this tree do not enter into the more acid soils of the higher elevation cloud forest, and for this reason this species is also an excellent indicator of the lower limit of this ecosystem. Also, near the towns that date from the days of the Spanish Empire, these trees are often concentrated in clearly marked rectangular patterns. This was interpreted as an indication of where this late secondary tree species took advantage of reforested areas that were initially opened by migratory agriculturalists during one of the colonial periods. The few tropical rain forests of northern Venezuela should all be included in reserves.

Palabras clave : Gyranthera caribensis; forest succession; Venezuela; faunal reserves; migratory agriculture; conservation.