Trees and shrubs of the tropical dry forest of the Magdalena river upper watershed (Colombia)

Abstract

Background We describe the database of trees and shrubs of tropical dry forest patches of the Magdalena upper river basin in Colombia, preserved in the Herbarium of Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales. The dataset includes 211 taxa, from which 156 were identified to species. We reported 48 families and 137 genera. The most species rich and abundant families were Fabaceae and Rubiaceae and the most abundant species was Talisia stricta (Sapindaceae). We found differences in diversity between north and south zones of the study area. New information The Magdalena river upper watershed region is an important tropical dry forest conservation area. Twenty nine species and 4 genera recorded in this study have not been reported in previous reviews of the region. Additionally, Oxandra espintana is reported in literature as critically endangered and Aspidosperma polyneuron is reported as endangered, but there are no studies about their conservation status in the region. Our results suggest the strong need to develop additional inventories of plants that contribute to the knowledge of the plant diversity of this ecosystem in the region and studies of their conservation status.