Check List 9(4): 763-770, doi: 10.15560/9.4.763
Floristic composition of Isla de las Gaviotas, Río de la Plata estuary, Uruguay
expand article infoAnaclara Guido‡, Patricia Mai‡, Verónica Piñeiro‡, Dominique Mourelle‡, Mercedes Souza‡, Emanuel Machín‡, Natalia Zaldúa‡, Javier Lenzi§
‡ Universidad de la República, Uruguay, Uruguay§ Centro de Investigación y Conservación Marina – CICMAR, Uruguay

Corresponding author: Anaclara Guido ( aguido@fcien.edu.uy )

© 2017 Anaclara Guido, Patricia Mai, Verónica Piñeiro, Dominique Mourelle, Mercedes Souza, Emanuel Machín, Natalia Zaldúa, Javier Lenzi.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Guido A, Souza M, Zaldúa N, Mai P, Piñeiro V, Machín E, Mourelle D, Lenzi J (2013) Floristic composition of Isla de las Gaviotas, Río de la Plata estuary, Uruguay. Check List 9(4): 763-770. https://doi.org/10.15560/9.4.763
Open Access
Abstract
Isla de las Gaviotas is an island located in Río de la Plata estuary, Uruguay. The aim of this study is to determine and analyze plant species composition on this island and to identify vegetation zonation patterns. An angiosperm species list was generated using a qualitative sampling technique. We registered a total of 27 species, distributed among 18 families. According to species distribution patterns on the island, we propose four vegetation zones: North, Central, Southeast and West. Exotic species comprised 52% of the total number of species, reflecting a history of disturbance in the area. Nonetheless, this site also has a remarkable number of native species, in particular Heliotropium curassavicum, which is listed among Uruguayan species of conservation concern. Given that the loss of coastal plant species is a current problem, the proportion of native halophyte species recorded (37%) indicated the island’s importance as a relict of Uruguayan coastal vegetation.
Keywords
Angiosperms; diversity; exotic species