Mixed forests

These are the largest forests in the country and correspond to the various levels of altitude up to 2 800 m. They can be divided as follows in decreasing order of size:

  • Closed mixed forests in the east (approximately 80% of the country's broadleaved forests). Known as "hylea amazonica", this vegetation is found east of the Andes in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and corresponds mainly to Holdridge's (1967) "tropical moist forest" life zone. Palm stands and swamp forests are found within it along rivers.
  • Rainforests in the north-west (mainly in Esmeraldas province). Rainfall increases with altitude, ranging from 1 500 to 3 000 mm at sea-level up to 6 000 mm and more at 800 m. The most common commercial species in these forests belong to the Burseraceae family, Protium sp., and Dacryodes sp., the Laureaceae, Brosimum utile, Inga sp., Pourouma chocoana and kapok Ceiba sp.
  • Mixed forests on the lower and upper levels of the Andes, on the western and eastern slopes and in the mountains towards the Andean high peaks, including cloud forests with a floristic composition that differs significantly from one slope to the other. Extraction is impossible in most of these forests because of the terrain. It is interesting to note the presence of Polylepis sp. up to very high altitudes (4 340 m in one place on the Andean crest (Putney, 1976) and the presence in the upper level of the Andean forest (2 800 to 3 300 m) of patches of surales, surillos, moyas and tundas, which are "representatives of true bamboos" (Acosta-Solfa, 1961).
  • Dry (deciduous) forests along the central and southern coast (Manabí, Los Ríos and Guayas provinces) with Cordia alliodora, Pseudosamanea guachapele, Tabebuia sp. and various Bombaceae Ceiba sp., Bombax sp, with balsa Ochroma lagopus in the moister areas. (Acosta-Solfa, 1961).
last updated: Monday, January 12, 2004