Analisis taxonómico de las especies de plantas introducidas en Costa Rica

Abstract

Introduced plants have become an important component of vegetation around the world. Both data bases and lists of introduced species allow us to compare their distribution and effects on natural ecosystems in different regions, giving us a better understanding of their ecology to develop preventive strategies. Here we present a taxonomic analysis of 1048 introduced plant species from Costa Rica, included in 609 genera of 148 families. We consider that the number of introduced plants is underestimated and it may increase as more investigation is developed in this field. The family with the largest number of species is Poaceae (118 spp.) followed by Fabaceae, with a total of 74. Moreover, 116 families have less than 10 species. A high percentage of the introduced species are herbs (55%) and the use of the introduced plants in Costa Rica is mainly ornamental (52%). For multiple purposes is used 8.9 % of the species, as ornamental, medicinal, and edible. Populations status of the introduced plants in Costa Rica is poorly known for most species and for about 31 % of the species analyzed here this information is completely unknown. From the rest of species, 47 % are cultivated and 22 % naturalized. The geographical origin of these species is extremely diverse; however, tropical Asia (19.4 %) and South America (18.6 %) are the most common origins of introduced plant species in Costa Rica. Here we present the rst research on introduced plant species in Costa Rica and to our knowledge the first taxonomic analysis of the introduced flora in the Neotropics. To see the resulting catalogue of introduced plants in Costa Rica check http://i3n.iabin.net (whole address at the end of Bibliografía consultada)