Análisis de las características morfológicas de frutos de especies de bosque seco de la Reserva Ecológica Arenillas, El Oro

Abstract

The Arenillas Ecological Reserve has become a place of great scientific interest due to the different types of ecosystems it has, one of the main ones is the tropical dry forest and mangrove ecosystem, this model is responsible for preserving natural resources where national security is guaranteed in the territories belonging to the national system of protected areas. The research focused on determining the morphological characteristics of nuts that will allow us to analyze the distinctive genotypic aspects of each of the species found. In the present work, periodic sampling of nuts was carried out to identify morphological traits of representative and native species of dry forest in the Arenillas Ecological Reserve. The objectives defined in this study are to demonstrate the morphological characterization of fruits of dry forest species of the Arenillas Ecological Reserve, through periodic weekly monitoring in the permanent plots of the UTPL, to know the type of dispersal of the species to be studied, which will be monitored weekly within the plot of study in order to have a record of fruits of individuals to know the characterization of the species. The work has a mixed approach because it is characterized by having two phases of study, the first one consists of the identification of the fruits through photographic records where 3 samples of fruits of each species will be taken and the laboratory phase will be in charge of analyzing these samples taken, considering the different external and internal morphological features of the fruit of dry forest species and they will be registered in a matrix where the results will be shown. The instruments used to carry out the morphological characterization in the laboratory phase are: color chart that will be useful to identify the fruit coloration, to measure the size of the fruits it is very useful the manual calibrator, blade to cut the fruits and thus extract the seeds for subsequent counting, to weigh the mass it is necessary to have a digital scale to obtain the weight in kilograms and by means of the record sheet notes were taken of the different characteristics of the fruits sampled. The morphological characteristics of the species Erythrina velutina Willd, Eriotheca ruizii K. Schum. A. Robyns, Cochlospermum vitifolium Willd. Spreng, Vasconcellea parviflora A. DC, Euphorbiaceae as the form, which were found during field monitoring, in the registration matrix describes the point of emergence, shape, color, surface, protection, general fruit type, specific fruit type, peduncle length, length, width, thickness, mass and number of seeds. The study proposed the implementation of a seed bank to be located within the premises of the Technical University of Machala in the Arenillas canton of the Chacras parish in order to address environmental problems such as deforestation, expansion of the agricultural frontier and land grabbing, as well as to contribute to the preservation of native species of the dry forest of the protected area.