Characterization of the vegetation of the El Retiro Natural Reserve, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

The studies of flora and vegetation that have been carried out in El Retiro Natural Reserve have been limited to some of its sectors, so there is still no information about the structure of its vegetation formations and the relationship between them. Therefore, the objective of this research was to characterize the vegetation of this protected area. The following aspects were analyzed: dominant species, stratification and distribution in all vegetation types. A more detailed map of the distribution of vegetation formations in the area was obtained. Seven vegetation types were identified, of which secondary shrubland in semi-deciduous microphyllous forest ecotypes and secondary shrubland in coastal and pre-coastal shrubland ecotypes were new vegetation records for the reserve. The coastal and pre-coastal scrub and the semi-deciduous microphyllous forest were the richest vegetation formations in terms of number of species and endemics. In the analysis of biological similarity, they were the most similar.