Gayana Bot. 68(2): 141-154, 2011 ISSN 0016-5301 Woodland communities in the Chilean cold-temperate zone (Baker and Pascua basins): Floristic composition and morpho-ecological transition Comunidades leñosas en la zona chilena frío-templada (cuencas de los ríos Baker y Pascua): Composición florística y transición morfo-ecológica OSVALDO J. VIDAL1, JAN R. BANNISTER1, VÍCTOR SANDOVAL2, YESSICA PÉREZ3 & CARLOS RAMÍREZ4 1Institute of Silviculture, Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacherstrasse 4, D-79106, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. 2Instituto de Manejo Forestal, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Isla Teja, Valdivia. Chile. 3Instituto de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Isla Teja, Valdivia. Chile. 4Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidad Católica de Chile, Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile.
[email protected] ABSTRACT This study describes the floristic composition and morpho-ecological transition of woodlands along a climatic gradient in the southern cold temperate zone of Chilean Patagonia. A total of 256 phytosociological relevés were performed across a 150 km NE-SW transect to record vascular plant species. Classification (cluster analysis) and ordination (principal component analysis) techniques were used to segregate and examine the communities. Biodiversity indicators including richness and abundances of species natives and exotics, importance