Plant endemism in the Guamuhaya phytogeographic district (Central Cuba)

Abstract

The Guamuhaya mountain massif located south of the central region of Cuba, has always called the attention of national and foreign scholars, due to the high diversity of species. Numerous studies have been carried out on the vascular flora in this massif, reflecting different percentages of its endemic flora. Given the importance of district endemisms, due to their limited distribution and the high degree of adaptation to the environment and vulnerability to global and local changes, this work aimed to update the endemic vascular flora in the district, by endemism categories and based on their distribution; also, the floristic relations of this with the rest of the sectors and districts of Cuba were discussed also. 301 Cuban endemics were registered for the sector (77 families and 201 genera), of which 99 are only found in the central sector. The best represented families were Rubiaceae, Asteraceae, Melastomataceae, Myrtaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Orchidaceae. Shrubs are the predominant growth habit in all categories of endemics. Of the total number of endemic species present in Guamuhaya, 221 species have some type of threat category, most of them Critically Endangered or Endangered.