EL AGRUPAMIENTO MULTIVARIADO EN LA ESTRATIFICACIÓN VERTICAL DE UNA SELVA TROPICAL DEL SURESTE DE MÉXICO

Abstract

An exploratory study was made to analize vertical stratification of a tropical forest, by inventory data from an "San Felipe Bacalar" Experimental Station area, at Quintana Roo State, Mexico. The work was carried out for the need to obtain more functional information about tropical forest system to orientate regional wood harvesting. Work hypothesis was: sunlight is a critical factor in the tropical forest and vertical stratification..is--tlíe sulution to the problem such a factor represents. Size
of any tree intJ the system is a function of the sunlight quantity and quality it receives__and each species's biological form. Then can be suposed that grouping, by rnyJtwariate techniques, individuals with both similar physical and functional éharacteristics, each yielded group, corresponds to a vertical strata int.o veget.ation. However, from six groups produced, just one is clearly differenced by thc height variable (H), meanwhile diametcr (DAP) and a combined variable (H*D**2) characterize overrnature tree groups. On the other hand, t.he first three groups that could be closely related with vertical strata. were frequentest in total sample. Species dominance analysis inside and outside each group is proposed by using first principal component as a dominance index, wich produces same results as Sarukhan's Index Dominance does.