Background:

The Boquerón de Tonalá Flora and Fauna Protection Area (APFF) has distinctive climatic, geological and edaphic characteristics, harbouring diverse types of vegetation. The leguminosae of the area have not been inventoried in detail as a whole.

Questions:

Which are the legume species in the Boqueron de Tonala Natural Protected Area, Oaxaca? Are there differences in species richness by vegetation type?

Study site and dates:

Boqueron de Tonala Protection Area (APFF), Oaxaca; June 2017 to June 2018.

Methods:

Eight localities and 14 sites were chosen corresponding to the dominant plant communities, covering the entire APFF Boqueron de Tonala and the altitudinal gradient. Fifty-eight days of effective field work were covered. Specimens collected by subfamily, genus and species were counted.

Results:

One hundred and seventy-seven plant specimens were collected plus their duplicates, these correspond to 85 species, from 38 genera, included in three subfamilies and the Mimosoid clade which we treat here as a separate group. The largest number of genera and species found belong to the Papilionoideae subfamily. The genera with the highest number of species are Brongniartia, Mimosa, Senna and Vachellia (formerly part of Acacia). Seasonally, dry tropical forest was the vegetation type with the highest number of species and genera. A new species of the genus Coulteria was found (Caesalpinioideae subfamily) in oak forest.

Conclusions:

The floristic diversity of legume plants in the APFF Boquerón de Tonalá shows that its management and its conservation strategies should be strengthened in the area.