Introduction:

Mexico is known worldwide for its floristic diversity that has promoted interest in keeping record of the ecological importance of those species.

Objective:

This study shows a compilation of the scientific literature in which Mexican forest species are studied due to their importance, dominance, and abundance.

Materials and methods:

A total of 161 studies published from 1980 to 2015 were collected using specialized databases such as ISI Web of Science, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Latindex, SciELO and predefined keywords. Trends are analyzed and research perspectives are suggested to improve the current knowledge state on plant communities.

Results and discussion:

According to the analysis of the studies, the number of publications increased 46 % in the last five years. Mexican journals report the highest number of contributions (69 %), mainly focused on tropical deciduous forest (19 %). The dominant species are Quercus (Fagaceae), Pinus (Pinaceae), Acacia (Fabaceae) and Bursera (Burseraceae).

Conclusion:

The increase in publications in recent years is evidence of growing interest in this area; however, studies conducted for species or plant communities with some category of risk are rare in the literature.