Resumo

PEREZ-SARABIA, J.E. et al. The floristic knowledge of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Polibotánica [online]. 2017, n.44, pp.39-49. ISSN 1405-2768.  https://doi.org/10.18387/polibotanica.44.3.

The Yucatan Peninsula as biogeographic province consists of the Mexican states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan, a more natural area also includes the northern regions of Belize, and Guatemala, and it is known as the Yucatan Peninsula Biotic Province. This province has karst geology, low surface hydrography, elevations below 350 meters, and a gradient of precipitation that allows the formation of different plant associations and the deciduous forest, semideciduous forest, and the evergreen forest are the most commons ones. The floristic information of this region is constantly updated. In the present work, this process is exemplified through an update for the endemic vascular flora and the recognition of new records from the last floristic checklist of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula (Carnevali et al., 2010). Likewise, the application of a density index of botanical collection (IDCB, number of botanical collections /area) has been proposed, as a tool to evaluate the state of floristic knowledge by country, state or other administrative political unit. For example, a previous estimation for the Yucatan state yielded an index of 159 samples/km2. This parameter was calculated for the entire region and the three states. In general, the floristic knowledge of the region is still in progress (new species, and new records), the state best collected is Yucatan, followed by Quintana Roo and Campeche. These last two states require more botanical collections, especially outside the area of influence of roads and populated centers.

Palavras-chave : Updating the floristic knowledge; herbarium collections; Yucatan Peninsula; index botanical collection.