Environmental determinants of vegetation variation on Tenerife (Canary Islands)

Abstract

The variation is structure and floristic composition of the vegetation of Tenerife and its relation to different environmental factors has been studied. With that aim 200 plots, stratified by altitude, wind-exposure, lithology, inclination and disturbance degree of the communities where located throughout the island. In each plot, the perfomances of the species present were assessed using density, cover and biovolume values. Resulting data were analized using the altitudinal distribution profiles of each species and cluster analyses. Altitude, wind-exposure and, to a lesser degree, disturbance were found to be the major determinants of the vegetation variation, whereas lithology and inclination did not show high influence on it. The cluster analysis recognizes several communities in altitude, that have been delimited on a map of Tenerife.