Morphological traits of forest plants and their relation with environmental disturbance

Abstract

The abundance of 17 morphological traits of herbs and shrubs of the andean-patagonic forest with different disturbance levels were analysed.
With forest disturbance, the percentage of plant species associated with open habitat traits increased while the percentage of species with leaf traits associated to shade environments decreased. These traits were correlated with forest disturbance levels. In spite of the disturbance, one group of forest plant traits was conserved in the community. The dominant plant form in the forest stand can be used to describe forest disturbances.