INVENTORY OF VEGETATION ON COIBA-ISLAND, PANAMA - COMPOSITION AND FLORISTICS

Mature and little-altered forest cover large expanses of the central a nd northern regions of Coiba island, Panama (7 degrees 29' N; 81 degre es 45' W). A total of 231 species of plants, 203 of which were trees a nd shrubs, were recorded. The families with the most species were Legu minosae, Rubiaceae, and Melastomataceae. The higher elevation forest o f the island center is dominated by Calophyllum longifolium, Eschweile ra pittieri, Cassipourea elliptica, and Ternstroemia tepezapote, while Calophyllum longifolium, Tetragastris panamensis, and Carapa guianens is predominate in the surrounding, low-lying forest. Pelliciera rhizop hora and Rhizophora mangle are the most common species of the mangrove forests along the southern shore of the island, and freshwater swamps are characterized by high densities of Prioria copaifera and Peltogyn e purpurea. Within the variegated forest in the northern part of the i sland, we established two 20 x 20 m plots. Within each plot we marked and measured the diameter at breast height (dbh) of all woody plants g reater than 1 cm dbh, excluding lianas. One plot yielded 29 species an d 156 stems, while the other had 37 species and 158 stems. These level s of diversity are relatively low when compared to same-sized plots fr om comparable forest areas on mainland Panama.