Octavio Rodríguez Delgado

Changes in the Natural Landscape Through Human Influence

The arrival of the human being in the islands caused a gradual alteration of the plant cover. Initially, changes started slowly, because the aboriginal population was relatively scarce and lacked metal tools for massive felling. But changes in the vegetation accelerated after the Castilian conquest, which brought a major population increase, better tools, a greater demand for land and wood, and new large livestock farm animals with their intensive plant consumption.

Other Floristic Considerations

The Canarian non-vascular flora (s.l.) is estimated at 5508 species of which 163 are considered endemic. It includes algae, fungi, lichens and bryophytes, highly diverse organisms belonging to five kingdoms, Fungi, Bacteria, Protozoa, Chromista and Plantae, living in terrestrial and marine environments. They notably contribute to the biodiversity of the islands as shown in Table 5.1, which includes data from several recent catalogs.

Conservation Status of the Canarian Flora and Vegetation

After the conquest, the increasing disturbance of the island ecosystems, and their fragility, forced the authorities to implement conservation measures to protect them. Thus, since the sixteenth century, provisions were enacted and sometimes implemented to control the destruction of forests and water sources. In later centuries, reforestation was regulated in the most sensitive areas, to avoid damage that could have a negative impact on the island’s economy and development. However, it would not be until the mid-twentieth century when conservation was taken seriously from an ecological point of view.

The name "Salicornietum perennis" ("sensu lato") and global nomenclatural issues

The name Zygophyllo fontanesii-Sarcocornietum perennis is rejected as it is invalid and the new name Halimiono portulacoidis-Salicornietum perennis is proposed with two subassociations: typicum and limonietosum canariensis. The name Salicornietum perennis for Cuban communities is corrected to Salicornietum ambiguae .