Relationships between Plant Biodiversity and Soil Fertility in a Mature Tropical Forest, Costa Rica

Table 2

Number of species of herbs, shrubs, and trees identified for each family encountered in the field.

Family	Number of different species
	Herbs	Shrubs	Trees
Acanthaceae			3
Anacardiaceae			5
Annonaceae			2
Apocynaceae			1
Araceae	9
Araliaceae			1
Arecaceae		8	5
Begoniaceae	2
Bignoniaceae			4
Blechnaceae	2
Bombacaceae			3
Boraginaceae			2
Burseraceae		1	3
Capparidaceae			2
Cecropiaceae			1
Celastraceae		1
Chloranthaceae		2	1
Clusiaceae		1	2
Costaceae		1
Cunoniaceae		1	1
Cyatheaceae		2
Cyclanthaceae	3
Dryopteridaceae	1
Elaeocarpaceae			1
Euphorbiaceae			12
Fabaceae			19
Fagaceae			1
Flacourtiaceae		1	4
Gesneriaceae	3	2
Grossulariaceae			1
Heliconiaceae	6
Hymenophyllaceae	1
Icacinaceae			2
Lacistemataceae			2
Lamiaceae			1
Lauraceae			12
Lecythidaceae			1
Lomariopsidaceae	1
Malpighiaceae		1	1
Malvaceae		1	7
Maranthaceae	1
Melastomataceae		9	11
Meliaceae			3
Monimiaceae			1
Moraceae			5
Myristicaceae			2
Myrsinaceae		1	9
Myrtaceae		1	12
Nyctaginaceae		1	2
Ochnaceae			1
Papaveraceae		1
Piperaceae		8
Polygonaceae			1
Polypodiaceae	2
Pteridaceae	2
Ranunculaceae	1
Rosaceae		2	2
Rubiaceae		23	9
Rutaceae		1	4
Sabiaceae			1
Sapindaceae		1	9
Sapotaceae		1	3
Selaginaceae	2
Simaroubaceae			1
Solanaceae			1
Staphyleaceae			1
Turneraceae		1
Urticaceae		2	1
Vochysiaceae			1
Woodsiaceae	1