Un método para facilitar el aprendizaje de la dendrología tropical

Abstract

The identification of trees in the tropics is a difficult task and this often handicaps forestry activities. Difficulties are faced by foresters while they perform their professional work and also by drendrology professors in forestry schools. In this article, a method to teach dendrology is introduced which has been followed for several years at the Graduate School of the Inter-American Institute Of Agricultural Science of the OAS at Turrialba, Costa Rica. It has been proven that after receiving a well directed training, undergraduate students alike are able to identify in the field a high percentage of trees and shrubs usually down to the family or genus level. The two essential aspects of the methods are discussed: 1) a series of brief descriptions of most families and genera having trees and shrubs in the American Tropics, and 2) the sequence in which the different subjects are presented to students. The following is proposed: a) to present, as an introduction, a brief history of taxonomic classification and relationships between dendrology and systematic botany, b) to train students to recognize the parts of the plants useful for identification purposes, c) to teach the genera and families in a pre-established sequence, and d) to teach how to prepare and manipulate keys, to collect and prepare botanical samples, and to consult Herbaria, Floras and Handbooks. Several suggestions are made in order to faciliate the learning process and to enable the students to make good use of such knowledge in their professional careers.