Contribution to the Knowledge of the Phytocenotic Diversity of the Lesser Antilles Revisiting Some Old and More Recent Floristic Data

The complex structure of the abiotic factors in the Lesser Antilles leads to singular vegetation ranging from the dry to the humid. Geomorphology by means of the wide variety of topographic facets is the determining parameter which leads to gradients of mesological factors. Among the latter, both on the windward and leeward facades, the precipitation is distinguished by bioclimatic staging associated with plant stagings which consist of a mosaic of phytocenoses of variable sizes, ages, floristic compositions and structures as well as of different architecture. Based on examples of old and recent floristic surveys by authors which indicate ecotones, types and inversions of vegetation, we have shown the great phytocenotic diversity of the plant cover in the Lesser Antilles which are all biosystemic responses to the effects of natural and anthropogenic hazards. Thanks to this significant ecosystemic plasticity, the Lesser Antilles represent veritable laboratories for autoecological and synecological studies as well as of floristic succession.