Background and aims

: Mountains hold a large portion of global biodiversity and provide important benefits to humans. With the aim of providing a key tool for the sustainable management of Córdoba mountain ecosystems, we present an exhaustive list of vascular plants and their altitudinal ranges.

M&M

: We compiled 669 complete floristic surveys and 1178 partial surveys performed from 2005 to 2020.

Results

: We record 1069 plant species: 147 non-native, 143 endemic to Argentina, 25 endemic to Córdoba and San Luis and 19 endemic to Córdoba. Most species had their median elevation below 1000 masl. Species turnover up to 1250 masl is slow, but from this elevation onwards it begins to accelerate, and continues in a similar way up to the highest end of the gradient. Out of all recorded species, 46 % are recognized as medicinal, of which, 79 are non-natives, 36 are endemic to Argentina, two are endemic to Córdoba and San Luis and two are exclusive of Córdoba.

Conclusions

: The list includes 60% of the species cited for Córdoba province and 65.5% of the medicinal flora recorded for this province. The upper end of the mountains, which represents less than 10% of the area, concentrates the highest proportion and diversity of endemic species in central Argentina. Our results show the importance of these mountains for the conservation and sustainable management of Córdoba biodiversity, and represent a baseline for future studies.