**3.1 Mature forest**

We found 54 species in the mature forest, which also presented the greatest basal area (46.88 ±280.86 cm). Five species contributed with 175% of the IVI: *Matudaea trinervia, Symplococarpon flavifolium, Glossostipula concinna, Amphitecna montana,* and *Licaria excelsa* in order of importance (Table 3). Total tree density was 7.65 ± 13.65 ind/ha.

Mature forest presented a well-developed tree stratum, defined by trees with a DBH > 400 cm, dominated by *Matudaea trinervia, Symplococarpon flavifolium, Quercus laurina, Quercus benthamii, Glossostipula concinna, Licaria excelsa, Quercus peduncularis* and *Amphitecna montana*. While the understory is defined by a great variety of wooded plants with small DBH (> 10 cm) like *Geonoma undulata, Piper subsessilifolium* and *Psychotria galeottiana*.


Table 3. The three most important species for each stage in a Cloud Forest successional gradient at El Triunfo, Chiapas, Mexico.
