Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Secondary growth forests have increased their extension in the last decades, and have been suggested as potential conservation reservoirs. The objective of this study was to evaluate diversity and vegetation composition in pastures and forests at (Granada, Cundinamarca, Colombia) to assess if successional processes show evidence of directionality, we placed six plots by 0.1-ha in the forest edges, one towards the forest and other to the abandoned paddocks in three locations. We determined the average vegetation structure, diversity, and floristic composition for each plot. We found that diversity is significantly higher in forest plots than in paddock plots (at early succession stage) in high Andean cloud ecosystems. The successional stage of each one of the study sites was characterized using non-metric multidimensional scaling. This analysis shows that vegetation tends to group in function of age groups more that it does by geographic location of the plots, suggesting succession is a directional process. Seedling recruitment was not significantly different between forest edge and forest interior. An inverse relation was found between floristic and geographic distances, reflecting the fact that matrix discontinuity is a limiting factor for seed dispersal, thus it is a barrier for high Andean cloud forest succession. 

This article  describes the morphology description of fruits, seed, seedling and germination capacity of A. paniculatum, known in the area with the common name “Batero”.. Fruits were collected in Andean forest relict of the municipality of Sierra-Cauca, where floristic and ecological restoration studies are carried out. 20 fruits and 20 seeds were used for the morphological description; morphometric measurements of length, width and thickness were taken. Germination stages were observed and described based on four nursery planting replicates of 128 seeds each; seedling establishment transplant ability was also evaluated; observations were made every three days during the evaluation period and the establishment was determined by survival or seedling. The fruits of A. paniculatum are dry and capsule type. The seeds are narrow and winged. Germination is Chryptocotylar hypogeal type, average germination time is determined from 7 to 25 days and the survival rate by transplanting after the appearance of the first metafilos is 90%.

Ecological restoration initiatives that include revegetation techniques are complex processes that can be affected by many biotic and abiotic variables. Among the latter, populations of microorganisms play a fundamental role in the release of nutrients and therefore in the establishment of plant species in the areas to be restored. The study sought to evaluate the density of microbial communities related to the nutrient cycles of carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen known as functional groups present in a revegetated soil and another zone without intervention in the municipality of Villa de Leyva. Methods used in this evaluation were standard plate counts using selective culture media,  also a correlation analysis were also performed between groups to evidence possible ecological interactions. In general populations of all functional groups of microorganisms are present in the two zones evaluated. Only significant differences were found for counts of phosphate solubilizing bacteria and proteolytic microorganism populations (p≤0.05). Some statistically significant correlations were found between some microbial groups that could indicate processes of cometabolism and competition among microbial populations of the soil, which favors the ecological balance of the same.

We present information about the spear leaves harvest, fiber processing and trade of Mauritia flexuosa L.f. for the handicrafts production by the Sikuani people in Wacoyo indigenous Village, in Puerto Gaitán, Meta, Colombia. We made  a semi-structured interviews and workshops with harvesters, artisans and traders. During these sessions we inquired about their harvesting techniques, characteristics of harvestable individuals, distribution area of the palms, market aspects  and other uses of the species. Mauritia flexuosa, locally known as moriche, is one of the economic livelihoods for the artisans who inhabit the Wacoyo reservation. The harvest of spear leaves is carried out  in juvenile and subadult palms. The fibers are extracted from the spear leaves to manufacture handicrafts like bags, baskets, hats and hammocks. Artisans sell the products to tourists visiting the reservation, and intermediary sellers who commercialize them in the municipality center of Puerto Gaitán and Puerto Lopez, Meta. The use of M. flexuosa has the potential to become a sustainable activity, since the leaf harvest does not involve the death of the individuals.

The establishment of plantations of Quercus humboldtii is required for the development of oak restoration programs and for commercial reforestation. In this work the effect of nursery management (relative lighting and fertilization), the characteristics of the planting site (vegetation cover) and fertilization at transplant, on the initial growth of Q. humboldtii is determined. The results indicate that the vegetation cover of secondary forest presented more favorable conditions for height growth; in this cover fertilization in nursery and at planting had positive effects on height and diameter. Nutritional deficiencies acquired from the nursery decreased the development in the field. Deficiencies of N, P, and Ca were more restrictive than the deficiencies of B, Mg, S, and K. The lighting on nursery did not influence growth in this plant cover. Meanwhile, in pastures, diameter growth was higher; fertilization (in nursery and in the field) did not affect the growth of height, but in diameter. In pastures N deficiency was the most restrictive, while the S and K deficiencies were the least restrictive. Trees that grew under high lighting in nursery grew more when planted in pastures.

From two natural bamboo stands dominated by the bamboo species guadua (Guadua angustifolia Kunth) located in sites with different ecological conditions, culms were assessed in order to elucidate possible changes in physical- mechanical properties and lignin content as well. Test pieces were collected from the two sites and were obtained from guadua culms with ages between 1 and 5 years. Among sites the values obtained of physical-mechanical properties and lignin content tend to increase with culms age; however, these changes were not always significantly different (p>0.05). Those culms from the warmer and drier site located at lower altitude showed on average values significantly (p<0.05) higher of the variables assessed. Considering the results obtained, culm maturity is an important factor influencing both physical-mechanical properties and lignin content, however ecological conditions determine larger differences in these variables to be considered for selecting bamboo culms when specific attributes are required by the market.

In Tibanica and La Vaca wetlands located in Bogota (Colombia), the germinable seed bank (GSB) of the terrestrial environment was characterized in order to establish the implications that may have in the recuperation of these ecosystems. In each wetland defined 15 plots of 4 m2, which were collected samples of soil at different depths (0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm), from which was made the counting and the identification of germinated seeds, for 4 months. The record were 960 germinated seeds of 22 species in 14 families. The total density was 1445 seeds.m-2 in Tibanica and 2086 seeds.m-2 in La Vaca. In the GSB, most of the species were herbaceous naturalized and adventitious, in which  the dispersion of seeds and the annual life cycle The restoration of these wetlands through the seed bank is limited, it should be considered use strategies that exceed the barrier imposed by the grassland dominated by Pennisetum clandestinum and enrichment with seeds and individuals of native species.

Estimating the volume of wood from trees is an expensive, time-consuming and error-prone task. Traditional methods use mathematical models that need to be matched to existing species and specific areas using a case by case approach. Such methods have high operating and environmental cost, as several  trees in the plantation are cut down. This article presents an alternative model   to quantify the volume of a tree, which uses a single polynomial, which requires not felling the tree, which is relatively quick and inexpensive with good accuracy, and can be extended to estimate the trade volume of the plantation. To this end, the proposed method is described mathematically and its results compared with those obtained for five ideal methods described by FAO (1980). Results show that the polynomial method has a maximum relative error that does not exceed 1.6% in any case and allows calculating tree’s diameter at a given height and height for a given diameter.

This brief review of the xylotheque as important reference collection aims to bring the true purpose and characteristics of these collections, its configuration and rigorous collection, recording, curation and preservation of specimens, as well as its importance cultural and scientific heritage of humanity. It has a bit of history and situation of xylotheques in the world and national scene and proposes a documented analysis of the benefits and relevance, which aims to encourage the creation of other collections and generate a change in their wrong conception and its forgotten and poor vision of these and the researchers associated with them. Analyzes its immediate and most urgent needs in Colombia, with an approach that aims to ensure and strengthen their support by related institutions, the joint development of specimens acquisition strategies closely with botanical and herbariums and conducting research to support the advancement of conservation policies of our forests, to enable identification of the species being transported and marketed, to help combat illegal logging and improve the use of this valuable material in the country.

The palm Astrocaryum malybo is an endangered species growing in forest remnants in the Caribbean lowlands of Colombia, where its spear leaves provide fiber for a flourishing artisanal activity. We studied the palm’s population structure and dynamics near the town of Chimichagua, Cesar, in order to provide ecological information required for its management and conservation. We modeled population growth and fiber production in the next 20 years under different management scenarios using Integral Projection Models. Although there was a low proportion of seedlings and population structure was variable, population would grow for the next 20 years, with an annual growth rate of 7.1%, yielding ca. 35 spear leaves/ha/year for artisanal activity. Simulations on the model show that the population is susceptible to alterations that affect the survival of individuals; removal of as few as 34 palms of any size per ha/year would cause the population to decrease, and spear leaf production will decline accordingly. Conversely, any increase in seedling growth or survival would lead to population growth. If properly managed, A. malybo is a key species for conservation of the dry forest relicts in the Caribbean lowlands of Colombia.