Abstract

SANCHEZ, Francisco et al. BIODIVERSITY IN A UNIVERSITY CAMPUS IN THE SABANA DE BOGOTÁ: PLANTS AND TETHRAPODS INVENTORY. Bol. Cient. Mus. Hist. Nat. Univ. Caldas [online]. 2015, vol.19, n.2, pp.186-203. ISSN 0123-3068.  https://doi.org/10.17151/bccm.2015.19.2.11.

Urban ecosystems include suburban and settlements connected by commuting corridors and lands affected by the energy and materials from the urban core. These ecosystems present enormous challenges for the conservation of biodiversity given their high concentration of human beings and the marked disturbances and, in Colombia, the little information about biodiversity in these environments. An inventory of vascular plants, amphibians, feathered and non-feathered reptiles, and mammals was carried out at Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, in the Sabana de Bogotá, Andes Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, 2,550 m.a.s.l. The campus is located between two urban cores, Cajicá and Zipaquirá, and it is a mosaic of urbanized environments, lands for agriculture and livestock, and remnants of natural ecosystems associated to the Bogotá River. Two hundred-five (205) plant species, one frog species, one snake species, 80 birds species and 10 mammal species were recorded. Most trees on campus have been planted; a considerable proportion of plants are exotic and some of them are recognized as invasive species. Resident and migratory birds use the campus and represent almost 40% of the known species for the Sabana de Bogotá. Among the mammals there are six non-flying mammals and possibly three bat species, and also an exotic and invasive species, the house mouse Mus musculus, was found on campus. The campus serves as refuge for threatened (e.g., Porphyriops melanops) and poorly known species (e.g., Akodon sp.). Efforts must be done to properly manage the campus, and ideally its surroundings, preserving enough green spaces and wetlands to allow the conservation of the wildlife that still survives there.

Keywords : Andes; biodiversity; Colombia; inventory; urban ecology.

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