Abstract

CABRERA-AMAYA, Diego Mauricio. Richness, floristic composition, and structure of wild vegetation in rural areas of the Yomasa and Fucha stream watersheds (Bogotá, Colombia). Rev. acad. colomb. cienc. exact. fis. nat. [online]. 2021, vol.45, n.176, pp.761-776.  Epub Jan 02, 2022. ISSN 0370-3908.  https://doi.org/10.18257/raccefyn.1255.

The basin headwaters of Yomasa and Fucha streams encompass large areas of wild vegetation. Its degradation affects the ecosystem services it provides, among them, soil fertility, water, and clean air. As a contribution to its conservation, I conducted richness, composition, and structure analyses in these watersheds establishing 22 vegetation plots to measure trunk diameter and height for woody species and estimate the percentage of coverage of all species using the point-intercept method. I determined the richness and the effort of sampling and carried out cluster and ordination analyses based on the floristic and structural information to evidence vegetation development stages in each community, as well as the parameters most related to them. I registered 247 species in six floristic communities and seven stages of structural development. The vegetation patches still show a representative richness pattern for the region despite the agricultural transformation, with more species in the high Andean Forest, the scrubs, and the paramo grasslands. There was similarities in the vegetation composition and structure compared to the surrounding mountains of the Bogotá Savannah. Some floristic communities showed various stages of structural development (possibly due to disturbances), which were more evident in the woody vegetation and evidenced the highest level of complexity. This methodological proposal can be used to determine the general patterns of vegetation richness and composition and reveal details of their structural variation key for their conservation.

Keywords : Andean Forest; Cluster analysis; Neighbor joining; Ordination; paramo; Structural complexity.

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