Abstract

YEPES, Adriana P  and  VILLA, Jorge Andrés. Vegetal replacement after an ecological restoring process in a tropical dry forest fragment (La Pintada, Antioquia). Rev. Lasallista Investig. [online]. 2010, vol.7, n.2, pp.24-34. ISSN 1794-4449.

Introduction. Tropical dry forests are one of the most threatened ecosystems in the neotropic, and are considered in Colombia to be one of the least understood, and one of the most degraded and fragmented ecosystems. Given this fact, the current efforts to preserve these existing relicts are not sufficient and thus it is necessary to take actions to reactivate their natural succession processes and to connect isolated fragments of this ecosystem. At La Pintada (Antioquia), a restoration project started nine years ago in places with low grass coverage by initially seeding various species typical of tropical dry forests. Unfortunately, the restoration progress was never monitored and the relative success of the project is unknown. This research had an objective to characterize and evaluate the succession process that was produced by the ecological restoration. Materials and Methods. Ten permanent 0.05 hectare plots were established for diametric structure and flower composition of the vegetation measurements. Samples were taken from 694 trees of 33 different species. Results. The diametric structure had an inverse J shape, which is very common in the early stages of succession. Conclusions. An apparently successful restoration process was observed considering that the restoration was made in only grass covered areas and that by the time of the study, common features of secondary succession in tropical dry forests such as fast growing trees, colonizing shrubs and a discontinuous canopy with midsize isolated trees, were all present. Nevertheless, the system must continue to be monitored in order to take appropriate follow up actions to facilitate the emerging succession process.

Keywords : tropical dry forest (bs-T); monitoring; ecological restoration; vegetal restoration; environmental management.

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