Floristic and phytogeographical analysis of the Andean secondary wet forest, Central Cordillera (Antioquia, Colombia)

Abstract

A detailed floristic inventory as well as a preliminary phytogeographical analysis was conducted in an Andean secondary wet forest of NW of Colombia, in order to know the vascular species richness and the phytogeographical relationships. The floristic inventory revealed the presence of 712 vascular species distributed among 129 families, of which 17 belong to ferns and allies, with 69 species and 30 genera; 18 monocotyledon families, with 153 species and 87 genera, and 94 dicotyledon families, with 490 species and 290 genera. The best-represented plant families are Melastomataceae (36 species), Rubiaceae (36), Orchidaceae (30), Asteraceae (28), Poaceae (28), Piperaceae (24), Araceae (23), Fabaceae (20),
Clusiaceae (18), Moraceae (18), Gesneriaceae (17), Mimosaceae (16), Solanaceae (15), Acanthaceae (14), and Polypodiaceae (13). The richest genera are Piper (17 species), Ficus (11), Psychotria (11), Inga (10), Anthurium (9), Miconia (9), Peperomia (7), Asplenium (6), Blechnum (6), Clidemia (6), Costus (6), Mikania (6), Selaginella (6), and Solanum (6). Regarding life forms, herbs are the best represented with 344 species (48,2%), followed by shrubs and trees (291 species, 41%), lianas (62 species, 8,7%), palms (12 species, 1,7%) and by arborescent herbs (3 species, 0,4%). There are 101 epiphytic or hemiepiphytic species belonging to 23 families. The richest families in epiphytes are Orchidaceae (23 species), Araceae (10), Bromeliaceae (8), Piperaceae (7) and  Gesneriaceae (6), while the most common epiphytic genera are Peperomia (7 species), Anthurium (6), Elaphoglossum (5), Huperzia (4) and Trichomanes (4). There are 9 endemic species (1,3%). Some of the species collected are new to science or are new records for the flora of NW of South America. Nine species and 3 genera exhibit a disjunct distribution. The analyzed forest is floristically similar to lowland Neotropical forests. The phytogeographic analysis shows that 62,4% of the genera are neotropical, 25,8% are pantropical, 10% are cosmopolitan, 1,8% are holarctic, and that 15 genera have a tropical amphipacific distribution. Nine genera are confined to South America. Although the area studied was strongly modified, only 8 species are introduced or naturalized. The frequency of disturbances, such as fire, grazing, cutting, selective cutting, abandoned cultivat fields, maintains the area at early successional stages.