CABRERA-AMAYA, Diego Mauricio; GIRALDO-KALIL, Laura Judith; RIVERA-DIAZ, Orlando    CASTRO-LIMA, Francisco. Richness, composition, and distribution of vascular plants in savannas and riparian forests of the Pauto River lower watershed (Casanare-Colombia). []. , 44, 173, pp.1018-1032.   03--2021. ISSN 0370-3908.  https://doi.org/10.18257/raccefyn.1188.

Despite the ecological and economic importance of the Colombian Orinoquía region, the basic studies of vegetation that would be necessary for planning management and conservation of the regional flora are still scarce. In the present study we analyzed the richness, composition, and geographical distribution of vascular plants in the lower Pauto river basin (Casanare-Colombia). We collected samples during the rainy and dry seasons in savannas and forests in plots of 1x1 m and 50x20 m, respectively, including collections in areas with anthropogenic impact. We recorded 701 species, 421 genera, and 121 families in a systematic catalog; 52 species are reported for the first time for the Orinoquía region. The richest families in savannas were Leguminosae (43), Cyperaceae (42), and Poaceae (38); while in the forests the richest were Leguminosae (49), Malvaceae, and Rubiaceae (26 each). Herbs were the richest in species (294) followed by trees (129) and sub-shrubs (111). Most species are widely distributed in the neotropics, many of them occurring in wet forests, dry forests, and South American savannas. We emphasize the need to increase the sampling in savannas and in the understory of riparian forests in future studies, as well as to update the list of threatened species to aid conservation efforts in the Orinoquía region.

: Gallery forest; Floodplain forest; Seasonal savanna; Hiperseasonal savanna; Semi-seasonal savanna.

        · |     · |     · ( pdf )