Efectos demográficos del trasplante de individuos de una población de Dracula psittacina (Orchidaceae) ubicada en la región del Tequendama - Cundinamarca, Colombia

Abstract

Demographic studies allow the viability or risk of a population to be determined from changes in vital rates. The relocation of plants is a conservation tool that allows protecting species that face changes in their habitats. This measure carried out in orchids has been very little evaluated in demographic terms, so its effects on the vital rates of the populations are unknown. The objective of this research was to evaluate the demographic effects of the relocation of individuals of Dracula psittacina in hosts occupied and not occupied by the orchid in a population located in the Colombian Eastern Cordillera. For this purpose, two experimental treatments and one control were established, 34 individuals were relocated in three previously occupied hosts/subpopulations, 35 individuals in three unoccupied trees and three hosts/subpopulations where no relocation was done (control treatment). The Lefkovitch matrix model was used to obtain the population growth rate lambda in the three treatments and elasticity and transitory dynamics analyzes were performed to determine the categories that most affect the population growth rate. The results showed that although relocation has no effect on the intrinsic population growth, lambda , it is more convenient to perform it on hosts not occupied by the orchid. The analyzes showed that the categories with the greatest contribution to the changes in lambda were non-reproductive juveniles and adults, where the latter are the ones recommended for transplanting in case of wanting to establish new subpopulations in eventual conservation strategies.