Entre líquenes y pinceles: descubriendo la biodiversidad de Sumapaz a través una guía ilustrativa

Abstract

This project develops an illustrated guide to the lichens of the Sumapaz Páramo aimed at the visual and educational recognition of its biodiversity. Based on the review of specimens housed at the Bogotá Botanical Garden Herbarium and supported by specialized taxonomic sources, a set of eleven representative lichens was selected, prioritizing their morphological diversity, the visibility of diagnostic structures, and their illustrative potential for identification and local outreach processes. The guide combines scientific illustration and naturalistic illustration with accessible and poetic descriptions in order to facilitate the visual recognition of key structures such as foliose, fruticose, and crustose thalli, as well as apothecia, soredia, and diagnostic patterns characteristic of high-mountain lichens. This approach seeks to translate morphological analysis into accessible images, strengthening the dialogue between scientific rigor and visual expression in order to promote engagement with the lichen landscape of Sumapaz. The selected genera are: Cora, Lobariella, Stereocaulon, Siphula, Rhizocarpon, Cladonia (species: Cladonia macilenta), Usnea, Sticta, Hypotrachina, Umbilicaria, and Leptogium (species: Leptogium phyllocarpum), which together provide a representative panorama of forms, colors, and adaptations characteristic of the páramo lichen landscape. As a result, an illustrated and visually engaging guide is presented, intended to support environmental education, science communication, and the appropriation of knowledge about the lichen biodiversity of the Sumapaz Páramo.