Dinámica de un bosque subandino en la vertiente orinoquense de los Andes, departamento del Meta, Colombia

Abstract

The sub-Andean forests of the Orinoquense slope of the Andes are little known compared to their counterparts in other regions of the country. Thus, in a permanent plot (PP) of 1 ha size, we calculated the richness and diversity, characterized the structure, calculated the demographic rates and the aboveground biomass (AGB) balance rate. In the PP, richnnes doesn’t vary, found 607 individuals distributed among 41 species, 33 genera and 21 families. The richest families were Rubiaceas (4 species / 4 genera) and Melastomataceae (4/1) represented by the genus Miconia. Diversity indexes were: Fisher's Alpha: 9,929, Shannon-weiner: 3,035 and Simpson: 0,925. The growht rate was 0.550 ± 0.688 cm yr-1. The basal area was 24,462 m2 ha-1, accumulating mainly in the lower diameter classes. The demographic rates were: Mortality: 1.6%; Recruitment: 6.3%; and Population Growth: 4.6%. The AGB balance was 8,290 Mg ha-1 yr-1 rate higher than the report in other tropical forests. The values of richnnes and diversity are lower than those reported in other tropical mountain forests, however, the forest is heterogeneous and doesn’t present the dominance of a single species. The dynamics presents high values of recruitment and population growth, these can be influenced by local factors of the forest, mainly the gaps generated by the fall of large size individuals.