Aproximación a la chiropterofauna colombiana y su papel como dispersor de semillas y polinizador de especies vegetales con visitantes del Jardín Botánico de Bogotá José Celestino Mutis

Abstract

Colombia is one of the countries with the greatest richness and abundance of species of the order Chiroptera, flying mammals that play an important ecological role in the maintenance of vegetation cover thanks to their capacity for seed dispersal and pollination derived from their feeding habits. In spite of this and the studies on the chiropterofauna of different areas of the country, bats are threatened not only by the affectation of their habitat by contamination but also by the damages they suffer at the hands of people who hurt or even kill them due to the lack of knowledge of the functions they fulfill in the ecosystems. It is there where environmental education, which has the goal of making individuals aware of the environment through critical thinking that allows them to become aware in conjunction with the development of attitudes and values to participate in ecosystem conservation processes (Campaner & De Longui, 2007), is an effective route to bring visitors to the José Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden of Bogotá closer to knowledge about the Colombian chiropterofauna and its role in seed dispersal and pollination of plant species. Fonseca, (2021) states that in the search for the conservation of bats, environmental education has focused on the evaluation of perceptions, knowledge and local knowledge for the design of outreach strategies often without taking into account the real context of the territories, which is why in this work we seek to design a tour and carry it out in the JBBJCM facilities taking into account the recognition phase of the of the chiropterofauna of the municipality of Florián, Santander, Colombia, which allows the use of this resource in the design of the tour to bring the visitors of the JBBJCM closer to the chiropterofauna chiropterofauna present in this area of the country.