Eco anatomía del xilema de 25 especies maderables de bosque húmedo tropical (BH-T) de Colombia

Abstract

Ecoanatomy is based on the relationship between climatic factors and some anatomical features, which can be considered as adaptive strategies. To know variation trends of wood anatomical elements according to weather in a tropical rain forest of Colombia, 25 species were studied. The results suggest that the quantitative anatomical features most affected by environmental conditions (precipitation, temperature, altitude) of an area are: vessel diameter, vessel element length, pores frequency and fiber length. By contrast, the anatomical features that did not present an obvious relationship with the environmental conditions were intervascular bordered pits diameter, fiber wall thickness and rays height and frequency. On the other hand, vulnerability and mesomorphy index indicate that species present a mesomorphic behavior and therefore a conductive system oriented to efficiency on water transport with vulnerability to water stress.