Zonación altitudinal de musgos al oeste de la Sierra Nevada del Cocuy (Boyacá, Colombia)

Abstract

The studies carried out in the biological populations that involve altitudinal gradients provide us with a virtual image of the nature of the populations that compare the patterns of presence, this allows us to know their wealth, and how the populations are assembled to change. long-term important species, mosses particularly designed for this type of studies that have a high sensitivity to climatic conditions because they are very toxic, are extracted directly from the environment and its distribution is wide. The western region of the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy has varied climates and ecosystems due to its complex topography in this site a transect is trafficked from the peak of Mount Mahoma at 4200 m to the south of the Chicamocha river canyon at 1200 msnm there they established plots every 200 m of altitude where soil mosses were collected, in addition, the coverage of the samples was measured and a characterization of the ecosystem and the type of vegetation was made. There were 80 species distributed in 29 families where the family of the plants stands out because it is the most diverse, the results show a clear tendency of the diversity and the coverage increases the height, five altitudinal belts are recognized, the most correspond to a paramo and Superparamo whose conditions are optimal for the growth of bryophytes, the zones of medium altitude, great change due to its transitional nature, it is concluded that the distribution of mosses in terms of the altitudinal gradient is mediated by vegetation and climate. The preference of taxa to a specific substrate is not recognized, such preference is proportional to the availability of resource in the ecosystem. However, in some ecosystems there is a tendency towards a specific substratum, as is the case of the high Andean forest with mostly epiphytic species and in the superpáramo rupicolous species.