Abstract
Increasing temperatures and changing land-use in the Venezuelan Andes result in an accelerated decline of sensitive lichen populations. Monitoring of these populations by biological plot inventories in particularly vulnerable sites is urgently needed. In order to know the diversity and distribution of lichen species occurring in the paramos El Batallón and La Negra, General Juan Pablo Peñaloza National Park, in the Venezuelan Andes, we carried out various collections along an altitudinal gradient including montane forest (2100–3000 m) and paramo vegetation (3200–3650 m). The results showed a total of 104 species and 40 genera, 44 species from the montane forest, 82 species from the paramo, six new records for Venezuela, and 31 new records for the southwest of the Venezuelan Andes (Táchira State). A checklist with taxonomic, morphological and ecological data is provided for the most relevant species. Bunodophoron portachuelense V. Marcano & L. Castillo (Sphaeorophoraceae) is described from the paramo. Increasing forestry exploitation, livestock and cultivation during decades from the montane forest would explain the highest diversity found in the paramo.
Highlights
Increasing temperatures and changing land-use in the Venezuelan Andes result in an accelerated decline of sensitive lichen populations
In order to know the diversity and distribution of lichen species occurring in the paramos El Batallón and La Negra, General Juan Pablo Peñaloza National Park, in the Venezuelan Andes, we carried out various collections along an altitudinal gradient including montane forest (2100–3000 m) and paramo vegetation (3200–3650 m)
The results showed a total of 104 species and 40 genera, 44 species from the montane forest, 82 species from the paramo, six new records for Venezuela, and 31 new records for the southwest of the Venezuelan Andes (Táchira State)
Summary
El área de estudio se ubica en la región montañosa de la Cordillera de Los Andes, al occidente de Venezuela y al suroeste de la Cordillera Andina de Mérida, en los páramos de El Batallón y La Negra, dentro de los límites del Parque Nacional General Juan Pablo Peñaloza, Venezuela, con una superficie de 95.200 hectáreas de las cuales el 65% se encuentra en el estado de Táchira (Páramo de El Batallón) y el 35% en el estado de Mérida (Páramo de La Negra) (Armas & al. 2004) (Fig. 1). La franja altitudinal seleccionada para la realización del presente estudio se ubica entre los 2100 y 3650 m e incluye dos tipos de vegetación, reconocidos para los Andes venezolanos por Huber & Alarcón (1988), Ataroff (2003) y Azócar & Fariñas (2003), a saber: A) Bosque Montano (Bajo, 2100−2300 m y Alto, 3000−3100 m) y B) Páramo Andino (> 3200 m). El Bosque Montano incluye bosques bajos y altos ubicados entre los 1500−3000 m Esta zona es excepcionalmente rica en líquenes con aproximadamente 523 especies reconocidas hasta ahora en 118 géneros en todos los Andes venezolanos Esta zona presenta un alto número de táxones liquenizados en los Andes venezolanos, con 418 especies y 105 géneros Esta zona presenta un alto número de táxones liquenizados en los Andes venezolanos, con 418 especies y 105 géneros (Marcano & al. 1996; Marcano 2003)
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