Especies vegetales colonizadoras de áreas perturbadas por la minería en bosques pluviales tropicales del Chocó, Colombia

Abstract

The Choco (Colombia) is a region with high biodiversity but dramatically affected by mining. In this work, vascular plant species that colonize abandoned mines in the rain forests of Chocoan region were identified. In particular, plants were collected from different landforms in seven abandonment mines (3-15 years of abandoned after mining activity) of three municipalities in the Choco region. Sixty-six species, 47 genera and 22 families were identified. The most representative families were Cyperaceae (14.9 % genera and 25.8% species), Melastomataceae (14.9 and 15.2%) and Rubiaceae (10.6 and 12.1%), while the more species-rich genera were Cyperus (8.5% species), Rhynchospora (8.5%), Scleria (6.4%) and Spermacoce (6.4%). The dominant life form was herbaceous (80.3% species) and more species-rich habitats were non-flood plains (36.3% species), the mine-forest edge (34.8%) and flood depressions (31.8%). The flood depressions included more exclusive species (42.8%, n = 42). Early revegetation of mine depends on the life history of colonizing plants and factors associated with the substrate.