ESTADO DEL CONOCIMIENTO Y APORTES A LA FLORA VASCULAR DEL BOSQUE SECO DEL TOLIMA

Abstract

In Colombia, dry tropical forests represents one of the most degraded, fragmented and less studied ecosystems, constituting a priority research element, therefore, in this paper, we defined the list of plants for dry forests in the department of Tolima supported by TOLI Herbarium collections and records of the authors, which were obtained in botanical expeditions over the last 4 years at these forests. The best sampled municipalities and the places without collections were defined. For the first time for this ecosystem, we registered in Colombia and South America Ophellantha spinosa Standl in The Neme Reserve in Coello, in dry forest in Tolima to Anthodon decussatum Ruiz & Pav., Gustavia santanderiensis R.Knuth and Simira rubescens (Benth.) Bremek. ex Steyerm. During curatorial process of collection, two isotypes were found to be determined, corresponding to Trichilia oligofoliolata M. E. Morales and Trichilia carinata M. E. Morales, these were considered endemic to the dry forests of northern Tolima. We conclude that the best collected places are agricultural research centers and they have generally historical collections including mainly species associated with crops such as weeds and grassland. Thus, forests that are not part of large monocultures in the fertile terraces are partly unexplored and could harbor important and unknown species to the area.