Correo Electrónico
DNINFOA - SIA
Bibliotecas
Convocatorias
Identidad UNAL
Guillermo Santos C. and Jaime Aguirre C., researchers from the ICN, found 99 species of moss, equivalent to 10,1% of the 976 species registered in Colombia, distributed in 58 genders and 29 families. Likewise, this number represents 29,1% of the 340 species that exist in Boyacá. From the 99 species, 58 are new entries for the department.
This is an evidence of the great richness of the region, considering that the studied area represents less than 10% of the total surface of the department and, as the authors mention, bryologic research (part of botany that studies moss and other similar groups) in the country has historically been directed to high mountain regions, where the biggest richness and diversity of species have been found.
However, the findings in these regions increase knowledge regarding lowland mosses, which are important to preserve water resources." Mosses contribute to collect, retain and gradually release available water in ecosystems. Besides, they regulate the storage of this liquid. They are also important as habitats for a great variety of fauna, as banks of seeds, and they help reducing erosion," asserted Santos.
He also mentioned that all the information and knowledge of the region will be used to preserve in a sustainable way all the natural resources, since this zone is considered a high anthropogenic intervention area; in other words, it is a region highly explored in terms of mining, cattle farming, farming and tree felling. Serranía de Las Quinchas is located in Middle Magdalena and it is part of Boyacá (Puerto Boyacá and Otanche) and Cundinamarca (Yacopí) departments. Santos mentioned that in the region, where the study was carried out, flora and fauna are not protected even though there is a great richness and diversity of species.
Among the 99 species of moss, scientists found eight which are threatened somehow, from which four are categorized as vulnerable, one endangered, and three critically endangered, according to the study made by the scientist Jaime Aguirre and Jesús Orlando Rangel in 2007.