Plant trait and vegetation data along a 1314 m elevation gradient with fire history in Puna grasslands, Perú.

Alpine grassland vegetation supports globally important biodiversity and ecosystems that are increasingly threatened by climate warming and other environmental changes. Trait-based approaches can support understanding of vegetation responses to global change drivers and consequences for ecosystem functioning. In six sites along a 1314 m elevational gradient in Puna grasslands in the Peruvian Andes, we collected datasets on vascular plant composition, plant functional traits, biomass, ecosystem fluxes, and climate data over three years. The data were collected in the wet and dry season and from plots with different fire histories. We selected traits associated with plant resource use, growth, and life history strategies (leaf area, leaf dry/wet mass, leaf thickness, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf C, N, P content, C and N isotopes). The trait dataset contains 3,665 plant records from 145 taxa, 54,036 trait measurements (increasing the trait data coverage of the regional flora by 420%) covering 14 traits and 121 plant taxa (ca. 40% of which have no previous publicly available trait data) across 33 families.

Functional diversity in an Andean subpáramo affected by wildfire in Colombia.

Recently, the Andean subpáramo in Colombia has experienced severe wildfires, but little is known about the functional composition of recovering or not after a wildfire. Therefore, we examined the functional community composition subpáramo affected by fire in 2016. We documented how functional traits changed 31 months after the disturbance and compared them with an unburned site. We sampled from one to two years after the fire every four months, then registered all recruits in 16 5 × 5m plots. New individuals were classified into strategy functional groups based on the traits of persistence and dispersal. The first group was stem type and regeneration mechanism (seedling and resprout), and the second was fruit type and dispersal mode. We investigated the degree to which functional diversity changes plant communities over time (woody and non-woody), and we compared it with an unburned site. The most relevant results showed that resprouts and seed regenerated increased post-fire time and significant differences between sampling periods. The anemochory is the most relevant dispersal mode that indicates the community capacity to colonize the new gaps opened by the fire rapidly. We discuss how wildfire appears to be a triggering factor for persistence and dispersal strategy groups in subpáramo burned given their characteristics of tolerance to stress. For this reason, a greater functional divergence between the ecosystems studied post-fire recovery has been related to higher levels of biodiversity at the landscape scale due to the high degree of endemism and significant differences in species composition between páramos.

Descriptive Model of Ecological Restoration in Areas Affected by Forest Fires and Invasion of Gorse in Cerros Orientales, Bogotá / Modelo descriptivo de restauración ecológica en zonas afectadas por incendios forestales e invasión de retamo espinoso en los cerros orientales de bogotá

RESUMEN Se presenta la trazabilidad del proceso de recuperación de los Bosques Altoandinos de los Cerros Orientales afectados por incendios forestales y retamo espinoso, por medio de modelos conceptuales. Para ello, se revisó información sobre variables meteorológicas, vegetales, sociales e institucionales, que permitieran caracterizar los disturbios y su influencia sobre este ecosistema. En el primer modelo, se describe la afectación total de los Bosques Altoandinos bajo un escenario de incendio forestal y retamo espinoso, donde el componente de vegetación es el principal combustible para la generación y propagación del fuego; las consecuencias del evento van desde la alteración en la generación de servicios ecosistémicos, hasta los cambios en la sucesión ecológica. En el segundo modelo es el de transición, donde se presentan las acciones que deben incluirse para el restablecimiento del ecosistema. Entre ellas se tienen los procesos de restauración ecológica, como el manejo integral del suelo, la recomposición de coberturas vegetales, el manejo y control de especies exóticas y los acercamientos entre las instituciones ambientales y la comunidad. El tercer modelo, hace referencia a un escenario ideal de un ecosistema restaurado, donde todos los componentes han sido restablecidos, hay una sucesión ecológica apropiada y se genera una apropiación de los Cerros Orientales como generadores de bienes y servicios. Finalmente, se proponen una serie de conclusiones que permitirán la generación de modelos para eventuales procesos de restauración, además de pautas para el manejo de especies exóticas y el abordaje de temas interinstitucionales.

ABSTRACT The traceability of the recovery process of The High Andean Forests of the Cerros Orientales affected by forest fires and gorse, through conceptual models is presented. Do this information on meteorological, vegetation, social and institutional variables were reviewed, which has allowed to characterize the disturbances and their influence on this ecosystem. In the first model, the total affectation of High Andean Forests was described under a scenario of forest fire and gorse, where the vegetation component is the main fuel for the generation and propagation of fire; the consequences of the event come from the alteration in the generation of ecosystem services to the changes in the ecological succession. The second model corresponds to the transition model, where the actions that must be included for the restoration of the ecosystem are presented. Among them, there are the ecological restoration processes; such as the integrated management of the soil, the recomposition of vegetation coverage, the management and control of exotic species and the approaches between environmental institutions and the community. The third model refers to an optimum scenario for a restored ecosystem, where all the components have been restored, there is an appropriate ecological succession and an appropriation of the Cerros Orientales is produced to work as both goods and services generators. Finally, a series of conclusions that will allow coming up with the generation of models for eventual restoration processes are proposed, as well as the guidelines for the management of exotic species and the inter-institutional issues approach.