Evaluando caracteres funcionales de plantas en páramo y su relación con factores climáticos

Abstract

Many of the plants that live in paramo have a restricted distribution in the ecosystem. To survive in an ecosystem like this, which has extreme abiotic conditions, plants have specific functional traits. The analysis of functional traits is key because of those traits’ importance to the growth and survival of the organisms. However, there is no large-scale analysis of this kind for páramo. This study therefore examines the relationship between páramo plants’ functional traits and climatic variables, which could allow us to understand the potential effect of climate change on the vegetation. To this end, we performed an extensive literature review and collected information on functional traits. Using this information, we then compared páramo and sub-páramo traits, and subsequently evaluated the correlation between functional traits and climatic variables. We found that there are significant differences between páramo and sub-páramo for all the functional traits except for leaf area (LA). In addition, LDMC, wood density, and maximum height were correlated with some climatic variables.