Epifitarium
“Project currently in the execution stage”
Epiphyte plants play a fundamental role in tropical ecosystems; they are rich in species and offer ample niches and resources for diverse animal groups.
There is vast knowledge of epiphyte species in Colombia for the areas of the Andean wet woodlands and bio-geographical Chocó but rather scarce knowledge of the epiphyte flora in the Colombian Orinoquía region. To illustrate, out of the 4,010 species of epiphyte orchids reported for Colombia, only 4% of them are located in Orinoquía.
At Hacienda Macondo, the epiphytes are distributed in the gallery forests and in the palm groves locally called morichales. Although detailed flora inventories have been made, this group of plants was not the main target so their diversity was underestimated. The loss of plant cover due to deforestation as a result of uncontrolled burning, wood removal, and coconut groves, has reduced the populations in the area.
Project Objectives:
- To make a detailed inventory of the composition of epiphyte plants and their host trees (Forophytes) in the non-intervened and intervened forests on Hacienda Macondo.
- To gather a collection of live epiphytes and propagate them in a nursery environment at Hacienda Macondo, to later repopulate them in the intervened forest areas.
- To generate a protocol for repopulating epiphyte plants in the intervened forests on Hacienda Macondo.
- To repopulate perturbed forest and palm grove areas on Hacienda Macondo with epiphyte species.
