Vegetation and Floristics of Fragmented of Sandstone TITULO Plateaus in the Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador ATBC-OTS Meeting 2013 David Neill & Mercedes Asanza, Universidad Estatal Amazónica Eduardo Cueva, Nature & Culture International Wilson Quizhpe, Universidad Nacional de Loja, Herbario Loja Camilo Kajekai, Federación Interprovincial de Centros Shuar
“Tepuis”, sandstone mountains in the Guayana region of Venezuela and adjacent countries Pre-Cambrian sandstone deposits, tectonically stable since before the rise of the Angiosperms; “shrinking “ of the sandstone by lateral erosion, leaving smaller plateaus above 1500 m with vertical cliffs
Crest of the Cordillera del Cóndor, with sandstone mesas, similar to the “tepuis” of the Guayana region, but much younger – Cretaceous sediments, buried by younger strata, then uplifted and exposed by the Andean orogeny, at their present altitude in the last ± 5 million years
Region of the Guayana Shield, Tepuis Guayana the Andes, and the Cordillera del Highlands Cóndor Escudo Guayanés Escudo Escudo Escudo Guayanés Guayanés Guayanés Guayana Shield Guayana Shield Andes Andes Cordillera del Cordillera del Cóndor Condor
Sub-Andean Cordilleras in Ecuador y Peru: Galeras A discontinuous chain of mountains east of the Andes, mostly sandstone and limestone Cretaceous Cutucú and early Tertiary and early Tertiary sediments Cóndor Bagua – Rio Marañón Cordillera Escalera Cordillera Azul
Cordillera del Cóndor, sandstone mesa, Río Wawaime, El Pangui, Morona-Santiago
Upper Río Nangaritza at Las Orquídeas, sloping plateau with 1-hectare forest inventory plots at 900 m, 1100 m and 1600 m
Foot trail in Cordillera del Condor, with thick, carpet-like mat of roots and soil eroded to bare rock by foot traffic
Río Numpatakaime = “black waters” in Shuar language
Río Nangaritza canyon, with “black waters” from the Numpatakaime tributary and clear waters from the Andes
The sandstone sediments fragmented by uplift and erosion into plateaus of varying size and at different elevations, Ecuador Ecuador Ecuador sometimes horizontal, Perú Perú Perú sometimes tilted, can be detected and can be detected and mapped from Landsat images An “archipelago” of disjunct sandstone plateaus ± 100,000 hectares in Ecuador
Río Coangos watershed in the northern part of the Cordillera del Cóndor: Plateaus of sandstone of different sizes and different elevations, different elevations, from 500 m to 2900 m Raw material for a study in island biogeography (just need to get the data!)
Landsat image of Cerro Plateado, with continuous sandstone slopes from 1500 m to 2900 m -- a 26,000-hectare protected area
The approach to the summit of Cerro Plateado, a 3-day hike, 1500 m to 2900 m, August 2012
Vegetation patterns in the Cordillera del Cóndor: at1100 m, a low dense forest with sandstone-restricted as well as non-sandstone- restricted taxa as forest canopy dominants
Vegetation at 1800 m a lower, denser shrub vegetation, 2-3 m tall with occasional trees to 5-6 m tall
At 2000 m, a very dense shrub vegetation with small trees to 4 m tall
Stenospermation arborescens (Araceae) Unusual life forms – an arborescent aroid -- an unusually large species (for the genus), endemic to the Cordillera del Cóndor and Cordillera Cutucú in shrubby Cordillera Cutucú in shrubby vegetation at 1200-1500 m
At 2400 m elevation, an open herbaceous/low shrub vegetation – Cerrro Machinaza on Ecuador-Peru border – this site with abundant charcoal indicating burn about 20 years previously
Line transects in the open shrub/herbaceous vegetation, Cerro Machinaza, 2400 m
Sandstone ridge below summit of Cerro Plateado, 2700 m
Summit of Cerro Plateado, 2900 m, with view of Río Comainas basin, Peru
Summit of Cerro Plateado at 2900 m with an herbaceous “páramo” or “meadow” of terrestrial bromeliads,
Tillandsia sp. nov. (Bromeliaceae), white sand on summit Cerro Plateado, 2900 (and yellow-flowered Xyris )
Drosera chrysolepis ( Droseraceae) an insectivorous “sundew” on bare sandstone substrate at 2400 m, Machinaza plateau – disjunct from “campos rupsestres” of eastern Brazil (but identification now in doubt)
Drosera peruensis (Droseraceae) Near summit of Cerro Plateado, 2800 m; also in the Cordillera Yanachaga in central Peru
Some common biogeographic patterns in the flora of the Cordillera del Cóndor sandstone plateaus • Non-sandstone specialists – widespread taxa, edaphically “indifferent” (?), occurring on metamorphics other substrates in the Andes and upper Amazon region • Sandstone –restricged taxa, disjunct from the Guayana highlands above ± 1000 m elevation above ± 1000 m elevation • Sandstone –restricted taxa, in the Cóndor and also on sandstone cordilleras further south in Peru (and some also from lowland white- sand areas in western Amazonia • Local endemics – recently published taxa endemic to the sandstone plateaus of the Cóndor
Chrysophyllum sanguineolentum (Sapotaceae) Widespread, non-sandstone-restricted (edaphically indifferent ?) but very abundant on some sandstone plateaus at ± 1000 m: also on clay soils in lowland Amazonia
Purdiaea nutans (Clethraceae, formerly Cyrillaceae) Andean cloud forest tree/shrub, abundant at some sandstone sites in sandstone sites in the Cóndor; also on metamorphic substrates in the Andes (but not on Quaternary volcanics)
Digomphia densicoma (Bignoniaceae) Abundant canopy tree on some Cóndor plateaus, disjunct from the Guayana Shield, mostly above1000 m – also in Cordillera Escalera, Peru
Stenopadus andicola (Asteraceae), in Cordillera del Cóndor and in Cordillera Azul in Peru 15 species of Stenopadus in Guayana Shield (the record in Panama evidently an error in TROPICOS dataset)
Phainantha shuariorum Melastomataceae A vine with adventitious roots like common ivy, adhering to tree trunks, Locally endemic in Cordillera del Cóndor, but the genus Phainantha disjunct from the Guayana Shield with 3 species in that region
Schefflera harmsii (Araliaceae) Cordillera del Cóndor and other sandstone cordilleras in Peru Crepinella group with 40 species in Guayana highlands
Dacryodes uruts-kunchae (Burseraceae) With small, thick, sclerophyllous leaflets Also on sandstone in the Bagua area south of the of Bagua area south of the of the Río Marañón in Peru
Schizocalyx condoricus (Rubiaceae), endemic to Cóndor and Cutucú cordilleras, including Cordillera Kampankis in Peru
Shuaria ecuadorica (Gesneriaceae) New genus and species of small tree 5 m tall, endemic to the Cordillera del Cóndor, in a family of mostly herbaceous taxa
Vochysia condorica (Vochysiaceae) in press A tree with thick sclerophyllous leaves and a pachycaul candelabaform architecture similar to Vochysia species in the Brazilian Cerrado region
Weinmannia condorensis (Cunoniaceae) A dwarf shrub 50 cm tall, with small, thick sclerophyllous leaves, endemic to the Cóndor plateaus at 2400-2700 m In a genus of Andean cloud-forest trees (and also temperate Southern Hemisphere forest trees.)
Clethra concordia (Clethraceae) A dwarf shrub to 120 cm tall, with small, thick sclerophyllous leaves, endemic to Cerro Machinaza plateau, 2400 m In a genus of Andean cloud forest trees trees (and also temperate northern hemisphere forest trees)
Miconia machinazana (Melastomataceae), A dwarf shrub 30-50 cm tall with thick sclerophyllous leaves, endemic to Cerro Machinaza, 2400 m In a very speciose genus of cloud forest and lowland wet forest trees and shrubs
Symbolanthus sp. (Gentianaceae) near the summit of Cerro Plateado, 2800 m – a dwarf subsrhub 20 cm to 20 cm tall -- undescribed species or a dwarf form of Symbolanthus mathewsii (at lower right) ?
Thank you Muchas gracias! Yuminsajme! Pagui shungulla ! Pagui shungulla !
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