ECOLOGICAL INDEXES AND MATHEMATICAL MODELS AS TOOLS FOR EVALUATING THE EPIPHYTIC BRYOPHYTE DIVERSITY IN COLOMBIAN FOREST PATCHES IN THE DEPARTAMENTO DEL QUINDÍO

Abstract

  The main purpose of this study was to verify the value of ecological indexes and mathematical models to describe the structure of epiphytic bryophyte communities in disturbed forest patches. For this reason, I examined bryophyte diversity into four 0.1 ha plots located in forest patches in the coffee zone of Departamento del Quindío, Colombia. I made observations of abundance of 101 bryophyte species, mosses and liverworts, using percentage coverage as an abundance measure. Species coverage was estimated within each plot inside 40×40 cm quadrats placed on trunks and twigs of selected trees.

  To measure the heterogeneity and equitability of bryophyte communities I analyzed the abundance distribution within each plot, and its fitness to four mathematical models through the non-parametric chi-square test X². Also an analysis of five ecological indexes was included. I deduced that one model did not show conclusive results about the conservation status of forest patches. Moreover, simply one index did not allow an appropriate evaluation of epiphyte bryophyte diversity. However, these several ecological and mathematical approximations permitted a suitable interpretation of results. Additionally, observations suggested a direct relationship between bryophyte diversity and structural heterogeneity of forest fragments.