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Background: Mycotoxins are toxic substances from the metabolism of RESULTING fungi Aspergillus flavus: such as, Aspergillus Penicillium, Aspergillus ochraceus, Penecillum expansum and Fusarium graminearum. There are four Important mycotoxins: aflatoxins, Ochratoxin A, patulin and deoxynivalenol being responsible for the contamination of food for human consumption. Methods: The research was Carried out and selected based on inclusion criteria, articles and publications related to mycotoxins, food, toxicity, Mechanisms of action and analysis, published in Scielo, MEDLINE / PubMed, Google academic and Science Direct, to the total of 65 articles Were reviewed, but only 50 met the inclusion criteria above. Results: The presence of mycotoxins in food remains a public health problem; it is found because worldwide and causes serious pathology in humans and animals both. Conclusion: it is Necessary to continue advancing in the investigations related to the presence of mycotoxins in food for human consumption, especially regions tropical in, since the environmental conditions and the Characteristics of the food produced in These regions please At least theoretically, the development of These toxins, Which Represents a high risk to the health and food security of the Populations

The ambitious restoration commitments made by Latin American countries have increased the demand for professionals having multidimensional training in ecological restoration; however, little is known about the kind of training that professionals are currently receiving. Through an online survey, we explored whether restoration professionals in Latin America have been trained on the ecological, socioeconomic, and management dimensions of ecological restoration, and their perceptions of training constraints and curricula needs. Half of the 411 respondents simultaneously work in academia, governments, and nongovernmental organizations, lessening the typical division between the science and practice of restoration, and suggesting the need for stronger multidimensional training to adequately respond to different needs and expectations. Over 80% received formal academic training in fields relevant for restoration and most respondents also reported attending interdisciplinary courses. Training was more focused on the ecological dimension of restoration compared to socioeconomic or management dimensions. Respondents have similar education levels (i.e. most respondents have postgraduate degrees), independently from the organization type in which respondents work, and multidimensionality among organization types was slight. Professionals expressed a need for training opportunities not demanding full-time dedication. Although increasing training opportunities in socioeconomic and management dimensions is needed, we highlight opportunities to reinforce multidimensional training on restoration through organizational and institutional training, and collaborations among organizations.

The complex nature of coupled human-natural systems often hinders the identification of forces and mechanisms causing observed environmental changes. The analysis of long-term time series can allow better understanding of those interactions and hence inform more adapted restoration and management programs. However, long-term time series of ground-measured vegetation variables are often not readily available due to the tediousness of the work and the financial and time investment required, especially for large-scale wetland systems. Remote sensing can help overcome this issue by providing more than 40 years of Earth cover images, but until recently the processing and analysis of these images was restricted to experts in remote sensing. The new Google Earth Engine (GEE) opens the remote sensing information mine to engineers or scientists without advanced knowledge in the field, including easy access to petabytes of publicly available remote sensing data and their spatial analysis in the cloud. To illustrate its capabilities, we used GEE to generate time series of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for the human-impacted Tempisque watershed with its severely degraded downstream Palo Verde wetland in northwest Costa Rica. We detail the processing and analysis steps to facilitate replication to any other case study. After defining the boundary of a study area, any user can generate a list and a video of the Landsat and MODIS images available for the area, NDVI maps, and a time series of the NDVI values spatially aggregated over the study area or a set of previously delineated polygons. One of the challenges we address is discriminating between the multitude of image collections available in the GEE catalog for vegetation mapping. We evaluate and compare the results obtained from five selected Landsat and MODIS image collections and identify the collections that give the best quality results for our case study. We conclude that MODIS is more appropriate for this tropical region because of the higher temporal resolution and hence higher probability to record cloud-free images. NDVI time series from Landsat images demonstrate a significant number of missing values. Landsat maps of NDVI suggest that the entire watershed and protected wetland witnessed an overall increase in vegetation greenness and hence cover since 1986, matching the abandonment of cattle ranching and the known degradation of the wetland by cattail invasion. Within-season vegetation variability can be tracked using MODIS images despite their coarser spatial resolution, showing high variability linked to precipitation patterns in this region. This GEE application illustrates new opportunities for biosystems engineers and other scientists to integrate historical vegetation and land cover data into comprehensive datasets to understand human impacts on ecosystems, and provides the guidance to do so.

In the cloud forests of the central range of the Colombian Andes, we discovered a species of katydid (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) that imitates mosses to an uncanny degree and is exceedingly difficult to detect. The camouflage exhibited by this particular katydid seems quite specific. We discuss the evolutionary consequences of this sort of specialization. Selection to maintain effective disguises can result in reproductive isolation between populations specialized for different microhabitats, which makes it reasonable to speculate that camouflage may increasing diversification rates. Camouflage could also come at the price of elevated extinction risk. This possibility must be considered because although antipredator defenses are often thought of as leading to “escape-and-radiate” dynamics where diversification follows innovation that allows expansion into new niches, recent work has shown unexpected extinction risk associated with some antipredator adaptations. Highly specialized camouflage would seem an ambiguous case because of its obvious benefits, but also potential costs such as inhabiting habitats with low carrying capacities, vulnerability to predators at high densities if predators form search images, or metabolic trade-offs with thermoregulation. Groups such as the Tettigoniidae provide a tantalizing opportunity for their exceptional diversity, wide geographic distribution, and striking array of disguises suggest that many independent evolutionary experiments have already taken place.

Restoring degraded lands is high on the international agenda and the number of restoration projects in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has increased considerably over the past decades. However, the variety of approaches used have not been systematically documented and analyzed. We aimed to develop a restoration typology as a function of the geographical and socio-economical setting, planning, timeframe, finances, implementation, monitoring and potential impact, which will help to discern broad patterns and identify gaps in project implementation in LAC. We categorized 97 restoration projects using Multiple Correspondence Analysis and a Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components. Three main restoration types emerged from the clustering, with the main defining variables being: (1) project area under restoration, (2) amount of funding received, (3) source of funding and (4) monitoring efforts. The first type are large-scale projects, which receive high amounts of funding provided by international donors, and with a well-established monitoring plan; the second type are projects financed with private money, typically lacking a sound monitoring program; and the third type represents small projects with low amounts of funding, financed with public funds from national governments, often with a rudimentary monitoring plan. The typology enables a comparative analysis of the status and trends of restoration activities across Latin America. We conclude that, despite growing awareness and recognition that integrated approaches are needed to revert complex and interconnected socio-economic and environmental issues like land degradation, the socio-economic dimension remains underexposed in the majority of restoration projects, whereas monitoring is still regarded as an extra cost instead of a necessary investment.

Mensajes principalesUna clasificacion multivariada de 97 proyectos de restauracion del paisaje forestal en America Latina y el Caribe revelo tres grupos definidos en base al (1) area del proyecto, (2) cantidad de financiamiento recibido, (3) fuente de financiamiento y (4) esfuerzos de monitoreo.El primer grupo lo componen proyectos de gran escala, que recibieron altas sumas para su financiacion por parte de donantes internacionales, y con planes de monitoreo bien establecidos; el segundo lo componen proyectos financiados con fondos privados, y sin un programa de monitoreo; y el tercer grupo esta representado por pequenos proyectos con bajo financiamiento que reciben fondos publicos de gobiernos nacionales y, con frecuencia, con planes de monitoreo incompletos.A pesar del creciente reconocimiento de la necesidad de implementar enfoques integrados para revertir complejos temas socioeconomicos y ambientales que se interconectan, como la degradacion de tierras, estos todavia no son visibles en la mayoria de los proyectos analizados; en tanto que el monitoreo aun es considerado como un costo adicional, en lugar de una inversion necesaria.

Mensajes principalesLa capacitacion multidimensional dirigida a los profesionales de la restauracion en America Latina ha avanzado notablemente en los ultimos diez anos, aunque todavia se concentra en la dimension ecologica.La participacion frecuente de los profesionales de la restauracion en diferentes tipos de organizaciones refuerza la necesidad de capacitacion multidimensional en America Latina.Las diferencias en la capacitacion de los profesionales en las distintas dimensiones de la restauracion resaltan la necesidad de crear equipos en los que se incluya una variedad de partes interesadas que complementen sus capacidades individuales.El fortalecimiento de la capacitacion organizacional e institucional resulta crucial para reforzar las habilidades profesionales en restauracion ecologica.

[Excerpt] We thank Lehtomaki et al. (2019) for widening the discussion of the Plan-S open-access initiative (https://www.coalition-s.org) in their response to Burgman et al. (2018). They provide useful links to Plan-S documentation. They are disappointed by the focus of our position, which we took to clarify a point central to the discussion of open access that we believe has received too little attention,namely, equity of access to publication.

Introducción: la fiebre chikunguña es una enfermedad ocasionada por infección con el virus Chikungunya, un alfavirus de la familia Togaviridae, transmitido por la picadura de mosquitos hembra Aedes aegypti o Aedes albopictus Objetivos: describir las características demográficas y sociales de los casos de chikunguña en la población urbana del municipio de El Espinal (Tolima), estimar el subregistro de casos de chikunguña no consultantes, estimar el subregistro de casos no notificados de chikunguña que asistieron a consulta en las instituciones prestadoras de servicios de salud de El Espinal (Tolima) diagnosticados como chikunguña y no notificados, estimar el subregistro de casos que asistieron a consulta en las Instituciones prestadoras de servicios de salud de El Espinal (Tolima) y no fueron diagnosticados, describir las causas del subregistro estimado en la investigación, estimar la población infectada por chikunguña en Melgar (Tolima). Metodología: se hizo un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo; la población en estudio fue la población urbana del municipio de El Espinal, Tolima. Se hizo un muestreo aleatorio simple con el total de las manzanas identificadas en el área urbana, con un intervalo de confianza del 95%, un error aceptado del 5% y una probabilidad del 8%; se obtuvo una muestra de 131 manzanas para realizar la encuesta de la búsqueda activa comunitaria; se hizo búsqueda activa comunitaria y búsqueda activa institucional en las IPS. Resultados: se encuestaron 1 596 viviendas en las que se registraron 5 774 personas; la tasa de ataque registrada en la búsqueda activa comunitaria fue del 67,0 %; el sexo femenino aportó el 56,2% de los casos; el 46,6 % de los casos registrados en la búsqueda activa comunitaria no consultaron principalmente por automedicación. En la búsqueda activa institucional, en los 3 052 pacientes que consultaron y se les hizo diagnóstico principal CIE-10 A920 (chikunguña), no fueron notificados al Sivigila el 44,8 %; en los 3 872 pacientes que consultaron y se les hizo otros diagnósticos que nos pueden llevar a cumplir definición de casos de chikunguña, no fueron notificados al Sivigila el 94,7 %; en el hospital San Rafael de El Espinal, de los 3 052 casos notificados de manera colectiva, el 15,6 % no cumplían con la definición de caso de chikunguña; con los datos de las dos búsquedas activas, en El Espinal la transmisión se inició la semana 40 del 2014. Conclusiones: los casos no notificados a nivel institucional con diagnóstico A920 (chikunguña) fueron el 44,8 %, los casos no notificados a nivel institucional con otros diagnósticos que nos pueden hacer cumplir la definición de caso para chikunguña fueron el 94,7 %.

The field of ecological restoration (ER) is now challenged by the need to achieve recovery at large spatial scales. Such scaling up requires technological expertise, inclusiveness and clarity of goals, and correct governance schemes and monitoring protocols, which are often absent from ER projects in most countries. We analyze the case of Colombia by assessing the planning, governance, and monitoring practices of 119 ER projects, and discuss them in the context of scaling up efforts to meet international commitments. In a top-down approach, Colombia´s government is the biggest ER driver: setting up the necessary policy framework to promote ER, and initiating 64% and fully financing 78% of the projects in the country. However, projects lack depth in participatory governance and adequate planning and monitoring, limiting their potential for sustainability and knowledge sharing, both of which are necessary for scaling up. We propose three areas for improvement in order to scale-up and meet international ER targets in Colombia, as well as in other Latin American countries, such as Mexico, Chile, and Argentina, which are also in the process of consolidating a large-scale ER vision. The benefits of some of those improvements have already been demonstrated in Brazil.

The novel ecosystem (NE) concept has been presented as a new paradigm or framework for ecological restoration. However, NEs are imprecisely defined for any practical applications and are based on theory not evidence. Furthermore, the NE concept remains descriptive, rather than prescriptive, and offers no testable predictions for researchers or concrete management guidelines. Current restoration concepts and practice already admit various possibilities for dealing with ecosystems for which recovery to an historical trajectory or environmental variation range is not the best option. Nonanalog ecosystems are real, but we caution against overvaluation and the undesirable outcomes of a contagion phenomenon.

The 'novel ecosystem' concept has captured the attention of scientists, managers, and science journalists, and more recently of policymakers, before it has been subjected to the scrutiny and empirical validation inherent to science. Lack of rigorous scrutiny can lead to undesirable outcomes in ecosystem management, environmental law, and policy. Contrary to the contentions of its proponents, no explicit, irreversible ecological thresholds allow distinctions between 'novel ecosystems' and 'hybrid' or 'historic' ones. Further, there is no clear message as to what practitioners should do with a 'novel ecosystem'. In addition, ecosystems of many types are being conserved, or restored to trajectories within historical ranges of variation, despite severe degradation that could have led to their being pronounced 'novel'.

Restoration practitioners adopt a multiplicity of approaches that range from basic trial and error, and site-specific efforts, to complex experimental designs that test cutting edge theoretical hypotheses. We classify these different strategies to understand how restoration is planned and executed, and to contribute to the discussion on certification and evaluation. We use Aldo Leopold’s notion of “intelligent tinkering” as a basis for a typology of four different approaches to restoration based on four parameters: motivation, general strategy, method of inquiry, and temporal and spatial scales of the expected outcomes. We argue that efforts to restore a damaged ecosystem in a skilled and experimental manner should be called “professional intelligent tinkering” versus “amateur intelligent tinkering,” and “careless tinkering.” We compare these three types of tinkering, and a more formal “scientific approach.” In professional intelligent tinkering, interventions and adjustments are done in a logical and careful manner, and with a methodical, experimental mindset. In contrast to the scientific approach, intelligent tinkering does not necessarily follow a formal experimental procedure, with replications and controls that allow extrapolation, nor is it driven by the motivation to publish in peer-reviewed journals. Rather, it is primarily driven by a desire to solve site-specific problems even in the absence of sufficient ecological knowledge to apply previously tested knowledge and techniques. We illustrate three approaches with three on-going restoration projects in southeastern Brazil, two of which are small scale, and one of which is very large scale.

Metaphors are common in our ecological and conservation language. They help us understand complex issues and communicate them to different audiences. We propose two new metaphors: ecosystem leaks and ecosystem clogs that can help us understand the role of flows among ecosystems (inflows and outflows), the impacts of anthropogenic perturbations of these flows within and beyond ecosystem boundaries. They help us grasp the need for a broader outlook in restoration and conservation that goes beyond the ecosystem level. We define an ecosystem leak as any net loss of natural capital from any ecosystem with the potential of exerting a long-term transformative effect. As its name implies, an ecosystem clog is the opposite of a leak, and we define it as a total or partial obstruction in the flows of natural capital within an ecosystem, or between ecosystems. Leaks can create clogs, and vice versa, and they can occur in cyclic succession causing cascading effects that affect not just the natural capital of an ecosystem, but its social and cultural capital as well. We focus on anthropogenic leaks and clogs as these are the ones for which society does not invest adequate attention and efforts.

Desde el ano 2012, existe en Colombia un mecanismo para que las personas o empresas que ejecuten proyectos en los sectores de infraestructura vial y portuaria, hidrocarburos, energia y mineria, compensen la perdida de biodiversidad que no pueda ser evitada o mitigada. El presente analisis examina la practica de la restauracion ecologica en el contexto de las Compensaciones por Perdida de Biodiversidad, identifica las principales debilidades en el actual proceso de otorgamiento de la Licencia Ambiental y propone acciones para solventar algunos cuellos de botella. El analisis sugiere que los Planes de Compensacion por Perdida de Biodiversidad a traves de la restauracion ecologica estan lejos de cumplir con el principio de Perdida Neta Cero. Existen vacios e inconsistencias conceptuales tanto en la politica y sus documentos de implementacion como en los instrumentos para guiar y apoyar la preparacion de tales planes. Existe ademas insuficiente informacion de linea base para guiar la restauracion ecologica en el marco de las compensaciones ambientales y en la actualidad son escasos los incentivos para promover investigacion aplicada que subsane este vacio. Ademas, hay carencia de mecanismos legales que garanticen la permanencia en el tiempo del ecosistema restaurado. El presente analisis brinda algunas recomendaciones para fortalecer el marco juridico e institucional del proceso de otorgamiento de la Licencia Ambiental en el contexto de las compensaciones por perdida de biodiversidad que se basan en restauracion ecologica y para mejorar el diseno, ejecucion y monitoreo de los planes de compensacion asociados a este mecanismo.

Los paises andinos tropicales comparten la cultura hispanica, un mismo lenguaje y estan atravesados por la cordillera mas larga del mundo. Pero por otro lado, exhiben una gran heterogeneidad la cual se refleja en la forma como cada pais andino aborda la restauracion ecologica. La humanidad esta pasando por un momento istorico en el cual los paises estan buscando formas de revertir la degradacion ambiental asi como la perdidade biodiversidad y del capital natural. Obedeciendo a un impetu de orden internacional, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru y Bolivia han definido metas cuantitativas de restauracion ecologica y formulado programas para alcanzar estas metas. Esto ha representado un reto grande para las instituciones nacionales. Este documento presenta un analisis comparativo del estado de avance de la restauracion de bosques en estos paises, de los desafios que tiene que enfrentar cada uno y de las oportunidades tanto dentro como fuera de los paises para, no solo cumplir con los compromisos internacionales, sino para revertir, aunque sea parcialmente, la degradacion de sus ecosistemas naturales. El analisis prioriza los factores sociales y ambientales especificos relacionados con la restauracion de los bosques andinos, pero incluye conocimiento relevante para la restauracion de otros ecosistemas boscosos. Tambien evidencia la heterogeneidad entre los cuatro paises con respecto a la forma de abordar el tema, la cual se refleja en el desarrollo normativo y los mecanismos de implementacion. Las realidades socioeconomicas y fisiograficas de cada pais han definido tanto su relacion con los bosques andinos como su percepcion sobre el nivel de prioridad que estos merecen en los planes de restauracion.

At an historic moment, when Colombia is emerging from 60 years of armed conflict, the 7-year-old Colombian Network for Ecological Restoration (Red Colombiana de Restauracion Ecologica [REDCRE]) has created four subnational nodes, and is actively developing several more. All of this is taking place in the context of the Ibero-American and Caribbean Society for Ecological Restoration (Sociedad Ibero-Americana y del Caribe de la Restauracion Ecologica [SIACRE]). In mid-November 2014, over 200 representatives of government agencies, academia, private enterprises, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from the entire country attended a symposium to launch the Antioquia Province node, and take stock and plan the way forward. There are bright prospects of transdisciplinary and public–private collaborations in Colombia for ecological restoration and restoration of natural capital as part of a strategy to transition smoothly to a post-conflict era. We suggest some goals and guidelines to help move forward an ambitious agenda to mainstream ecological restoration.

Degraded lands in the Colombian Andes have been restored by means of monospecific tree plantations of native and exotic species, and by abandoning lands to natural regeneration. Both methods rapidly produce a vegetation cover that helps to stabilize soils, but the value of resulting ecosystems for wildlife needs to be evaluated. We assessed the effects of these two restoration methods on the diversity and abundance of bess beetles (Passalidae), which are important deadwood recyclers. We quantified coarse woody debris (logs and branches >10 cm diameter) and associated passalid beetle fauna in 40-year-old Andean alder ( Alnus acuminata) plantations, adjacent natural regeneration and old-forest remnants, at 2430 m of elevation in the Central Andes. The three forest types contained the same number of logs per unit area, but wood volume was lower in alder stands than in natural forest types. Old-forest remnants contained a higher number of occupied logs and individual beetles per transect and per unit wood volume than the two other habitats. We found six species of beetle, three of which were found in the three habitats and the other three in one habitat each. Forest remnants and natural regeneration had four species each, whereas alder plantations had three species. Although beetle abundance was lower in alder stands, in the small-scale mosaic found at this site alder plantations behaved similarly to secondary forest and merged as part of the local habitat heterogeneity. Whether these results apply to larger and more isolated plantations remains to be established.

Tropical forests frequently experience the opening and closing of canopy gaps as part of their natural dynamics. When fragmented, the forests are also exposed to edges, which (at least in the lowlands) cause increased mortality on the fragment's periphery and—depending on the fragment size—also on the forest interior. Here we explore if the presence of edges increase the rate at which the canopy opens in a montane forest and if and how that interaction affects the vegetation composition and structure. At Las Cruces Biological Station (SW Costa Rica), we surveyed four 150 m edge-to-interior transects to evaluate changes in vegetation structure (stem density and basal area for all plants with DBH > 5 cm) and species richness and composition as a function of both distance to the edge and canopy openness. Edge proximity did not increase canopy openness. Canopy openness, however, did affect stem density, species richness, and composition. Consequently, heterogeneity in forest structure, diversity, or composition could not be attributed to indirect edge effects. Forest edges, however, had a direct effect on species composition, but with a negligible effect on species diversity and forest structure. Overall, these results reveal that the structure, diversity, and composition of tree communities in this tropical premontane forest fragment are more strongly influenced by canopy openness than by the proximity of edges.

No other line of practice requires application of science more urgently than conservation. Here we explore several elements that must be put in place to establish lines of communication between scientists and managers of protected areas. First, it is necessary that scientists are aware of the information needs of managers, that they produce the relevant information, and that this information is available to managers. Second, it is necessary that managers not only know how to access, process, and incorporate the information, but that they also internalize their need for that science and the clear advantages of incorporating it into their practice. We propose several mechanisms to ensure an adequate flow of information between the two groups: active dialogue between the parties, translators of science located both in academia and government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and execution of joint projects. In particular, we argue that science-oriented NGOs can play a major role in bridging the gap between basic science and on-the-ground conservation. We finish by describing three case studies in which some of these models have been explored in Colombia and how science has been applied to address conservation and management concerns.

Management of complex ecosystems is a difficult process that involves multiple factors and stakeholders. In most cases, the interactions of these factors and stakeholders’ trade-offs are not considered quantitatively in the design and management of ecosystems. To address these issues mental modeling is useful for eliciting stakeholder objectives and preferences in order to evaluate preliminary knowledge about structure and function of complex ecosystems. This is advantageous for ecosystem analysis, modeling, and management.

El Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar trabaja en la implementación de un Sistema Integrado de Gestión (SIGE) que busca mejorar la gestión de la entidad aumentando la calidad en los servicios y el nivel de satisfacción de los usuarios; éste sistema está integrado por un componente ambiental: el Sistema de Gestión Ambiental como mecanismo para prevenir, mitigar, remediar y compensar impactos en la prestación de servicios del instituto. Un diagnóstico elaborado en el Centro Zonal Florencia 2 de la Regional Caquetá permitió identificar que existe un elevado desconocimiento de los componentes fundamentales de ambos sistemas, del objetivo ambiental del SIGE, de las buenas prácticas que se pretenden para el uso de los recursos en el ambiente laboral, por lo que se propone la ejecución de un plan de comunicación enfocado en la comunicación interna y en el Talento Humano, buscando integrar a todos los servidores públicos y contratistas que laboran allí, implicándolos en la política ambiental que ha asumido el Instituto, dentro de un clima organizacional gratificante que los motive al cumplimiento del objetivo ambiental del SIGE, que aportará no solo a la consolidación de la cultura organizacional, sino a la certificación de calidad en la que la entidad está comprometida.

Inflorescences of the terrestrial aroid Xanthosoma daguense in the Andes of Colombia are visited by Dinastinae and Nitidulidae beetles. Plants produce one inflorescence at a time, which is pollinated during the first night of opening. Dynastine beetles act as pollinators, whereas Nitidulids lay eggs in the inflorescence and the larvae damage the seeds. We explored the effects of floral offer and distance among inflorescences on the number of pollinator visits, fruit production, and predispersal seed predation. Number of Dynastine visits per inflorescence tended to increase with increasing distances among inflorescences, but fruit predation increased when inflorescences were more clumped. Both pollinator visitation rates and predispersal seed predation were low at high floral offer. Fruit set increased when inflorescences were visited by two or more Dynastines, but the proportion of fruits damaged by Nitidulid larvae was equivalent to the increase in fruit production due to more Dinastine visits. The net result was a similar number of undamaged fruits in all infructescences produced, independent of the number of Dinastine visits. Our results revealed that both pollinators and predators responded to the number of available inflorescences and their spatial distribution, but they had opposing effects on the infructescences. Thus, our study suggests that the interaction of two ecological processes, pollination and predispersal seed predation, may cancel each other's effects under natural conditions. RESUMEN Las inflorescencias de la planta terrestre Xanthosoma daguense L. (Araceae) en los Andes de Colombia son visitadas por escarabajos Dinastinae y Nitidulidae. Las plantas producen una inflorescencia que es polinizada durante la primera noche de antesis. Los escarabajos dinastidos son los principales polinizadores, mientras que los nitidulidos ovipositan en las inflorescencias y sus larvas depredan parte de las semillas en desarrollo. Este estudio explora los efectos de la oferta floral y la distancia entre inflorescencias, sobre el numero de visitas por polinizadores, produccion de frutos y depredacion de semillas. El numero de visitas de los dinastidos por inflorescencia tuvo una tendencia a aumentar cuando la distancia entre inflorescencias aumento, pero la depredacion de frutos aumento cuando las inflorescencias estaban mas agrupadas. Tanto las tasas de visitas por polinizadores, como las de depredacion de semillas bajaron cuando la oferta floral aumento. El numero de frutos producidos aumento cuando las inflorescencias fueron visitadas por dos o mas dinastidos. Los frutos danados por larvas de nitidulidos es proporcional al numero de infrutescencias. El resultado neto fue un numero similar de frutos sin dano en todas las infrutescencias, independiente del numero de visitas de dinastidos. Nuestros resultados indican que tanto los polinizadores como los depredadores de frutos respondieron al numero de inflorescencias disponibles y a su distribucion espacial. Pero los efectos sobre las infrutescencias producidas fueron opuestos. Por lo tanto, este estudio sugiere que los efectos de dos procesos ecologicos, polinizacion, y depredacion de frutos en desarrollo, pueden cancelarse mutuamente bajo condiciones naturales.

Chinese ash (Fraxinus chinensis) is an exotic tree species that has been used in non-commercial monospecific plantations for revegetation programs in the Central Andes of Colombia. At the Otun river watershed, these plantations occur in patches intermixed with old pastures, oak forests, and successional forests. In this heterogeneous landscape, the ash has been able to invade some of its surrounding habitats. This study evaluates the invasion patterns of ash to each of these habitats and experimentally quantifies seed and seedling survivorship and seedling growth as three processes that could determine ash establishment. Of the four habitats examined, old pastures were the most vulnerable to invasion, followed by oak plantations, and successional forest. Ash plantations exhibited recruitment levels intermediate between pastures and oak plantations. Abandoned pastures showed the highest seed germination, seedling survivorship, and seedling growth. In the ash plantations, recruitment seemed negatively affected by the low number of germinated seeds, high mortality of seedlings, and low growth. Invasion in oak plantations was constrained by high seed mortality and burial of seedlings by leaf litter, although the seedlings that did survive grew fast and produced a high number of leaves. Within the successional forest, Chinese ash seeds germinated but establishment was constrained by a reduced seedling survivorship and low growth. This research offers new evidence of how different processes affecting the establishment of an invader may differ among landscape elements, and it also yields important information for the management and control of ash in these Andean landscapes.

This study describes a pollination system in a species of Araceae that involves three species of beetle, one of which is also a fruit predator. In a tropical cloud forest in Colombia, inflorescences of Xanthosoma daguense opened at dusk, releasing a sweet scent and raising their temperature 1–3 °C. Soon after, two species of Scarabaeidae (Dynastinae; Cyclocephala gregaria and C. amblyopsis) and one species of Nitidulidae (Macrostola costulata) arrived with pollen. Cyclocephala beetles remained inside the inflorescence for 24 h. The next night, Cyclocephala beetles left the inflorescence after picking up the freshly shed pollen, almost always moving to the nearest inflorescence available. The probability of inflorescence abortion and number of fruits set after the visit of one individual was equivalent for both Cyclocephala species. However, C. gregaria was much more abundant than C. amblyopsis, so it was the most important pollinator. There was a positive relationship between the number of dynastine visits and the number of fruits produced. Besides carrying pollen to the inflorescences, nitidulid beetles had a negative effect on female reproductive success through fruit predation. Nitidulid larvae developed inside the infructescence and preyed on up to 64% of the fruits. However, 8% of inflorescences not visited by dynastines were probably pollinated by nitidulids, because hand-pollination experiments showed that self-pollination was unlikely. Inflorescences potentially pollinated by nitidulids comprised 25% of the fruit crop in the year of our study. This interaction with a fruit predator that is also a potential pollinator resembles brood-site pollination systems in which pollinators prey on part of the fruit set (e.g. Ficus, senita cacti, Yucca), making this system substantially more complex than previously described dynastine-pollinated systems in aroids.

Responding to our critique of the novel ecosystem concept [1], Hobbs et al. [2] misrepresent our points of view, so we begin by clarifying our position. First, we do not deny the existence of anthropogenically transformed ecosystems; cities, pastures, agricultural fields, or open-pit mines are real and have accompanied humans for millennia. We agree: society must deal with these ecosystems in sensible and effective ways, as part of the much larger effort to transition toward sustainability, maintain biodiversity, and provide ecosystem services to humans and habitat to other species.

La restauracion ecologica es reconocida globalmente como una herramienta importante en los esfuerzos de conservacion de la biodiversidad, para revertir la degradacion ambiental y para moderar el cambio climatico. A pesar de ser una disciplina relativamente joven, la restauracion ecologica ha avanzado muy rapidamente en el desarrollo de sus fundamentos cientificos y sus metodos teoricos y practicos. Colombia ha estado a la par de esta tendencia demostrando esfuerzos visionarios desde hace varias decadas. Tal diversidad de experiencias no ha sido explorada, hasta la fecha, de forma analitica.El proposito de este documento es el de analizar como ha evolucionado el campo de la restauracion ecologica en Colombia, su estado actual y los retos y oportunidades para su expansion en varios aspectos de su dimension biofisica, social, financiera e institucional. Cuales son las principales barreras en implementar estos proyectos y que se ha aprendido hasta la fecha. De manera mas amplia, el documento busca aportar elementos para impulsar y fortalecer los esfuerzos en implementar la restauracion ecologica y asi contribuir al desarrollo futuro de la disciplina no solo en Colombia sino en America Latina. El analisis culmina con algunas reflexiones agrupadas en cuatro categorias: fortalecimiento en la formulacion y planificacion de los proyectos; fortalecimiento de la infraestructura y la capacidad existente; estrategias de acopio, intercambio y comunicacion de la informacion; y fortalecimiento a politicas actuales.

Andean alder (Alnus acuminata) is a tree species often used in revegetation programs in the Colombian Andes, because it is native to the area and grows rapidly even in nitrogen-poor soils. Previous work implied that Andean alder plantings might not lead to as rich a diversity of native vegetation as would natural regeneration. At Ucumari Regional Park in the Central Andes of Colombia, 30-year-old alder plantations are juxtaposed to naturally regenerated forests of the same age. This study quantifies the impact of Andean alder on plant species composition and forest structure, compared to natural regeneration. Plantations and naturally regenerated forests differed in physiognomy, species composition and in some structural aspects. Alder plantations produced an even 20 m tall canopy. The foliage was vertically stratified into two distinct strata separated by a gap that exposed the boles. The naturally regenerated forest had an uneven 16–18 m tall canopy, vertically continuous foliage cover and significantly higher canopy cover. In both forest types, basal area and stem density were equivalent and distributed among size classes in the same way. Snags in naturally regenerated forests were thicker, perhaps offering a better resource base to organisms using this resource. Plantations had up to one-third fewer species per unit than naturally regenerated forests. Plantations showed a low alpha and beta diversity, with lower species turnover from plot to plot. Qualitatively, the vegetation in the plantations was distinct from that in naturally regenerated forests, as it was composed of a particular subset of species. Approximately one-fourth of species in plantations were exclusive to that forest type. The same patterns were found in the understorey vegetation (1.3–10 m high), where alder is not recruited. This suggests that these patterns are not an artifact of numerical abundance of alder, but rather that alder actually has an effect on species composition. Although alder may create a forest cover in a shorter time, natural regeneration might be a better strategy for the recovery and conservation of biodiversity as long as a propagule source is available. Presence of both forest types, however, may increase species richness and spatial heterogeneity at the landscape level.

SUMMARY The multi-temporal and spatial scale interaction of history, geography, and evolution are responsible for Colombia’s extreme diversity. In spite of a partially comprehensive protected area system, much of the ter-ritory remains exposed to the negative impacts of development and ecosystem transformation. Colom-bian biodiversity in the twenty-first century, in addition to consolidating conventional conservation strategies, must face up to emerging new challenges deriving from: (a) the vulnerability of montane biodiversity to fragmentation and climate change; (b) the transforma-tion and contamination of natural and seminatural ecosystems by large-scale mining activities; (c) the dis-placement of its large cattle industry from the more appropriate savannas in the eastern plains to the Carib-bean plains, replacing dry forest with savannas, while turning the original savannas into high-intensity agri-cultural monocultures; and (d) the consolidation of a conservation regime in the extensive communal lands in the Choco and Amazon regions, and incorporating the extensive marine territory into its conservation plans.

Tropical hummingbirds often forage in mixtures of several plant species. As a result, pollen is often transferred among heterospecific flowers. The "Sexual Architecture Hypothesis," a paradigm of pollination ecology and angiosperm evolution, suggests that the severity of such interspecific pollen transfer should reflect the similarity in the archi- tecture of sexual structures (specifically, placement of stigma and anthers) among the flowers involved. We evaluated the hypothesis with six species of Costa Rican cloud-forest plants varying greatly in sexual architecture but all pollinated by the same hummingbird, Lam- pornis calolaema. Captive Lampornis visited five long-styled, "pollen-donor" flowers of distylous, self-incompatible Palicourea lasiorrachis (Rubiaceae), then 20 short-styled re- cipient flowers of Palicourea, with or without five flowers of a second species intervening. We assessed intraspecific pollen transfer from Palicourea donors by counting pollen tubes in styles of the recipients. We examined interspecific pollen transfer between Palicourea and each of the five. other species by counting heterospecific grains deposited on stigmas of Palicourea recipients, and Palicourea grains deposited on stigmas and anthers of the heterospecific flowers. In a separate experiment, we examined how mixed-species flower visits modified the pollen loads actually carried by birds. Results did not uphold the Sexual Architecture Hypothesis. A single visit to any hetero- specific flower greatly affected the hummingbird's prior load of Palicourea pollen, re- gardless of where the second species placed its own pollen on the bird. Interspecific pollen transfer occurred consistently, but (1) heterospecific grains usurped little space on stigmas of Palicourea recipients and had no discernible effect on pollen-tube growth, whereas (2) few Palicourea grains landed specifically on anthers and stigmas of heterospecific flowers. Instead, numerous Palicourea grains apparently were scraped off on other floral structures such as the corolla. Consequently, every species of intervening flowers, regardless of its sexual architecture per se, strongly reduced pollen transfer from donor to recipient Pali- courea flowers, on average by 76%. In fact, the most drastic reductions resulted from the two species whose sexual architectures least resembled that of Palicourea. Results imply that "pollen scraping" by floral structures other than anthers and stigmas may be important and widespread among some animal-pollinated flowers. Thus, except in cases where no other floral structures contact pollinators, the positions of anthers and stigmas alone may have little bearing on the severity of interspecific pollen transfer and competitive interactions among plants sharing pollinators.

Edges are presumed to have deleterious consequences for the organisms that remain in forest fragments. However, there is substantial discrepancy among recent studies about the existence and intensity of edge effects. Most studies have focused on seeking simplistic and static patterns. Very few have tested mechanistic hypotheses or explored the factors that modulate edge effects. Consequently,studies are very site-specifci and their results cannot be generalized to produce a universal theory of edges. Although estimates of the intensity and impact of edge effects in fragmented forests are urgently required, little can be done to ameliorate edge effects unless their mechanics are better understood.

The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism has the potential to provide the developing nations with significant funding for forest restoration activities that contribute to climate change mitigation, sustainable management, and carbon-stock enhancement. In order to stimulate and inform discussion on the role of ecological restoration within REDD+, we outline opportunities for and challenges to using science-based restoration projects and programs to meet REDD+ goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and storing carbon in forest ecosystems. Now that the REDD+ mechanism, which is not yet operational, has expanded beyond a sole focus on activities that affect carbon budgets to also include those that enhance ecosystem services and deliver other co-benefits to biodiversity and communities, forest restoration could play an increasingly important role. However, in many nations, there is a lack of practical tools and guidance for implementing effective restoration projects and programs that will sequester carbon and at the same time improve the integrity and resilience of forest ecosystems. Restoration scientists and practitioners should continue to engage with potential REDD+ donors and recipients to ensure that funding is targeted at projects and programs with ecologically sound designs

In Gainesville, Florida, the coastal morning glory Ipomoea trichocarpa varies considerably in flower size, shape, and stigma-anther separation. I studied some of the causes and reproductive consequences of this variation by exploring its effect on pollen receipt and removal. Variation in flower size was caused by variation within genets and, more drastically, by temperature fluctuations. While several insect taxa visited I. trichocarpa flowers, I concentrated on one hawk moth species (Enyo lugubris) and the bumble bee Bombus pennsylvanicus. Hawk moths visited the flowers from the time of anthesis until sunrise, when bumble bees arrived. Stepwise regression analyses indicated that flower morphology affected pollen deposition during single hawk moth visits, single bumble bee visits, or unlimited hawk moth and bumble bee visits. The morphological variables with strongest effects differed in each case, and could be related to the foraging technique of each pollinator. Floral morphology affected pollen removal from flowers more than it influenced pollen receipt. The morphological variables that best explained variation in the amount of pollen removed from the anthers during a single bumble bee visit differed from those influencing pollen receipt. In the field, hawk moths could potentially fully pollinate I. trichocarpa before pollen from later rising bumble bees could send tubes to ovules. However, tube growth rate increased with rising morning temperatures. Thus, ovules could potentially have been fertilized by a mixture of pollen deposited by hawk moths and by bumble bees. Furthermore, low morning temperatures excluded hawk moths entirely from I. trichocarpa pollination, by delaying anthesis. On cool mornings, flowers opened in time to receive bumble bee visits only. The effect of temperature on flower size and pollinator type, coupled with the physical interaction between flower and pollinator morphologies, determined the amount of pollen removed from and received by I. trichocarpa.

Forest fragmentation is the large-scale transformation of a forested landscape to one in which remnant forest patches are isolated in a matrix of anthropogenic habitats. Forest fragmentation is a major cause of loss of biological diversity, in particular in the species-rich wet tropics, where landscape transformation is an ongoing process (Whitmore 1997; Vina and Cavelier 1999). A large body of literature gives evidence of the negative effects of fragmentation, which include changes in the physical environment, and regional and local extirpation of populations of many species of plants and animals (Saunders et al. 1991; Schelhas and Greenberg 1996; Turner 1996; Laurance and Bierregaard 1997).

During a study of the ecology of Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpesformicivorus) in Colombia, we observed Buff-tailed Coronets (Boissonneaua flavescens) establishing feeding territories at sap trees for several days. Similar associations between hummingbirds and sap trees have been described in North America (e.g., Foster and Tate 1966, Miller and Nero 1983). This is the first report of such an association for a tropical hummingbird. Between November, 1982 and June, 1983, we spent ca. 78 h watching Buff-tailed Coronets at Finca Merenberg, a privately-owned reserve located at 2,300 m elev. in the Cordillera Central, 100 km by road east of Popaydn. We watched hummingbirds visiting the sap trees of five groups of Acorn Woodpeckers. Woodpeckers drill holes through the bark, into the phloem, and sap is taken as it flows. In Colombia, groups of Acorn Woodpeckers use one or two oaks (Quercus humboldtii) in their territories as sap trees. We also watched the hummingbirds at other food sources, such as flowers. We took time budgets ofBoissonneaua at sap trees and other food sources, and observed interactions with the woodpeckers and with other hummingbirds. Marking the coronets proved to be difficult, since they lived in the treetops, always flew very high, and avoided mist nets. Only one individual was marked with a leg tag. Five of six sap trees that were monitored at Finca Merenberg each had an associated Buff-tailed Coronet during almost all of our observation time. We did not detect a coronet at the sixth sap tree until 18 May, probably owing to the difficulty of observing the tall, densely foliaged oak. The coronets disappeared a few days after a group of woodpeckers abandoned the sap trees in April. It is likely that the wood repairs and the flow of sap stops when the woodpeckers cease frequenting the holes. In May, when the woodpeckers returned, the coronets resumed visiting one sap tree. We do not know if the same hummingbirds visited the sap trees month after month. When we saw them, the coronets used the same perches and the same set of holes day after day. The birds spent much of their time perching, frequently vocalizing, and displaying buff-colored tails and under wing coverts. Vocalization consisted of a short tsip emitted constantly at regular intervals of about 2 s. Sometimes hummingbirds flew around the trees in a fast flight, uttering a call. This is the same behavior, presumably territorial, as described for Buff-tailed Coronets at Huilaea trees in the eastern Andes (Snow and Snow 1980) and indicates that the coronets established feeding territories for at least several days. Buff-tailed Coronets spent about 7% of their time feeding at sap holes, 1.7% of it flycatching, and 3.2% of it in interactions with other hummingbirds. All interactions seen at sap trees were with conspecifics. Coronets fed on sap approximately once a minute. While feeding, birds probed up to six holes, more usually two or three. When probing a hole, the coronets sometimes hovered. More frequently, they clung to the trunk in a woodpecker-like manner. Coronets visited only a segment of the branch or trunk and apparently always visited the same holes. The woodpeckers usually tolerated the activities of the coronets. Sometimes, when a woodpecker was going to suck sap at the holes where a coronet was feeding, the woodpecker threatened and the hummingbird withdrew. We never saw a woodpecker chase a coronet. Sap trees appeared to be important food sources for these hummingbirds, even preferred over other available sources. Only when the woodpeckers stopped using some sap trees did the coronets establish feeding territories at other sources. They rarely wandered in search of food, but instead, preferred nectar sources (e.g., Spirotheca sp., Psittacanthus sp.) that favored the establishment of a territory. Their behavior at these plants was essentially the same as in sap trees, but interspecific conflicts were more frequent. Time budgets at these food sources were similar to those at sap trees: 5% feeding on nectar, 1.3% flycatching, and 1.5% in territorial interactions. In those plants large enough to permit the establishment of more than one territory, Buff-tailed Coronets occupied the higher parts of the plant. We recorded only two individuals of other species of hummingbirds visiting sap trees. In May, when one group of woodpeckers resumed the use of a sap tree, Buff-tailed Coronets visited the tree, but established no territories. On 14 May, a male Booted Raquet-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii) visited holes for about 30 s, and on 18 June, a male Long-tailed Sylph (Aglaiocercus kingi) visited a series of holes for about 30 s, then perched on the trunk and probed another hole. No Acorn Woodpeckers or Bufftailed Coronets were present when these visits occurred. Foster and Tate (1966) listed many animals that are attracted to sapsuckers' sap trees, including insects, birds, and mammals. Some animals come to feed on the sap, but others are attracted by the concentration of insects. Probably all these animals are feeding opportunistically. Sap and other tree secretions can be marginal food sources for some opportunistic hummingbirds (e.g., Kevan et al. 1983). Other hummingbirds, however, may associate closely with sap trees and sapsuckers. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) frequently establish nearly permanent associations with sap trees, feeding on sap and insects (Foster and Tate 1966, Southwick and Southwick 1980, Miller and Nero 1983). Female Rubythroated Hummingbirds are specialists during the nesting season, feeding almost exclusively on sap (Southwick and Southwick 1980). Rufous Hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) defend sapsucker feeding sites and are highly dependent on sap in some habitats (Sutherland et al. 1982). Miller and Nero (1983) even suggested that sapsuckers may affect the distribution of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in North America. The association of Buff-tailed Coronets and Acorn Woodpeckers' sap trees seems to be a widespread phenomenon. We have seen these hummingbirds feeding at sap trees at the Farallones de Cali (2,000 m elev.) in the Cordillera Occidental. A coronet caught flying insects and visited sap holes without any interaction with the woodpeckers. In six hours of observation, only one other hummingbird, a male Long-tailed Sylph, passed by and was chased away by the coronet. The association in Colombia resembles those described in North America, except for two notable differences. First, given the number of hummingbird species in Finca Merenberg (nine resident species and at least seven transients), we expected more species to exploit sap trees.