Proposal for ecological restoration at the La Belleza Experimental Station (Francisco de Orellana) based on seed dispersal mechanisms.

Abstract

In the Experimental Station La Belleza (EELB), areas degraded by anthropogenic intervention have been identified, leading to the loss of biodiversity of plant and animal species and to the decrease of ecosystem services characteristic of this area. For this reason, the objective of this study was to propose an Ecological Restoration Plan in the EELB, based on the selection of key species according to seed dispersal mechanisms. For this, the experimental station was divided into five quadrants, a reference ecosystem was defined and a mostly disturbed area. The status of both localities was evaluated, then a botanical inventory was carried out to determine the indices of abundance and equity, using seed traps and bird monitoring for the selection of key species. With the information collected, an Ecological Restoration Plan was elaborated based on three consecutive phases of planting species with different growth rates. The EELB presented 126 botanical species belonging to 50 families: 67 native and 59 exotic, 67 classified as forest (high altitude) and 59 as shrubs (medium and low altitude). The area with the highest intervention showed indices of 1.84 and 0.70 respectively for Shannon and Pielou. The reference ecosystem had indices of 2.85 and 0.85 respectively. In conclusion, an Ecological Restoration Plan was elaborated based on three consecutive phases of planting species with different growth rates: shrub, fast- and medium- growing forest and slow-growing forest. It was recommended to carry out the Ecological Restoration Plan immediately to avoid further degradation of the EELB