Objetivo: Realizar el inventario de las angiospermas no arbóreas del bosque El Caraño, localizado en el piedemonte Andino Amazónico de Colombia, el cual incluye la lista de especies, síndromes de dispersión, categorías de amenaza, endémismos y novedades corológicas. Alcance: Caracterizar las angiospermas no arbóreas de El Caraño como herramienta de ordenamiento territorial. Metodología: Se recolectaron muestras botánicas entre junio de 2015 y mayo de 2016, registrando sus hábitos de crecimiento y recopilando información sobre sus síndromes de dispersión, categorías de amenaza, endemismos y novedades corológicas. Principales resultados: Se registran 319 taxones, pertenecientes a 165 géneros y 68 familias, las eudicotiledóneas representan el 58% de la flora, mientras que las monocotiledóneas y angiospermas basales agrupan el 35% y 7% respectivamente. Araceae presenta el mayor número de géneros y especies (6/31). Piper andakiensis y Philodendron edwinii son endémicas, 49 especies son novedades corológicas para el departamento del Caquetá y 19 para la Amazonia colombiana. Adicionalmente, tres especies nuevas están siendo descritas. Treinta taxones registran alguna categoría de amenaza, de los cuales Orchidaceae registró el mayor número de especies en peligro de extinción (21 spp.). La zoocoria se presentó como el síndrome de dispersión dominante (72% de las especies). Conclusiones: La diversidad florística de El Caraño representa una transición entre la Amazonia y los Andes, lo cual se señala no solo por su composición, sino también, por el considerable número de taxones registrados. Lo anterior, sumado a las especies endémicas, novedades corológicas y taxonómicas, contrasta con los pocos taxones evaluados que cuentan con alguna categoría de riesgo y a la avanzada deforestación de la zona, promoviendo que la ignorancia de estos recursos derive en la perdida de la flora colombiana. Se espera que este documento soporte futuros programas de conservación y ordenamiento del territorio, basados en la diversidad de su flora y endemismo.

Agraz (Vaccinium meridionale Swartz) is a shrub native to the Neotropical region of South America, including Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Peru. Known for its edible fruits valued for their nutritional, nutraceutical, and medicinal properties, the species remains underexplored despite its potential. This research aimed to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of agraz in Colombia, focusing on native individuals from Santander and commercial individuals from Boyacá and Cundinamarca, providing insights that can support conservation and genetic improvement efforts. Methods: In this study, genotyping by sequencing (GBS) was used to analyze genetic variation and population structure in V. meridionale. The sequencing data were aligned to the V. corymbosum cv. Draper v1.0 reference genome. The obtained single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were employed to evaluate genetic diversity, population differentiation, and inbreeding coefficients, with measures such as expected heterozygosity and F-statistics providing insights into population structure and genetic composition across regions. Results: A total of 12,910 SNPs were obtained, and the results revealed moderate genetic diversity within the agraz populations, characterized by an expected heterozygosity (He) of 0.3586. A negative Fis value indicated an excess of heterozygosity and low genetic differentiation among the sampled regions. Population structure analysis identified three distinct subpopulations, with Subpopulation 3 exhibiting the most unique genetic composition. Conclusions: This study provides the first genetic diversity analysis of V. meridionale in Colombia using the GBS approach. The findings contribute to the understanding of the species’ genetic variability and offer valuable information for conservation strategies, genetic improvement and breeding programs to enhance its agricultural potential and ensure the sustainable utilization of agraz resources.

Understanding the genetic diversity and structure of regional cacao and its close relatives is essential for strengthening conservation strategies and enhancing the resilience of Amazonian agroforestry systems. This study evaluated the genetic diversity, population structure, and varietal relationships of 48 sexually derived regional accessions of Theobroma cacao, T. grandiflorum, and T. bicolor with desirable morpho-agronomic traits, together with eight universal T. cacao reference clones, all cultivated in farmer-managed agroforests of the northwestern Colombian Amazon, using a panel of 15 SSR markers. The loci exhibited substantial allelic richness (mean Na = 8.53) and consistently high expected heterozygosity (Hexp = 0.74), with numerous private alleles indicating species- and lineage-specific divergence. Bayesian clustering, ΔK inference, and minimum spanning networks identified four genetically coherent subpopulations corresponding to the three species and a distinct lineage within T. cacao, strongly aligned with the discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) results. Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) revealed that most genetic variation occurred among subpopulations (56.68%), while pairwise FST (Wright’s fixation index) values confirmed strong interspecific differentiation and significant divergence within T. cacao. No isolation-by-distance pattern was detected. These findings demonstrate that regional Theobroma germplasm maintained in smallholder agroforests constitutes a valuable reservoir of genetic diversity that complements universal reference clones. By documenting species-level divergence and lineage-specific variation, this study supports the integration of farmer-managed genetic resources into conservation planning and highlights their importance for the long-term resilience of Amazonian cacao-based agroforestry landscapes.

Land-use change strongly affects soil microbiota, yet the role of agroecological systems in shaping soil fungal communities remains poorly understood in tropical soils. We evaluated the diversity, trophic modes, community composition, and co-occurrence networks of culturable soil fungal taxa across a land-use gradient in the Colombian Andes–Amazon transition zone. Agroecological systems—including improved pasture (IP), cacao and copoazu agroforestry systems (CaAS and CoAS), secondary forest with agroforestry enrichment (SFAE), and a moriche palm swamp ecosystem (MPSE)—were compared with dominant land-uses (degraded pasture, DP and old-growth forest, OF). Fungi were isolated using the soil dilution plate method and identified based on morphological and molecular characteristics, and soil physicochemical properties were measured to evaluate their relationships with fungal community patterns. A total of 420 isolates were assigned to 93 fungal species. Alpha-diversity metrics revealed significantly higher fungal richness in OF and MPSE, and higher Shannon diversity in agroforestry and forest-based systems, whereas DP exhibited the lowest values. Ordination analyses showed clear differences in fungal community composition, with CoAS displaying the most distinct assemblage. Agroecological and forest-based systems favored saprotrophic and symbiotrophic modes. Co-occurrence network analyses indicated that MPSE, OF, and IP supported more complex and modular fungal networks. Soil pH and total phosphorus (TP) were key drivers of fungal community composition, whereas exchangeable calcium, TP, soil organic carbon, and base saturation were associated with network attributes. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of agroecological management for soil fungal diversity and network organization in Amazonian transition landscapes.