(1) Background: Neotropical montane forests represent one of the most diverse world ecosystems; however, they are also among the most threatened ones mostly due to deforestation. Our main goal is to classify and clarify the forest types based on the changes in basal area (BA), tree density, and species composition of montane forests in Southern Ecuador, and to determine the influence of critical environmental and geomorphological factors. (2) Methods: One hundred thirty-two temporary plots of 400 m² were installed in homogeneous and well-conserved forest stands. We identified and measured all trees >10 cm diameter breast height (DBH). We modeled species diversity (Fisher’s alpha) change in relation to climatic, altitudinal, and geomorphological gradients using GLM and Kruskall-Wallis analyses. The change in composition was determined using cluster analyses (BIOENV analysis followed by a LINKTREE procedure). Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) was used to analyze changes across climatic and geomorphological gradients. Finally, we used a SIMPER analysis to identify the species that contributed most to the floristic dissimilarity among the identified altitudinal forests types. (3) Results: The floristic groups were determined by altitude, temperature, and isothermality, but also some geomorphological variables and lithology were used. Plots located in low hills have higher alpha diversity compared to the high hills and dissected mountains. (4) Conclusions: Altitude is the most important factor responsible for the division of structural and floristic groups. In addition, those plots located on the whitish tuff have higher alpha value diversity compared with plots in andesitic tuffs. Precipitation on the wettest quarter (>839 mm) and isothermality (>90.5) are the most relevant climatic factors driving the floristic classification.

We assessed the relative importance of dispersal limitation, environmental heterogeneity and their joint effects as determinants of the spatial patterns of 229 species in the moist tropical forest of Barro Colorado Island (Panama). We differentiated five types of species according to their dispersal syndrome; autochorous, anemochorous, and zoochorous species with small, medium-size and large fruits. We characterized the spatial patterns of each species and we checked whether they were best fitted by Inhomogeneous Poisson (IPP), Homogeneous Poisson cluster (HPCP) and Inhomogeneous Poisson cluster processes (IPCP) by means of the Akaike Information Criterion. We also assessed the influence of species’ dispersal mode in the average cluster size. We found that 63% of the species were best fitted by IPCP regardless of their dispersal syndrome, although anemochorous species were best described by HPCP. Our results indicate that spatial patterns of tree species in this forest cannot be explained only by dispersal limitation, but by the joint effects of dispersal limitation and environmental heterogeneity. The absence of relationships between dispersal mode and degree of clustering suggests that several processes modify the original spatial pattern generated by seed dispersal. These findings emphasize the importance of fitting point process models with a different biological meaning when studying the main determinants of spatial structure in plant communities.

Summary: The dwarf mistletoe,Arceuthobium oxycedri, is found on populations ofJuniperus oxycedrus, in central Spain. This species can have negative effects on the physiology of its host, including mortality. Understanding the mechanisms that control its distribution and dispersal is critical to assessing its potential for spread. We assessed dwarf mistletoe distribution within a population ofJ. oxycedrus, including infected and uninfected host individuals. A new null model of parasitic dispersion was built using two dispersal kernel forms that were simulated with lower and upper envelopes for second‐order functions to summarize a point pattern, such as Ripley'sK, nearest‐neighbour distribution and pair correlation functions. Nine dispersal scenarios were constructed with half‐bandwidth kernels (10, 20, 30 m) and initial population of infected trees (P₀ = 05, 10 and 20). These scenarios were compared with the observed pattern and evaluated using the goodness‐of‐fit test. Significant differences at short distance (r < 10 m) were found between the observed pattern and simulated patterns, corresponding to the range of seed dispersal of the dwarf mistletoe. Interactions between infected and uninfected hosts patterns at all scales were identified, suggesting thatA. oxycedriuses other mechanisms in addition to ballistic seed shooting as secondary dispersal agents to spread to distances greater than 20 m. Given that the seed characteristics facilitate dispersal by adhesion, we infer that spread between host individuals is amplified by seed transport by birds or small mammals.

La nueva era digital plantea a los docentes el reto de reestructurar las actividades académicas asíncronas convencionales en la educación superior a distancia. En este sentido, el presente trabajo se centra en la creación de narrativas digitales por parte de los estudiantes como un recurso de aprendizaje colaborativo mediado por el foro académico en línea, en una universidad ecuatoriana. El estudio presenta un diseño no experimental de tipo ex-post-facto y se analiza la perspectiva estudiantil en función de grupos de estudio y género de los participantes mediante un instrumento diseñado ad hoc. Se utilizó la prueba de U de Mann-Whitney para identificar diferencias estadísticas significativas entre de las variables de interés y se evaluó de forma general mediante un escalamiento multidimensional no métrico, el grado de similitud entre las percepciones de importancia de la narrativa, así como las habilidades de construcción según el género y grupo. Los resultados muestran que los estudiantes lograron articular un relato reflexivo y analítico a partir de la evolución de las ideas de sus compañeros en el foro académico, y valoraron de forma positiva la creación de la narrativa con diferencias estadísticas según las variables analizadas. Esta contribución revela que las narraciones digitales generadas en el foro asíncrono se presentan como nuevos escenarios para motivar la interacción colaborativa entre los autores educativos en los estudios a distancia.