High Andean forests harbor a remarkably high biodiversity and play a key role in providing vital ecosystem services for neighboring cities and settlements. However, they are among the most fragmented and threatened ecosystems in the neotropics. To preserve their unique biodiversity, a deeper understanding of the effects of anthropogenic perturbations on them is urgently needed. Here, we characterized the plant communities of high Andean forest remnants in the hinterland of Bogotá in 32 0.04 ha plots. We assessed the woody vegetation and sampled the understory and epiphytic cover. We gathered data on compositional and structural parameters and compiled a broad array of variables related to anthropogenic disturbance, ranging from local to landscape‐wide metrics. We also assessed phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity. We employed nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) to select meaningful variables in a first step of the analysis. Then, we performed partial redundancy analysis (pRDA) and generalized linear models (GLMs) in order to test how selected environmental and anthropogenic variables are affecting the composition, diversity, and aboveground biomass of these forests. Identified woody vegetation and understory layer communities were characterized by differences in elevation, temperature, and relative humidity, but were also related to different levels of human influence. We found that the increase of human‐related disturbance resulted in less phylogenetic diversity and in the phylogenetic clustering of the woody vegetation and in lower aboveground biomass (AGB) values. As to the understory, disturbance was associated with a higher diversity, jointly with a higher phylogenetic dispersion. The most relevant disturbance predictors identified here were as follows: edge effect, proximity of cattle, minimum fragment age, and median patch size. Interestingly, AGB was efficiently predicted by the proportion of late successional species. We therefore recommend the use of AGB and abundance of late successional species as indicators of human disturbance on high Andean forests.

The tribe Cunonieae comprises five genera and 214 species of shrubs and trees currently distributed in the Southern Hemisphere and the tropics, exhibiting an amphi‐Pacific disjunct distribution shared with Araucariaceae, Myrtaceae, Nothofagaceae, Podocarpaceae, and Proteaceae, among others. To address the central question of how historical geological forces have shaped the distribution of plant diversity in the southern hemisphere, we aimed to provide evidence from the biogeographical history of Cunonieae. We generated the most densely sampled phylogenetic trees of Cunonieae available to date, with 121 samples and 81 species, based on 404 new sequences of plastid and nuclear DNA regions with high hierarchical phylogenetic signal ( matK , trnL‐F , rpl16 , and internal transcribed spacer (ITS)). We included 184 samples of Rosids to estimate divergence times using fossil calibration points. For biogeographic inference, we employed a time‐stratified model including fossils as tips. Cunonia and Pterophylla were paraphyletic in the ITS tree, and Cunonia was paraphyletic in the plastid tree. Pancheria , Vesselowskya , and Weinmannia were monophyletic, the latter with conflicting nuclear and plastid phylogenies. The crown group Cunonieae was dated at ~56 Ma, and its ancestral areas were Antarctica and Patagonia. Antarctica acted as a bridge between Australia and South America before the consolidation of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the extinction of the lineage in Antarctica from the Oligocene to the Miocene. Following that, Cunonieae spread to lower latitudes via Zealandia/Oceania and Patagonia/South America. Geological changes during the Pliocene facilitated a further burst in diversification along the Andes, in Madagascar, and in New Caledonia, where at least three colonization events occurred.

Se presenta la sinopsis taxonómica de la familia Malvaceae para la flora de Bogotá. Malvaceae sensu lato está representada por cuatro subfamilias, 16 géneros con 19 especies y dos híbridos en el área de estudio. Las subfamilias más diversas son Malvoideae (once géneros / quince especies y un híbrido) y Grewioideae (tres géneros con una especie cada uno). Las localidades con mayor diversidad son Chapinero y Teusaquillo con diez especies cada una. Se proponen claves taxonómicas para las subfamilias, géneros y especies encontradas. Se confirma la presencia de taxones de los géneros Anisodontea, Ceiba, Dombeya, Fuertesimalva, Grewia, Malva y Pavonia; y se aclara la nomenclatura de las especies de los géneros Abutilon y Callianthe en el Distrito Capital. Cada género es descrito y complementado con notas sobre la composición y distribución; para las especies se añade la sinonimia, nombres vernáculos y un listado de los ejemplares examinados. Este trabajo es uno de los resultados del proyecto Flora de Bogotá que busca visibilizar y describir la diversidad de plantas presentes en el área rural y urbana del Distrito Capital.

We propose 18 new lectotype designations for names of Weinmannia, five of which are second-step typifications involving four inadvertent first-step lectotype designations, and 13 of them are designations of one single duplicate at the herbarium where deposited. José Cuatrecasas described all, but one, of the taxa from collections made in Colombia. We clarify the lectotypification for Weinmannia parvifoliolata Cuatrec. Finally, we propose one lectotype designation for W. cochensis described by Georg Hieronymus.

Background With the advancement of sequencing technologies and increasing quality of assembly and annotation tools, the amount of biological sequence data produced by research grows rapidly. To keep this data accessible for potential re-analysis, it is typically stored in public online databases, such as the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA). However, the increase in data entails an increase in time needed for metadata curation and upload. We propose a tool to simplify and automatize the upload of experimental and metadata to public repositories. Results We developed ENflorA, a set of scripts by which sample, sequence read and (annotated) assembly data can be uploaded to ENA in a simple and standardized manner. Our software allows easy metadata entry via spreadsheets, is suitable for batch upload of data from different sources, and can be fully integrated in bioinformatic workflows. It is platform independent and can be run natively on High Performance Computers, integrates an lftp upload option for big files and a test upload option. Conclusions By easing the ENA submission process, ENflorA contributes to making high-throughput sequencing data findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable.

Revisamos ejemplares de herbario y bibliografía referente al ají de páramo, Drimys granadensis, para Bogotá, con el fin de realizar una descripción de la especie para el área y sintetizar la información conocida sobre su morfología, taxonomía, distribución, ecología y usos reportados. Buscamos actualizar la información disponible para esta especie en Bogotá a fin de promover nuevas investigaciones y acciones para su manejo y conservación.