Honey is a functional food used worldwide and recognized for its multiple health benefits. In the present study, the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of honey produced by two species of bees (Melipona eburnea and Apis mellifera) in two seasons were evaluated. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of honey against three bacterial strains was studied. The quality of honey analyzed by LDA (linear discriminant analysis) showed four clusters mediated by the interaction, the bee species, and the collection season resulting from a multivariate function of discrimination. The physicochemical properties of the honey produced by A. mellifera met the requirements of the Codex Alimentarius, while the M. eburnea honey had moisture values outside the established ranges of the Codex. Antioxidant activity was higher in the honey of A. mellifera, and both kinds of honey showed inhibitory activity against S. typhimurium ATCC 14028 and L. monocytogenes ATCC 9118. E. coli ATCC 25922 showed resistance to the analyzed honey.

La alta fragmentación y deterioro de los bosques montano bajo hace prioritaria su restauración ecológica, debido a esto, se requieren mecanismos que propendan a la recuperación del bosque, sobre todo en áreas prioritarias. El presente estudio pretende aportar herramientas que permitan a los restauradores tener información sobre especies nativas con potencial para la restauración. Para el efecto, se seleccionó un bosque húmedo montano bajo de 500 ha, el cual, se dividió en tres zonas de acuerdo a su intervención antrópica. En cada zona se realizaron análisis físico-químicos de suelos e inventarios florísticos analizados con diferentes índices de diversidad y perfiles de vegetación. Además, se clasificaron las especies arbóreas y arbustivas en pioneras y persistentes. Finalmente, se colectaron y analizaron frutos y semillas de las especies que se encontraban fructificadas al momento del muestreo, realizando pruebas de germinación en cada uno de ellos. Los resultados sugieren que en general las zonas presentaron diversidad alta (índice Shannon) con valores entre 2.804 y 3.414. Las especies con mayor IVI fueron Miconia resima, Palicourea angustifolia, Palicourea garciae, Cavendishia pubescens, y Clusia multiflora. La mayor cantidad de especies fructificadas se encontró en las áreas 1 y 2 (intervenida y moderadamente intervenida), el 40% de las semillas extraídas germinaron, finalmente, se clasificaron 42 especies en las categorías de pioneras y persistentes. En conclusión, se espera que la información obtenida en el presente proyecto sirva en parte como herramienta de apoyo para la restauración ecológica del bosque húmedo montano bajo.

Background and Aims: The growth habit is a character commonly used in taxonomic descriptions of plants and one of the first to be taught to students of plant morphology. Defining growth habits has turned into a complex matter due to the proliferation of terms. By definition, some habits can be distinguished by plant stem anatomy, but there are actually few studies that evaluate this correspondence. The family Melastomataceae is an excellent group to investigate how stem anatomy varies among plants with contrasting growth habits because it shows considerable variation in growth habits and stem anatomy. In this study, we analyzed whether stem anatomy characteristics vary consistently across growth habits in species of Melastomataceae.Methods: Eighteen species of Melastomataceae were collected in different Colombian ecosystems. Observation of 125 stem anatomy characters was performed on fixed internode slices, which were cut by freehand in transverse, radial longitudinal, and tangential planes. We used as a prior a classification of growth habits that we consolidated from a literature review, aiming to reconcile multiple schemes of classification of habits across vascular plants.Key results: Few anatomical characteristics were shared exclusively by species of one particular growth habit. Therefore, the Melastomataceae species analyzed here could be grouped in three general growth habits: trees/shrubs, herbaceous, and climbers.Conclusions: Many of the current definitions of growth habits are a mixture of different topics including ecology, specimen size, and the presence of specialized organs. For the concept of growth habits to be useful, it should be avoided to elevate ranges of size, habitats, or specific functional morphology adaptations to the generalized category of growth habits.

Se realizó un estudio con el objetivo de evaluar la calidad del aire usando líquenes como bioindicadores de contaminación atmosférica. El estudio se realizó en el municipio de Rionegro, Colombia, a una altura de 2130 msnm, en 19 localidades agrupadas en 7 grandes zonas, que representan áreas urbanas con actividades generadoras de contaminación del aire y áreas sub-urbanas con pocas o ninguna fuente de contaminación. Para el área de estudio se calculó el índice de pureza atmosférica (IPA), el cual fue obtenido en función del número de especies de líquenes encontrados y de su frecuencia en la localidad monitoreada con esta información se realizó un mapa bidimensional de zonas de isocontaminación. La identificación taxonómica de los líquenes se realizó mediante comparación con especímenes de herbario y cortes histológicos. En total fueron encontrados 354 líquenes agrupados en 25 familias, 53 géneros y 126 especies. Las familias de líquenes mejor representadas con base al muestreo realizado fueron: Parmeliaceae, Physciaceae y Graphidaceae; asimismo, fueron encontrados 95 forofitos agrupados en 36 especies, 31 géneros y 21 familias. Se evidenció para las zonas con mayor contaminación, el hábito de crecimiento de los líquenes era costroso y folioso y para las de menor contaminación, era fruticoso. Los resultados del presente análisis de biosensores son congruentes con los obtenidos en la medición con equipos convencionales, por lo cual este método representa una fuente eficaz y económica para evaluar los niveles de contaminación en centros urbanos.

Honey farming is a young industry in Colombia, where it is gaining relevance as a source of jobs and food security, especially in post-conflict low-income communities that place bee colonies in native forests. Previous studies on the palynological composition of this honey are insufficient and the role of native plants for the production of honey is therefore unknown. Here we present a palynological analysis of honey produced by two bee species, the introduced Apis mellifera and the native Melipona eburnea, both commonly used by low-income communities in the eastern region of the Department of Antioquia, at the Central Cordillera of Colombia. We analyzed species richness and diversity of pollen, characterized some life history traits of those species preferred by bees, and estimated the interaction web between the bee and selected plant species. The overlap between the two species was very small. We found that the source of nectar for A. mellifera were plants with different growth habits, both native and introduced. Instead, M. eburnea used mostly native tree and shrub species, at a constant height level. Our results suggest that setting bee colonies of A. mellifera close to those of M. eburnea may not result in competition between them. However, it is key to evaluate whether this pattern is the same using other sources of food, such as pollen, or in other geographic regions.

Seed dormancy is a key trait used around the world to help understand the ecological dynamics of plant species, however, in some ecosystems such as the Andean forests of Colombia, the identification of dormancy class remains poorly known. To address this, we described the morphology, anatomy and dormancy class of the seeds and fruits of 14 species using microtome sections, light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Five native pioneer species showed Morphophysiological Dormancy, three Physical Dormancy + Physiological Dormancy and two Physical Dormancy, whereas two invasive species showed Physiological Dormancy. Only the species of the genus Cecropia had seeds with PY + PD that was promoted by the anatomical structure of the achenes. Of the analysed species, 85% showed dormancy and followed a pattern like other tropical montane ecosystems in the world. The anatomy of achenes and development of seed dormancy play important roles in the capacity of Cecropia species to contribute to the natural regeneration of Andean ecosystems. Additionally, seed dormancy may promote the high invasiveness of Thunbergia alata and Ulex europaeus in the Andean forests of the Central Cordillera of Colombia.