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Abstract
The forest fragments or relict forests on the Western slopes of the Andes in northwest Peru and in
south-west Ecuador are fragile ecosystems, which were largely continuous at some stage in the past.
The importance and uniqueness of these forests as refuges and stable habitats roots partly in their
complex diversity and their high levels of endemicity. These in turn are the outcome of a complex
topography and ecology. In this introductory chapter 12 studies are analysed, which were presented at
the Taller sobre Bosques Relictos de la Vertiente Occidental Andina del Norte del Per y Sur del
Ecuador in May 2004 at the X CONABOT, Trujillo-Per. This helps to consolidate and update our
knowledge on these over 20 forests fragments in northern Peru and two previously unknown fragments
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are presented for the first time: Bosque La Oscurana (Cajamarca) and Kaaris (Lambayeque). Some
ideas are exposed on the the relationships between the relict forests, how to analyse their dynamics,
how to characterize their structure and how their conservation may be achieved. It is proposed that
crucial elements in a conservation of these forests are a) urgently inventorizing them to demonstrate
their high diversity b) emphasizing their economic potential with respect to the abundance of phytogenetic
ressources c) evaluating their role as catchment areas for the rivers which are the primary source of
water for agriculture and urban life on the coast.
Keywords: montane relict forest, Andes, Andean Western slopes, Peru, Ecuador
Introduction
1
Institut fr Biologie Systematische Botanik und Northwest Peru and Southwest Ecuador
Pflanzengeographie, Freie Universitt Berlin possess some unique relict forests. These have
E-mail: weigend@zedat.fu-berlin.de been repeatedly mentioned and discussed in
Herbarium Truxillense (HUT), Universidad
2
the literature (e.g., Dillehay & Netherly, 1983;
Nacional de Trujillo, Trujillo-Per Dillon, 1993; 1994; Dillon & Cadle, 1991; Dillon
E-mail: efrr@unitru.edu.pe
et al., 1995; 2002; Ferreyra, 1977; Koepcke
Museo de Historia Natural y Facultad de Ciencias
3
1991; Sagstegui et al., 2003). There is gene- In this volume we nearly exclusively
ral consensus, that these forests have consider the montane relict forests of the NW
outstanding importance for the conservation Peru and SW Ecuador, and leave the tropical
of biodiversity, but also as catchment areas dry forests of the lower regions and the
for the rivers running down to the coast. The mangrove forests largely aside (contributions
present volume wants to address a wide range by Linares-Palomino and Charcape &
of topics, providing better understanding of Moutarde). These montane forests are what
these forests, some ideas on their importance, has generally been refered to in the literature
research needs and aspects of conservation. on these relict forests (Figs. 13). They are
These relict forests are concentrated in the generally considered as the southernmost
so-called Amotape-Huancabamba Zone fragments of the montane forests of the
(Weigend, 2002; 2004), an area of outstanding western slopes of the Andes, which is (or was)
biodiversity where the flora of the northern largely continuous in Ecuador and Colombia,
and central Andes overlap and additionally a but is highly fragmented in the region under
stunning amount of endemic species and ge- consideration. The small-scale climatic
nera are found. In this transitional area between conditions responsible for the presence or
the northern and the central Andes the climate absence of montane forests can not usually
does not allow a complete forest cover of the be measured by classical climatological means,
western slope, as it does further north, but but requires fine-scale methods, one of which
these forests are naturally restricted to those is presented by Richter & Moreira-Moz
areas which receive high precipitation. It (infra). The cloud forests are often found very
seems plausible to assume that under different locally where unusually strong condensation
climatic conditions these forests where at some takes place (Figs. 45).
stage more or less coherent, at least to the
Each of these relict forests tends to have
southern limit of the Amotape-Huancabamba
its own suite of endemic species in plant groups
Zone (where the deep and arid Ro Santa valley
(Gentry, 1992; Cano & Valencia, 1992) such
probably always formed a natural barrier to
as the Solanaceae (e.g., Leiva, 1996; Leiva et
forest taxa).
al., 1998a; 1998b; 1998c; 1998d; 2003; Leiva
Montane forests & Mione, 1999; Leiva & Quipuscoa, 1998),
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Figure 4. Condensation in the former cloud
forest area of Guzmango (Prov. Contumaz,
Depto. Cajamarca).
Dpto. Prov. nombre del bosque altitudes (m) localizacin estado de conservacin extensin
aproximada (ha)
Piura Huancabamba Canchaque 18002500 04 30S, 079 05W - largely destroyed 1000
05 22S, 079 36W6
Piura Morropn Chalaco ? ? unknown unknown
Piura Morropn Mijal 23503350 - conserved unknown
Piura Ayabaca? Huamba ca. 2500 04 43S, 079 31W unknown unknown
Piura Ayabaca El Toldo1 2800-3100 04 40S, 079 31W partly conserved various fragments
one of them ca. 400
Piura Ayabaca Aypate1(Ayabaca) 2800-3100 04 42S, 079 35W conserved 600800
Weigend, Rodrguez y Arana (Comps.) Rev. peru. biol. 12(2): 185 - 194 (2005)
Cajamarca Cutervo Bosque de Cutervo3 6 25002500 06 05S, 078 4053W partly destroyed 2500-3000
36 6
Cajamarca Chota Ucshahuilca 23002800 06 24S, 079 01W partly conserved 1000 ca. 21006
(Pagaibamba)
Cajamarca Chota Las Palmas3 24002800 06 24S, 079 01W highly fragemented 500<1006
& partly converted
to field
Cajamarca San Miguel de Tongod3 6 26002700 06 30S, 078 38W - highly fragemented 200
Pallaques -Quellahorco 06 49S, 078 46W6
Cajamarca San Miguel de Santa Rosa El Palmo ? ? unknown unknown
Pallaques
The relict forests of NW Peru and SW Ecuador
189
contina..
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Dpto. Prov. nombre del bosque altitudes (m) localizacin estado de conservacin extensin
190
aproximada (ha
Cajamarca San Miguel de La Oscurana4 (Niepos y 20002800 06 90S, 079 08W conserved Ca. 65
Pallaques Corral Viejo)
Weigend et al.
Cajamarca San Miguel de Cerro Quilln 33203500 07 01S, 079 4W conserved Ca. 50
Pallaques
Cajamarca Cutervo Querocotillo-Granadillo- ? ? unknown unknown
Shinshin Sur - Ro Chotano
Cajamarca San Miguel de Los Cedros y Cascarilla 25002800 - conserved 2500
Pallaques/
Santa Cruz
Lambayeque Ferreafe Kaaris5 (Upaipeta) 7504000 06 02S, 079 15W conserved 13800
Lambayeque Ferreafe Bosques de Yatrapa ? ? conserved unknown
Lambayeque Ferreafe Bosques Chillama- ? ? conserved unknown
Mamahuaca-Bosque del
Cerro Pluto (Santa Luca
Kaaris)
La Libertad Gran Chim Bosque de Lucma 22002600 - largely destroyed ca. 200
(Callanquitas) fragmented
1
Vellinga et al. 2004
2
Vellinga et al. give one grid reference for Cuyas and Los Molinos, but separate sizes.
3
Dillon 1994
4
Juarez et al, infra.
5
Llatas Quiroz, infra
6
Sagstegui et al., 2003
Weigend, Rodrguez y Arana (Comps.) Rev. peru. biol. 12(2): 185 - 194 (2005)
Bosques relictos del NO de Per y SO de Ecuador
The relict forests of NW Peru and SW Ecuador
Particularly tenacious elements of the elements such as Ribes or Urtica are not, or
montane forest flora such as many members incompletely documented from the majority of
of Solanaceae (Leiva, 1996; Leiva et al., forest fragments. Even some well-known
1998a; 1998b; 1998c; 1998d; 2003; Leiva & forests, such as the forest of Cutervo, are
Mione, 1999; Leiva & Quipuscoa, 1998), certainly incompletely inventoried. Collection
Urticaceae and Ribes (Weigend et al., infra) effort have to be intensified and spread evenly
persist long after the forests have been replaced over the year to complete our inventories and
by fields and hedges. Their distribution can thus to provide material for the systematical studies:
be indicative of former forest cover of a region Phenology in the forest fragments is complex,
and the data on Urtica and Solanaceae indicate and many taxa are incompletely documented
that there used to be very extensive forests in because they can not be found throughout the
Prov. Otuzco (La Libertad) where no well year (Bomarea: Hofreiter, Ribes: Weigend).
preserved forests are now left at all.
We expect that numerous new species
How many forest fragments are there from these forest relics still await their
and what do we know about them? discovery, either in herbarium collections,
where they are mis-filed under names of
The literature (e.g., Dillehay & Netherly 1983,
common and wide-spread congeners, or in the
Dillon 1993, 1994, Dillon & Cadle 1991, Dillon,
field, where many collection gaps still exist.
et al. 1995, 2002, Ferreyra 1977, Koepcke &
Koepcke 1958, Koepcke 1961, Weberbauer What are the relationships between
1945; Valencia, 1992; Sagstegui et al., 2003) these forests and are some of them
deals principally with a few well-known forest particularly diverse?
fragments, typically those of San Mateo, Monte
Investigations on the relationships between
Seco, Canchaque and Cutervo. This covers only
the floras of these forests and to the montane
a fraction of the total of over 20 forest fragments
forests of Ecuador and the western slope in
currently known and in this volume first data are
Peru have been carried out at genus level (e.g.,
given on two new, well-preserved and hitherto
Dillon et al., 1995). This approach can give
completely ignored forest fragments, the bos-
valuables clues on a larger scale, but the crucial
que de Oscurana and - most importantly - the
patterns on disjunction are probably reflected
forests of Kaaris (Llatas & Lpez, infra). The
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only in the the relationships at species level in
latter are by far the single largest forest fragment
genera with narrowly endemic taxa such as
and alone make up possibly more than a 1/3rd of
Larnax (e.g., Leiva, 1996; Leiva et al., 1998b;
the entire preserved area of montane forests in
1998d), Jaltomata (e.g., Leiva & Mione, 1999;
NW Per. Investigating this little-known
Leiva et al., 1998a), Iochroma (e.g., Leiva &
fragments should be first priority in the future.
Quipuscoa, 1998; Leiva et al., 1998c; 2003),
Two studies on Podocarpaceae (Vicua) Nasa (e.g., Dostert & Weigend, 1999), Ribes
and Orchids (Calatayud) document the or Urtica (Weigend et al., infra) or the
enormous floristic wealth of these forest Passiflora lobbii group (Skrabal et al., 2002)
fragments in a species level and also show with few exceptions the subgenus Bomarea s.str.
that the actual diversity far exceeds what has and without exceptions subgenus Sphaerine
been previously documented in the literature. (both Alstroemeriaceae) have in the relict forest
The herbaria of the region house a considera- their southern most distribution limit in the Cor-
ble wealth of specimens, and so do some dillera Occidental (Hofreiter & Rodrguez, infra).
herbaria overseas, but the conclusion from
However, more or less comprehensive
revisionary studies (Weigend et al., infra) is
collections will be required before this can be
that a very considerable part of the forests is
sensibly untertaken. The present data very
still largely or completely unknown: common
tentatively suggest, that there is some degree
Bosques relictos del NO de Per y SO de Ecuador 191
Weigend, Rodrguez y Arana (Comps.) Rev. peru. biol. 12(2): 185 - 194 (2005)
Weigend et al.
of closer relationship between the relict forests generating and preserving the high diversity.
of Otuzco and Contumaz on the one hand, Lozano & Bussmann (infra) explore the effect
and the relict forests of San Miguel, Santa Cruz of land slides on the dynamcis of the forests in
and Cutervo on the other. The relict forests of S Ecuador and we can safely assume that si-
Ayavaca seem to be fairly closely related to milar mechanisms are at work in the relict
those of Huancabamba and San Ignacio, which forests in NW Peru. An attempt for a
are more or less the westernmost outliers of phytosociological classification of the forests
the eastern slope forests (Rodriguez et al., is provided by Bussmann (infra) and this should
2002; Calatayud, infra), but they also appear be seen as guide line for a more scientific
to have close ties to the north (e.g., Sessea, classification of the relict forests in NW Peru
Beltran & Galan, 2001). Also, the diversity of in the mid-term, that goes beyond the rather
these last forests this related to the good bland classification as montane forest.
conserved forests of the South of Ecuador
How can their conservation be
(Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe), which indicates
achieved?
that in the past these were an all continuous
one (Bussmann, 2003; Lozano et al., 2003; The ecological and economical role of these
Rodrguez et al., 2005, en prep.) forests and their extraordinary wealth in endemic
taxa of both plants and animals very strongly
The crucial forests of Kaaris are at present
argues for measures for their preservation.
virtually unknown and will play a central role in
Charcape et al. (infra) explain how a wide range
an understanding of the relationships between
of activities involving large parts of the population
the relict forests of NW Peru in the future.
can generate public awareness and prepare the
In spite of various efforts to classify the ground for conservation measures. Clearly this
forests according to different levels of approach is especially suited to relatively small
diversity, our data on the taxa actually present forest fragments belonging to an individual
are probably to scanty to allow us to safely municipality. Other measures, higher up in state
judge relative levels of diversity. It is not autority, will be required to protect thus huge
surprising that the particularly well-known tracts of forest as the forest of Kaaris. Each
forests of Monte Seco and Contumaz have a region has its very particular problems and land-
high number or taxa reported, but it seems owner ship and unclear responsibilities as in
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unlikely that the huge forests of Kaaris will the case of the forests of Monteseco which span
stay far behind and taxa previously considered three administrative units abound. One of the
as endemics of Monte Seco are only now being important aspects of these forests is the presence
reported from other places, which had not been of potential agricultural and pharmaceutical
explored previously (Nasa insignis, N. ressources (Sagstegui 1996, Sagstegui & Dillon
humbolditana subsp. obliqua, Jurez et al., infra). 1998) which are not at present at all appreciated.
What are the dynamics of these forests The crucial aspects for achieving the
and how can it be characterized? conservation of these remnants of forest are
evidently
The term relict forests implies that they are
more or less refugia and stable habitats with a) investigating and show-casing their
little dynamicity. Strangely enough, however, enormous biodiversity,
the plant taxa with the highests incidences of b) underscoring the potential economical worth
endemism and the most narrow endemics of the phytodiversity of the region
(some Asteraceae, Solanaceae, Loasaceae)
c) emphasizing their role as catchment areas
are nearly exclusively plants of disturbed sites
for the rivers which drive agriculture and
and regular habitat disturbance in the form of,
urban life on the coast.
e.g., land slides may play a crucial role in
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