Seed Dispersal in Páramo Plants: Epizoochorous and Hydrochorous Taxa

On the basis of a recent checklist of plant diversity in paramos, diaspores collected from herbaria were studied for adaptations to dispersal on animals and by water. This study shows that the paramo flora has a relatively high percentage of genera with morphological adaptations to epizoochorous and to hydrochorous diaspore dispersal. Genera with hooked and straight appendages are present throughout the paramo belt, while their number decreases in the higher paramo zones. About half of the hydrochorous genera and one-third of the epizoochorous ones can be found throughout all paramo zones. The contribution of holarctic epizoochorous genera to the paramo flora seems to be greater than that of austral-antarctic genera, whereas in hydrochorous genera it is the reverse.