Botany and Ecology of Monocotyledons in the Venezuelan Paramos

The cooperative research project CRN-040 studied the effects of global change on high mountains and the savanna. It produced data bases on the plant biodiversity, ecology, taxonomy, world and local distribution, altitudinal range, human uses, etc in these two ecosystems. Part of this research, documenting the great biodiversity of Monocotyledons in the high tropical mountains of Venezuela, is now published in Spanish, in two volumes on 778 pages:

Three ULA professors have published a book on biodiversity “Botany and Ecology of Monocotyledons in the Venezuelan Paramos”, editors are professors Gilberto Morillo (School of Forest Sciences), Benito Briceño (Botany Dept., School of Sciences) and Juan F. Silva (ICAE, School of Sciences).

The book describes the diversity of monocotyledon plant species in the Venezuelan paramos and their ecotones, gathering for the first time ever an enormous amount of scattered information and providing new botanical and ecological data. It depicts 22 families, 141 genera and almost 600 species, profusely illustrated with drawings and photos. The first volume includes two introduction chapters, one on the ecosystem of the Paramo and the other one on Monocotyledons, followed by six chapters devoted to one family each. The second volume is composed of 16 chapters which describe the remaining families and three additional sections: a general literature list, a glossary of botanical and ecological terms as well as a general index of families, genera and species.

For each species the authors have included: botanical description, world and national distribution (including all paramo sites), altitudinal ranges, ecology, phenology, anatomy and ethnobotany. When necessary, the current taxonomic status is discussed and the different perspective of experts and herbariums helps readers to understand such dynamic issues. The book makes it possible to quickly find the descriptions and illustrations, complementarily keys to the families and genera as well as a extensive literature are included. The editors and authors of the book are experts with many years’ experience in research on the plants and ecology of the paramos.