Priority Areas for Vascular Epiphytes Conservation in Antioquia, Colombia
Protected areas are recognized as one of the most important tools in conserving species and ecosystems and avoid biodiversity loss. Frequently, declaration of these areas is not based on biodiversity information like richness, distribution patterns or representativeness. Epiphytic Orchids are a diverse group of plants, representative of the Antioquian Andean forests, currently threatened with global extinction by the transformation of their habitats and the overexploitation of their populations. In this project we will use information available on occurrences, endemism, and extinction risk of representative species of orchids in Antioquia to identify and suggest priority areas for conservation, based on the main methodological approaches used today: the KBA (Key Biodiversity Areas) and the IPA (Important Plant Areas). We will then attempt intent to make theoretical predictions about other potential priority areas in unsampled regions of Antioquia.
