Dispersal and growth form patterns of some zonal páramo vegetation types

In zonal vegetation of the paramo Boca Grande (Sumapaz), in the Colombian Cordillera Oriental, the dispersal and growth form spectra of the different vegetation zones are described. With increasing altitude the abundance of the zoochorous plant species decreased while anemochory increased. A possible relationship between the mode of dispersal and the growth forms was also investigated. The most important modes of dispersal were not restricted to a special growth form but appeared to prevail in the predominant growth forms of the successive zones. In addition a global distribution of the weight of the diaspores and of the phenological state of the species is given.