The Project Flora of Bogota and its importance for the city

Abstract

Bogotá is a megadiverse capital district in the tropical Andes with more than 3000 species of vascular plants and 76% of rural areas. The study of the flora of Bogotá is an ambitious scientific project that seeks to answer the following questions: What are the families, genera and plant species that grow in Bogotá? Where do they occur within the district? and How to properly identify each species or taxon? Four taxonomic reviews for groups of plants of Bogotá are published in this special issue of Pérez Arbelaezia (Cunoniaceae, Lauraceae, Piperaceae and Ranunculaceae) accounting for 64 species. The present article seeks to synthesize the most relevant antecedents and advances in the study of the flora of Bogotá, and to give an introduction to the present special issue dedicated to the diffusion of the scientific findings of the Flora of Bogota project. The Scientific Sub-Directorate of the Bogota Botanical Garden is currently leading this project and invites the botanical community to actively participate in the production of taxonomic reviews for the Flora of Bogotá.