Review of the State of Knowledge of the Flora of Vaupés (Colombia)

Abstract

The department of Vaupés, located in the Amazon region of Colombia, covers approximately 65.268 km2, representing 5.7% of the country's territory. The department hosts a rich floristic diversity that plays a crucial role in the dynamics of local ecosystems. This richness gains even greater importance due to the ethnobotanical use by ancestral communities over time. Despite the increase in literature production on the flora of Vaupés in recent decades, there is a lack of an updated review specifically focused on existing bibliography related to the department's flora. This work aims to conduct a comprehensive review up to 2023 of the knowledge production in the department related to flora, using analyses of various indicators. Different databases such as Scopus, Scielo, WoS, academic search engines like Google Scholar, and repositories were used for the review. Two inclusion criteria were applied to the documents: 1) The documents had to focus on municipalities or localities within the department as the study area, and 2) The research had to be related to flora. Graphs and tables were employed for analyses to identify patterns and trends. In total, 92 publications related to the flora of Vaupés were identified, reflecting a significant increase compared to previous studies. Most publications were concentrated in the municipality of Mitú, primarily led by Richard Evans Schultes, who stood out as the main author with 49 publications. While the research article stood out as the most used form of publication, another significant source was gray literature, primarily derived from undergraduate and postgraduate theses. Ethnobotany and taxonomy emerged as dominant areas of research, encompassing 41% and 34% of the publications, respectively, reflecting the importance given to traditional knowledge and accurate species identification in the region. Temporal analysis revealed publication peaks between 1974-1984 and 2004-2014. The concentration of publications by some authors, especially Richard Evans Schultes, emphasizes the need for diversification in research perspectives. It is crucial to encourage new researchers and interdisciplinary collaboration to enrich research in Vaupés. Finally, addressing knowledge gaps in less-explored areas such as ecology, palynology, phytogeography, and plant physiology is essential for a holistic understanding of the department's ecosystem.