Antoine M. Cleef

• PhD
• Professor at University of Amsterdam

Antoine Cleef studied the vegetation of the Colombian and Ecuadorian páramo for four decades. After a brain haemorrhage in December 2018, he lost his speech and his ability to write. He learned to paint with his left hand. Photographs from his fieldwork in the páramo on A4-size now inspire his watercolour paintings. With the precision he illustrate...

The present “comment” on Zorilla‐Azcué et al.’s paper “The DNA history of a lonely oak: Quercus humboldtii phylogeography in the Colombian Andes. Ecology and Evolution 2021, doi:10.100‐2/ece3.7529” provides the paleoecological understanding of oak forest since Quercus became apparent in the Northern Andes three glacial–interglacial cycles ago. The...

The present work is a phytosociological synthesis and syntaxonomic overview of the vegetation of the highest subnival parts (superpuna) of the open alpine vegetation of the high plateaus (puna) of the Andes of Moquegua, South West Peru, as related to the main environmental gradients. Using TWINSPAN and DCA ordination analysis, 153 phytosociological...

Dispersal is a key ecological process that influences plant community assembly. Therefore, understanding whether dispersal strategies are associated with climate is of utmost importance, particularly in areas greatly exposed to climate change. We examined alpine plant communities located in the mountain summits of the tropical Andes across a 4,000‐...

This poster summarizes the outcomes of our fieldwork between January and March of 2017 with the local campesinos of the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy-Güicán, located in the eastern cordillera of the Colombian Andes. This research aims to draw attention in the urgent need to protect the frágile and beautiful Colombian páramos. The clear interdependence be...

El Parque Nacional Natural Sierra Nevada del Cocuy (PNN Cocuy) exhibe la mayor extensión de glaciares en Colombia y elevaciones que alcanzan los 5330 m. La Sierra es una de las fuentes de agua más importantes del país, pues alberga numerosos lagos, ríos y quebradas. Aunque sabemos que el calentamiento global está causando el derretimiento de los gl...

Publicación del componente de Humedales del proyecto Insumos Técnicos para la Delimitación de Ecosistemas Estratégicos: páramos y humedales sobre identificación y clasificación de los humedales de Colombia. La obra, de carácter infográfico, revela a una Colombia anfibia y cuenta sobre la complejidad y diversidad de estos ecosistemas en el territori...

The phytosociology and ecology of puna vegetation in twelve localities at an altitude of 3750–4500 m in northern Moquegua (south Peru) have been studied. The study area has a pluviseasonal climate with summer rainfall. Using TWINSPAN, Detrended Correspondence Analysis and Farthest Neighbor Clustering, 157 phytosociological relevés were analyzed. Fo...

We present a phytosociological overview of the arid and semi-arid montane vegetation of the province of Arequipa in southern Peru. The xerophytic vegetation was studied after extreme rainfall had promoted exceptionally lush vegetation and a high aboveground floristic diversity. We used TWINSPAN for classification and Detrended Correspondence Analys...

Eight new species of the genus Gomphichis from Colombia are described. Each species is illustrated, and detailed habitat and distribution data are provided. A distribution map of the new species is presented. A dichotomous key for determination of the Gomphichis species in northern South America is provided. Conservation status assessments are prov...

Pollen rain studies in Amazonia are scarce but of utmost importance to support interpretations of pollen records. We have investigated modern surface pollen spectra and vegetation in an Amazon location, Carajás, Brazil, where open and woody types of vegetation, swamps and lakes develop under rock outcrops. Both plant inventories of different savann...

Centuries of human interference have led to large scale reduction of montane forests in the northern Ecuadorian Andes. As a result the natural position of the upper forest line (UFL) in the area is now subject of scientific debate, which is hindering sustainable reforestation efforts. Uncertainty is fuelled by insufficient precision of fossil polle...

syntaxonomic overview of shrubland vegetation in the southern Andean regions of Peru is presented. For each plant community, information is given on physiognomy, floristic diversity, ecology and geographical distribution. The shrub vegetation on the slopes of the upper Tambo river valley includes annual herbs, grasses, cacti and ferns. In total, 15...

The biomisation method is used to reconstruct Latin American vegetation at 6000±500 and 18 000±1000 radiocarbon years before present (14C yr BP) from pollen data. Tests using modern pollen data from 381 samples derived from 287 locations broadly reproduce potential natural vegetation. The strong temperature gradient associated with the Andes is rec...

Zonal paramo vegetation communities present on top of Ramal de Guaramacal, Trujillo state, Venezuela, have been studied with the aim to provide a syntaxonomic scheme or classification, based oil analysis of the physiognomy, floristic composition, ecological relations and spatial distribution of the different vegetation communities. A total of 91 va...

Patterns of vascular plant species composition and structure of the remaining rain forest of the Andean Cordillera in northern Ecuador were studied in two reserves: Guandera and El Angel. Thirty three plots located between 3300 and 3700 in were examined along two altitudinal transects crossing the Upper Forest Line (UFL). The phytosociological subd...

We here present a plant composition study of paramo grasslands in the East Andean Cordillera of northern Ecuador that discerns altitudinal distribution patterns. This study took place at two locations: the relatively undisturbed Guandera Biological Reserve site and the highly disturbed El Angel Ecological Reserve site. The analysis included a field...

Montane forest community composition of Ranial de Guaramacal, Venezuelan Andes, was studied along the altitudinal gradient on both sides of the range with different slope expositions. Thirty five 0.1 ha plots were Surveyed, with variable intervals of 30 to 150 meters between 1350 in and 2890 in and mile plots of variable size (50 m(2) to 400 m(2))...

This study aims to examine the geographical position of late Pleistocene forest refuges in the tropical lowland rain forest in southern Cameroon by analysing the distribution of 178 selected bio-indicator species. We studied the distribution patterns of these species, such as strict and narrow endemics, as well as a number of well-known slow disper...

The vegetation ecology of a paramo cushion mire was studied along four transects. Six local vegetation types were distinguished. Two types are called cushion bogs; one is dominated by Oreobolus cleefii and the other by Plantago rigida . Types 3 and 4 are mire vegetation dominated by bryophytes; one is characterised by Sphagnum sparsum, Breutelia sp...

The biomisation method is used to reconstruct Latin American vegetation at 6000±500 and 18 000±1000 radiocarbon years before present (¹⁴C yr BP) from pollen data. Tests using modern pollen data from 381 samples derived from 287 locations broadly reproduce potential natural vegetation. The strong temperature gradient associated with the A...

Los microfósiles de plantas y asociaciones de macrofósiles obtenidos de seis secciones fechadas del área de la cuenca de Bogotá (2550 m, Cordillera Oriental, Colombia) demuestran la evolución del bosque andino del Neógeno tardío, accionado por la orogenia andina. La adaptación progresiva de taxones tropicales calidos hacia las condiciones frías mon...

A plant ecological transect study of the páramos of the Podocarpus massif, southern Ecuador, was carried out between July 2001 and August 2004. Including herbarium records 187 vascular plant genera were found, which were used for the present phytogeographical analysis. Three geographic flora components were identified: tropical (55 %), temperate (3...

In view of the continued decline in tropical forest cover around the globe, forest restoration has become a key tool in tropical rainforest conservation. One of the main – and least expensive – restoration strategies is natural forest regeneration. By aiding forest seed influx both into disturbed and undisturbed habitats, frugivorous birds facilita...

Vascular flora of the Sumapaz massif

Vegetation of the Sumapaz transect forests

Theory suggests that body size is an important factor in determining interspecific competition and, ultimately, in structuring ecological communities. However, there is a lack of pragmatic studies linking body size and interspecific competition to patterns in ecological communities. The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of...

For a detailed reconstruction of historic upper forest line (UFL) positions, new proxies in addition to traditional pollen and vegetation analyses are needed. If the straight-chain lipid composition in plant leaves and roots is specific enough to allow distinction, their records in soils and peat bogs might be used for this purpose. We tested for s...

The first bryophyte survey results from Colombian Amazonia are presented. Bryophyte species, differentiated into mosses and liverworts, and further into four life-form classes, were sampled in 0.1-ha plots. These plots were distributed over four landscape units in the middle Caquetá area: floodplains, swamps, terra firme forests and white-sand area...

Until recently, patterns of species richness and endemism were based on an intuitive interpretation of distribution maps with very limited numerical analyses. Such maps based solely on taxonomic collections tend to concentrate on collecting efforts more than biodiversity hotspots, since often the highest diversity is found in well-collected areas....

The successional affinity of nine woody species was inferred from the structure, diversity and disturbance history of the vegetation where these occurred. This was done in order to obtain a basis for a restoration experiment, currently in execution, in the dry Andean dwarf forest zone on the edge of the High Plain of Bogotá (Colombia), at 2600–2950...

Pollen records of a 520-cm long core from Lake Zempoala (2800 m altitude) and a 884-cm long composite core from Lake Quila (3010 m altitude), both located 65 km SW of Mexico City, show changes in vegetation and climate. The Zempoala record covers the last c. 6320 cal yr BP, while the Quila record spans the last c. 11,610 cal yr BP. These lakes, wit...

Actualmente, todas as partes contratantes da Organização do Tratado de Cooperação Amazônica – Bolívia, Brasil, Colômbia, Equador, Guiana, Peru, Suriname e Venezuela – utilizam as suas próprias definições nacionais de Amazónia. Tais definições podem, pois, ser agrupadas para formar o território em relação ao qual o Tratado tem validade. Estes países...

En la actualidad cada uno de los Países Membros de la Organización del Tratado de Cooperación Amazónica, es decir, las Repúblicas de Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Perú, Suriname y Venezuela, utiliza sus propias definiciones nacionales de la Amazonía. Estas definiciones pueden reunirse para determinar el territorio para el cual el Trat...

La vegetaci6n del paramo del Macizo de Tatama Cordillera Occidental, Colombia The paramo vegetation of the Tatama massif Western Cordillera, Colombia.

Pollen records of a 520-cm long core from Lake Zempoala (2800 m altitude) and a 884-cm long composite core from Lake Quila (3010 m altitude), both located 65 km SW of Mexico City, show changes in vegetation and climate. The Zempoala record covers the last c. 6320 cal yr BP, while the Quila record spans the last c. 11,610 cal yr BP. These lakes, wit...

The dispersal units as seeds and fruits of the monocotyledonous genera in the páramo of equatorial America are described and illustrated with SEM photos. The monocotyledonous genera are mainly of neotropical and to a lesser extent of wide-temperate origin. Wind is the main dispersal vector and animals/humans and water also play an important part. T...

This study of the zacatonal alpino zone of the volcanoes Popocatépetl (5452 m) and Nevado de Toluca (4690 m) in the central region of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt, is a follow-up of the study of Almeida et al. (1994). This tropical alpine zacatonal represents the potential vegetation of the altitudinal belt between 3950 and 4500 m. These altitudi...

La noticia del fallecimiento de Adelaida Chaverri Po-lini, nacida el 21 de mayo de 1947, ha conmocionado al mundo científico en América Latina, Norteamérica y Europa. Es una pérdida irremplazable para la cien-cia de los bosques montanos y los pastizales del pára-mo alpino en el Neotrópico, puesto que ella sobresa-lió por su conocimiento y experienc...

The effect of a pine plantation on a native subpáramo system in the Andes of Colombia (3100 m above sea level) was studied. The vegetation of an 8 year-old plantation with Pinus patula was compared to that of the surrounding native subpáramo. 59 plots made in the subpáramo vegetation contained 121 vascular plant species. These plots were classified...

Se efectuaron 59 levantamientos fitosociológicos en la Laguna Quila, del Parque Nacional “Lagunas de Zempoala”, México, según el método Zürich-Montpellier. Se identificaron y describieron 11 comunidades, separadas en una fase “acuática” y en una “helofítica”. Se encontró un gradiente de profundidad con dirección norte-sur y se observó una continua...

The floral composition of the vegetation on the sandstone plateaus near Araracuara (Colombian Amazonas) was studied on the basis of 92 vegetation relevees. We compared the vegetation data with samples of the modern pollen rain in the 18 relevees that had non-barren pollen samples. By using the association index of Davis [Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 40...

The cornerstone of palaeoecological research, concerned with vegetation dynamics over the recent geological past, is a good understanding of the present-day ecology and distribution of the taxa. This is particularly necessary in areas of high floral diversity such as Latin America. Vegetation reconstructions, based on numerous pollen records, now e...

Colombian biomes are reconstructed at 45 sites from the modern period extending to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The basis for our reconstruction is pollen data assigned to plant functional types and biomes at six 3000-yr intervals. A reconstruction of modern biomes is used to check the treatment of the modern pollen data set against a map of pot...

The cornerstone of palaeoecological research, concerned with vegetation dynamics over the recent geological past, is a good understanding of the present-day ecology and distribution of the taxa. This is particularly necessary in areas of high floral diversity such as Latin America. Vegetation reconstructions, based on numerous pollen records, now e...

Biomes are reconstructed in Colombia from modern (core-top) pollen data derived from 22 sites along an altitudinal gradient (2000–4100 m) that encompasses the tree line. The `biomization' methodology is described in a stepwise manner that details the reconstruction of vegetation along an altitudinal gradient. In the majority of the cases, the resul...

The altitudinal vegetation distribution in the northern Andes during glacial time differed from the present-day conditions as a result of temperature and precipitation change. New evidence indicate that as a response to a reduced atmospheric partial CO(2) pressure (pCO(2)), the competitive balance between C(3) and C(4) plants have changed. Effects...

The assignment of Colombian pollen data to biomes allows the data to be synthesised at 10 ‘time windows’ from the present-day to 6000 radiocarbon years before present (BP). The modern reconstructed biomes are compared to a map of modern potential vegetation to check the applicability of the method and the a priori assignment of pollen taxa to plant...