Caracterización morfológica de poblaciones naturales de Macleania rupestris Kunth A.C. Smith (joyapa) en las provincias Azuay y Cañar

Abstract

Macleania rupestris, known as joyapa, is an Ericaceae with nutritional, ecological and environmental properties. In Ecuador, it has been little studied, which is why we proposed this work as a contribution to the knowledge of this species through the morphological characterization of natural populations of Macleania rupestris Kunth A.C. Smith (joyapa) in the Azuay and Cañar provinces, this study made it possible to identify distribution areas of the species and assess its variability, becoming valuable information as a basis for future production programs, as well as for plant breeding programs. For the study, 4 representative populations were chosen in the provinces of Azuay and Cañar, in each locality 50 plants were randomly selected to be described morphologically with a total of 26 morphological descriptors between qualitative and quantitative. To analyze the variability, the Levene and Shapiro-Wilk tests were used and, according to the type of data obtained, the Kruskal-Wallis test or an ANOVA was applied. The data obtained in terms of qualitative variables did not present differences; However, in the quantitative variables, statistically significant differences were evident with respect to the leaf such as: petiole, width and length. In Cañar, the town of Luis Cordero presented the largest fruits and in Azuay, the town of Nabón stood out in this province with respect to fruit as well, these being superior even to those of Luis Cordero in Cañar. The differences in localities could be affected by factors such as: amount of organic matter, altitude, pH, EC, soil type and depth. These results may facilitate decision-making regarding their conservation, their possible sustainable use and include them in agro-ecological development models that benefit communities.