Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is the clinical form recorded more frequently in Colombia with more than 95% of reported cases [
The study was conducted in the forests of the villages of La Urraca, La Brasilia, Alto Urraca, Medio Roblal, and Alto Roblal, which recorded high prevalence of CL during the epidemic of 1993–1996, located on the western flank of the Cordillera Oriental between the 2nd and 3rd 09′ 94′ N latitude and 74° 91′ and 75° 23′ W longitude in the municipality of Tello, Huila Department (Figure Presence of trees with diameter breast height (DBH) greater than 30 cm. Trees with rough bark and roots tabloids. Thick layer of undecomposed litter more than 5 cm deep. High coverage, greater than 80% for plants larger than 5 m height. Wind-sheltered microhabitats.
Location of forests for ecological determinants sampled in forest microhabitats level for abundance of
Thirty-five variables were examined as potential explanatory variables; four of these had been previously identified as ecological determinants abundance of
Explanatory variables to identify ecological determinants in the forest in a microhabitat level for
Explanatory variables | Definition | Category | Mediation level |
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% tree | Percentage of space between the trees in the microhabitat. | Categorical: 0: absent; 1: <15%; 2: 15%–65%; 3: >65% | Ordinal |
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% shrubs | Percentage of space occupied by shrubs in the microhabitat. | ||
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% plants | Percentage of space occupied by the plants in the microhabitat. | ||
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% grasses | Percentage of space occupied by grasses in the microhabitat. | ||
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Tree height | Average height of dominant trees in the microhabitat. | Quantitative | Reason |
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Shrubs height | Average height of dominant shrubs in the microhabitat. | ||
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Trees numbers | Number of trees that are located in the microhabitat. | Quantitative | Reason |
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DBH between 10 and 20 cm | Number of trees and shrubs with diameter at breast height (DBH) between 10 and 20 cm in the microhabitat. | Quantitative | Reason |
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DBH between 21 and 40 cm | Number of trees and shrubs with DBH between 210 and 40 cm in microhabitat. | ||
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DBH higher than 41 cm | Number of trees and shrubs with higher DBH to 41 cm in the microhabitat. | ||
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Total DBH | Sumatory of all DBH of all trees and shrubs in the microhabitat. | ||
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Height between 3 m and 10 m | Number of trees with height from 3 to 10 m in the microhabitat. | Quantitative | Reason |
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Height between 11 m and 20 m | Number of trees with height between 11 and 20 m in the microhabitat. | ||
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Height between 21 m and 40 m | Number of trees with height between 21 and 40 m in the microhabitat. | ||
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More than 41 m high | Number of trees with height greater than 41 m in the microhabitat. | ||
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Emerging root | Number of trees with roots visible above-ground and in the microhabitat. | Quantitative | Reason |
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Strong root | Number of trees with shallow roots with height greater than 20 cm in the microhabitat. | ||
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Weak root | Number of trees with shallow roots with height less than 20 cm in the microhabitat. | ||
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Tabloids roots | Number of trees with roots that are visible above-ground and in the microhabitat. | ||
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Stilt roots | Number of trees with roots that are visible above-ground and in the microhabitat. | ||
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Foliage between 0 and 10 m | Number of trees with leaves space taken from the shaft to the canopy from 0 to 10 m. | Quantitative | Reason |
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Foliage between 11 and 20 m | Number of trees with leaves space taken from the shaft to the canopy from 11 to 20 m. | ||
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Foliage more than 21 m | Number of trees with leaves space taken from the shaft to the greatest canopy 21 m. | ||
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Holes with radius 5 cm to 20 cm | Number of gapped trees size between 5 and 20 cm radius from the ground level up to 2 m high. | Quantitative | Reason |
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Holes with radius 21 cm to 40 cm | Number of gapped trees size between 21 and 40 cm radius from the ground level up to 2 m high. | ||
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Gaps with greater than 41 cm radius | Number of trees with larger holes with a radius of 41 cm from ground level up to 2 m high. | ||
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Smooth bark | Number of trees crusted with few layers forming flat plates in the microhabitat. | Quantitative | Reason |
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Rough bark | Number of trees with bark layers arranged in small plates not uniform in the microhabitat. | ||
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Bark with projections | Number of trees crusted with bumps in the microhabitat. | ||
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Scaly bark | Number of trees crusted with overlapping structures in the form of flakes in the microhabitat. | ||
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Fissured bark | Number of small trees with well-defined cortex and linearly spaced apart plates in the microhabitat. | ||
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Litter depth | Inches of top soil where the litter is not decomposed in the microhabitat. | Quantitative | Reason |
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Wind barrier | Microhabitat located on type of relief in the form of “V.” | Categorical: 0: absent. 1: present | Nominal |
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Housing distance | Distance to the nearest microhabitat housing. | Quantitative | Reason |
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Number of people | Number of people living closest to the microhabitat housing. | Quantitative reason |
Sampling was performed in each microhabitat for two consecutive nights between 18:00 and 06:00 hours, using CDC light trap [
For data analysis, the STATISTIX software (version 1.0) and MATLAB 2012 are used for this purpose initially. Excel databases (version 4.0) to be exported to the software were developed. To verify data normality test Bartlett was performed [ To confirm whether the microhabitats designated as favorable at baseline showed higher abundance of To identify the ecological determinants favoring the abundance of To determine differences in ecological determinants among the most abundant forests and not recording the presence of To compare the four most productive microhabitats with its counterpart in the same forest, a multiple linear regression model step in which those variables were recorded that showed a greater contribution to the model
In total, 28 forests in which 112 samples were taken and copies of
To the abundance of
Thirty-five explanatory variables defined in the study and nine determinants that directly explain the abundance of
Ecological determinants in forest microhabitats level for abundance of
Ecological determinants | CP between abundance of |
MLRMF between abundance of |
ANOVA between most abundant forest of |
MLRMF between microhabitats of |
NRM between ecological |
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Holes with radius 5 cm to 20 cm |
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Ni |
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Scaly bark |
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Ni |
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Rough bark |
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Ni |
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Ni |
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DBH greater than 41 cm |
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Ni | Ni | Ni | Ni |
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Foliage between 11 m and 20 m |
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Ni | Ni |
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Height between 21 m and 40 m |
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Ni | Ni | Ni | Ni |
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Tree numbers |
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Ni | Ni | Ni | Ni |
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Tabloids roots |
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Ni | Ni | Ni | Ni |
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Height between 11 and 21 m |
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Ni |
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Ni | Ni |
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Height between 3 and 10 m | Ni |
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Ni | Ni |
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Ridged bark | Ni |
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Ni | Ni |
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DBH between 10 and 20 m | Ni |
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Ni | Ni |
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DBH between 21 and 40 m | Ni |
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Ni | Ni |
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Holes with radius greater than 41 cm | Ni |
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Ni | Ni | Ni |
CP: Pearson correlation.
MLRMF: Multiple Linear Regression Model Footsteps.
ANOVA-MATLAB: Analysis of Variance.
NRML: Nonlinear Regression Model.
Ni: not identified by the statistical analysis.
The strengths of this study were as follows: (i) sampling the inclusion of the 28 existing relict forests between 1300 and 2100 asl in the villages of the municipality of Tello affected by the epidemic CL, (ii) the prior identification of regional and local ecological determinants favoring the definition of the criteria for selection of favorable and unfavorable sites, (iii) CDC light trap confirming as an appropriate technique that collects abundance of
Species richness was low as was expected by the altitudinal range selected in this study and the sampling method because it is aimed at the sand fly attracted to light. However, other collection methods, such as human bait, were not used to avoid a possible transmission of the disease. CDC light tramp was used by the representative in the collection of
The 9 specific ecological determinants in the forest microhabitat level identified for abundance of
In this study, for the rest of the
This study is the first to identify determinants in forest ecological level microhabitat for abundance of
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.