Revista peruana de biología 25(3): 191 - 210 (2018) Vascular flora and phytogeographical links of the CarabayaISSN-L Mountains 1561-0837 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15381/rpb.v25i3.15228 Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas UNMSM TRABAJOS ORIGINALES Vascular flora and phytogeographical links of the Carabaya Mountains, Peru Flora vascular y conexiones fitogeográficas de las montañas Carabaya, Perú Paúl Gonzáles 1, Blanca León 1,2,3, Asunción Cano 1,2* and Peter M. Jørgensen 4 1 Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Museo de Historia Natural, Departamento de Dicotiledóneas. Av. Arenales 1256, Lima-14, Perú. 2 Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto de Investigación de Ciencias Biológicas Antonio Raimondi. 3 Department of Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-0530, USA. 4 Missouri Botanical Garden-St. Louis, MO 63166, USA * Corresponding author E-mail Paúl Gonzáles:
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[email protected] Abstract Studies of floristic composition and plant species richness in tropical mountains support their recognition as areas of high biological diversity, and therefore of their importance for plant conservation. Here, we present data on the flora of the high Andes of eight sites centered in the Carabaya mountains, and also provide a floristic comparison with nine other floras within Peru and northern Bolivia. The study area includes 506 species of vascular plants, grouped in 203 genera and 66 families. The highest species richness was found in two families: Asteraceae and Poaceae, which collectively encompass 37% of all species.