1996; Ticktin 2004). Since these plants are mostly

hemi-epiphytes, their harvesting is straightforward. In contrast, the gathering of aroid roots as sources of construction material is complicated by the fact that these species usually grow high in the canopy. At present, the potential of Araceae as ornamental plants is very little understood in Bolivia, in contrast to the existing high number of species, especially hemi-epiphytic find more species, that can be easily propagated. Unlike the aroids, potentially useful bromeliads are best represented in seasonally dry forest habitats, with the exception of ornamental species, which also occur in humid montane forests, even though they tend to be rare there and are probably best cultivated for commercialisation rather than relying on collecting from natural populations (Acebey et al. 2007). One of the first requirements for the sustainable use of bromeliads is that they are present in large populations (Wolf and Konings 2001). Ideally,

time-consuming case studies of density are needed for each species, but we may use some indirect indicators such as frequency to estimate species abundance. In general, we found that bromeliads of inter-Andean GDC-0449 cell line forests are more frequent and have a relatively wider distribution and fewer preferences for specific habitats. Therefore, they may be more suitable for the sustainable use of natural populations than species of humid forests. However, more detailed studies at the species level are needed to identify specific guidelines for a long-time use. For example, it might be advisable to only gather abundant and spatially homogeneously dispersed species, and to harvest at the lower parts of the trees (Wolf and Konings 2001).

Most likely, the bromeliads of dry Chaco and Y-27632 2HCl Chiquitano forest have similar ecological characteristics to those in the inter-Andean forests and the same implications for sustainable use. The use and commercialisation of products from the Bromeliaceae family is more popular in drier than in humid regions, due to the presence of some multipurpose species. Particularly, the production of handicrafts based on the fibres of Bromelia serra, B. hieronymi, and Pseudananas sagenarius is a BI 2536 price locally important economical activity in the Chiquitano and Chaco regions, providing an additional income of about 20 US$ per year per involved family (VAIPO 1999, 2000). Terrestrial species, such as B. serra, P. sagenarius, and Aechmea distichanta are locally very frequent and abundant, and thrive in secondary and disturbed vegetation (Acebey 2003).