Figure legends
Figure 1. FAMD ordination of 42 plant species from páramo El Verjón-Matarredonda based on 20 functional traits. Axes labels display traits with the highest contribution on dimensions 1 and 2. Symbols show the three PFTs identified by the cluster analysis and colors show the seven growth forms in our dataset following the classification by Ramsay & Oxley (Ramsay and Oxley, 1997). PFT-1 denoted with circles includes erect and prostrate herbs, one acaulescent rosette with soft leaves and tender leaves shrubs, PFT-2 denoted with triangles includes basal and stem rosettes, and PFT-3 denoted with squares includes prostrate and upright shrubs with tough leaves.
Figure 2. Clusters generated by HCPC of 42 plant species from páramo El Verjón-Matarredonda based on 20 functional traits. Labels display the most important traits that define each cluster. Symbols show the three PFTs identified and colors show growth forms using a simplified classification system where all erect and prostrate herbs are depicted as forbs, all basal, stem and acaulescent rosettes are depicted as rosettes and all prostrate and upright shrubs as shrubs. PFT-1 denoted with circles includes forbs and tender leaves shrubs, PFT-2 denoted with triangles includes all but one rosette, and PFT-3 denoted with squares includes only hard leaf shrubs.
Figure 3. Functional traits variation between the three PFTs identified in the paramo “El Verjón”. The functional traits presented are: (A) plant height, (B) seed mass, (C) leaf area, (D) cuticular conductance, (E) specific leaf area, (F) leaf dry matter content, (G) leaf thickness, (H) leaf strength, (I) leaf C/N ratio, (J) leaf phosphorus content, (K) leaf carbon content, (L) leaf nitrogen content, (M) maximum light-saturated photosynthetic rate, (N) leaf transpiration rate, (O) water use efficiency, (P) leaf water potential at pre-dawn, and (Q) leaf water potential at noon. P values from ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests are presented; detailed statistics of the ANOVAS and Kruskal-Wallis test are in Table A1 in the appendix . Letters indicate statistical differences as determined by post-hoc Tukey’s test and Wilcox test. The horizontal line inside the box plot indicates the median; the ends of the box are the upper and lower quartiles, and the lines outside of the box represent the highest and lowest values for each trait.