Pentacalia cacaosensis
Overview
A detailed profile for this species is sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as assessments become available.
Pentacalia cacaosensis faces severe pressure from agricultural expansion, particularly coffee cultivation and cattle ranching that fragments its montane forest habitat. Deforestation for subsistence farming and infrastructure development continues to reduce the species' already limited range in the Colombian Andes. Climate change poses an additional threat as rising temperatures force this high-altitude endemic into increasingly restricted elevational zones.
Habitat
This endemic Colombian species inhabits cloud forests and montane humid forests at elevations between 2,000-3,200 meters in the Cordillera Oriental. It typically grows in the understory and forest edges of these high-altitude Andean ecosystems, requiring the cool, moist conditions characteristic of montane cloud forest environments.