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Invasive plants modify the structure and functioning of natural environments and threat native plant communities. Invasive species are often favored by human interference such as the creation of artificial forest edges. Field removal experiments may clarify if invasive plants are detrimental to native plant regeneration and how this is related to other local factors. We assessed the joint effect of environment and competition with the invasive Tradescantia zebrina on tree species recruitment in an Atlantic Forest fragment. We carried out the experimental study in the Iguacu National Park, located in southern Brazil, using 30 plots distributed across five invaded sites during 6 months. We counted T. zebrina leaves and recorded the abundance and height of tree recruits over time under contrasting environmental (forest edge vs. forest interior) and removal (all aboveground biomass, only T. zebrina removal, and control) treatments. We analyzed the effects of environment and removal treatment using generalized linear mixed models. The invasive species performed better at the forest edge than in the interior. The higher competitive pressure of T. zebrina led to higher mortality and lower height of tree recruits. Invader removal favored tree recruitment, especially in the forest interior. Our study shows that T. zebrina hampers woody species regeneration in tropical Atlantic Forests, especially at the forest edge.

Las sociedades se caracterizan por la construcción de conocimiento colectivo, su manutención y control territorial. La sociedad colombiana está acompañada de una gran biodiversidad, representada en más de 80 tipos de ecosistemas, con cerca del 10 % de la diversidad biológica mundial. Paralelamente, esta también es el modelo económico extractivista y los conflictos socioambientales de nivel local y nacional. Por más de 50 años se desencadenó una guerra armada, que ocasionó pérdidas humanas, culturales y ambientales. Finalmente, el gobierno de Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018) y las Farc firmaron un acuerdo de paz que toca tangencialmente problemas socioambientales. En este contexto, es necesario promover la sostenibilidad de una ciudadanía que se relacione pacíficamente con el territorio, sus recursos y medios de producción. El presente artículo aborta tres ejes de cuestionamiento: i) ¿cuáles son los lineamientos educativos en los programas de ciencias biológicas?, ii) ¿qué profesiones integran el debate ambiental en Colombia?, y iii) ¿las temáticas tratadas en aula tienen pertinencia con la realidad actual y contribuyen críticamente con el posconflicto? Para resolverlas, se adelantó una búsqueda de los programas reportados en el Sistema Nacional de Instituciones de Educación Superior (snies), de la que se encontraron 250 programas. Extensivamente, cada uno de estos cuenta con amplia formación a nivel disciplinar, pero carece de disciplinas que fomenten la construcción colectiva, interdisciplinar y crítica. En este sentido, el Estado colombiano se encuentra en una etapa diferencial de su historia y los programas académicos no se han transformado para converger en esas nuevas realidades. Debe orientarse la promoción de profesionales que promuevan la paz como una política transversal que se integre a la enseñanza de las ciencias biológicas en la realidad sociopolítica del país y también debe incluirse en la oferta de nuevos programas de posgrado. Societies are characterized by collective knowledge building, its maintenance, and its territorial control. Colombian society is accompanied by great biodiversity, represented in more than 80 ecosystem types, which represent about 10% of the world’s biological diversity. It is also threatened by the extractivist economic model and socio-environmental conflicts at the local and national levels. Colombia had an armed war for more than 50 years, causing human, cultural, and environmental losses. Juan Manuel Santos’ government (2010-2018) and the Farc signed a peace agreement that touches tangentially on socio-environmental problems. In this context, it is necessary to foster sustainability among the citizens, so that they relate peacefully to its territory, its resources, and production modes. This paper addresses three lines of inquiry: i) What are the educational guidelines of the biological sciences curricula? ii) What professions partake of the environmental debate in Colombia? iii) Are there topics discussed in the classroom relevant to current reality and contribute critically to the post-conflict? To answer this questions, we carried out a search of the curricula reported in the National System of Higher Education Institutions (snies) and obtained 250 curricula. These curricula have extensive training at the disciplinary level, but lack the disciplines that foster collective, interdisciplinary, and critical construction. In conclusion, the Colombian State is at a differential stage in its history and academic programs have not been transformed to converge with these new realities. Such programs should be geared toward the promotion of professionals who foster peace as a transversal policy that integrates the teaching of biological sciences into the socio-political reality of the country, and they should also be included in the offer of new postgraduate programs.