Forest Vegetation of the Colombian Orinoquia: Characterization and Spatial Distribution Across Environmental Gradients

Vegetation spatial heterogeneity is fundamental to biodiversity management and ecosystem service provision, yet detailed phytosociological mapping of forest vegetation remains largely unresolved in the Colombian Orinoquia. This study characterized the geographic distribution of forest vegetation through the integration of 178 field surveys, environmental complex variables defined by geomorphological and bioclimatic gradients, and multi-sensor satellite imagery combining Landsat-8 optical bands and Sentinel-1 dual-polarization data, processed within a Random Forest classification framework in Google Earth Engine. Classifications achieved overall accuracies between 0.910 and 0.975 and Kappa coefficients above 0.93, identifying 24 phytosociological alliances or geobotanical formations distributed across approximately 7,565,696 ha, representing 34.63% of the region. Forest cover ranges from 10.95% in the Floodplain to 55.22% in La Macarena, with the High Plain concentrating the greatest formation diversity. The spatial organization of forest vegetation is primarily governed by the geomorphological gradient — fluvial, denudational, and structural — and limiting bioclimatic factors, together with their associated edaphic-hydrological regimes, with anthropic transformation driven by cattle ranching and agricultural expansion constituting the principal threat to forest cover. These results advance beyond existing land cover surrogates, providing an empirically validated cartographic framework for biodiversity assessment, habitat modeling, and natural capital management in the Colombian Orinoquia.