RESUMENCon base en información obtenida sobre los nombres de todas las plantas con DAP > 2.5 cm (Diámetro a la Altura del Pecho, medido a una altura de 1.3 m) dentro de 30 parcelas de 0.1 ha cada una, y sobre los suelos, la vegetación y el paisaje a lo largo de 8 transectos (entre 2 y 5 km de longitud cada uno), se describen los aspectos más importantes sobre la taxonomía botánica y el ordenamiento o jerarquización del medio ambiente desde la perspectiva de los Indígenas Miraña de la Amazonía central colombiana. A pesar de la pérdida cultural, algunos pocos ancianos guardan como parte de su tradición oral, los elementos básicos de un sistema complejo de conocimiento de su ambiente natural. Se detectó un alto grado de conocimiento sobre las especies vegetales silvestres, la existencia de sistemas nomenclaturales para éstas y para los suelos, y un reconocimiento organizado de paisajes fisiográficos y tipos de vegetación. PALABRAS-CLAVE:Miraña, Sistemas tradicionales de clasificación, Etnotaxonomía, Etnoecología, Ecología del paisaje. Plants, soils and landscapes: sorting of nature by the Miraña Indians of Colombian Amazon. ABSTRACTWe describe the most important aspects of Miraña's plant taxonomy, and landscape categorization. Data about plants' names (in 30 plots of 0.1 ha), was gathered from all individual plants with DBH > 2.5 cm (Diameter at Breast High, or 1.3 m above ground), and data about soils, forest types and landscapes was gathered from 8 transects of 2-5 km long each. In spite of cultural lost, complex knowledge about natural environment classification, it is present into the oral tradition keep in some elders' mind. We detected a high level of knowledge about wild plants, the presence of nomenclatural systems for plants and soil types, and organized landscapes and forest types systems.

Potential plant uses in Colombian Amazonia were analyzed in relation to landscape, stem diameter, habit, and family taxonomy, on the basis of one experienced informant and applying a 2.5 cm diameter cut-off. In 30 0.1 -ha plots, 13,934 plant stems were recorded, 90% of which had some kind of usefulness. The proportion of useful stems was lowest in floodplain and highest in swamp and white sand plots. Between 0 and 11% of the useful stems in the plots were from lianas. Fuel uses were important. Thicker stems were more useful for Food and Animal Food than slender stems. In logistic regression, family taxonomy had a stronger effect on the probability of stem usefulness than DBH, habit (liana or not) or landscape. Individual plants from one family (or genus or species) often show little variation in usefulness, hampering the binary analysis by means of logistic regression of use against plant taxonomy.