Páramo
Páramo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpaɾamo]) may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America.
[1] It is a "Neotropical high mountain biome with a vegetation composed mainly of giant rosette plants, shrubs and grasses".
Scattered throughout the regions between 11°N and 8°S latitudes, these ecosystems are mainly in the northwest corner of South America, in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
This region was declared a National Park of Colombia in 1977 because of its importance as a biodiversity hotspot and main source of water for the most densely populated area of the country, the Bogotá Savannah.
The 5.7-square-kilometre (1,405-acre) Páramo Wildlife Refuge Park in the San José Province of Costa Rica "protects tropical forest areas in the high elevations of the Talamanca Mountains".
In Colombia and northern Ecuador, air masses from the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) have a substantial effect on the climate, and these regions tend to be consistently humid (approx.
The Andes also play a key role in the climate of these regions as they cause an orographic uplift in which moist air rises.
[2] The páramos of the northernmost Andes of Venezuela, northern Colombia, and Costa Rica experience a different climate due to the dry season, which is caused by northeasterly trade winds.
While they are generally cold and humid ecosystems, they often undergo a sudden and drastic change in weather in which they fluctuate between temperatures from below freezing to 10 °C (50 °F).
[10] Soils in páramo ecosystems have changed because of human activity, especially due to burning vegetation to clear land for grazing.
Soils in the south Ecuadorian páramo are characterized broadly into Andisols, Inceptisols, Histosols, Entisols, and Mollisols.
Due to its easier access and high levels of grass, this zone is more impacted by humans and suffers from both burning and grazing activities.
[16][17] The atmospheric factors such as humidity and temperature positively favour taller lichens, due to an increase in locally available water.
The most numerous bird families in the páramo include eagles, hummingbirds, ovenbirds, thraupid "finches", and tyrant flycatchers.
Other sites in Venezuela and Colombia show evidence that humans settled there at least 800 years ago and used the land for agriculture and hunting.
By the 20th century the growing population of settlers led to an increased demand for land, and páramo ecosystems suffered accordingly.
Growing populations in Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador have forced settlements in higher elevations covering more páramo.
Recent developments such as construction of aqueducts, drainage systems, and roads, mining, and afforestation have been a huge additional páramo disturbance.
[12] Increases in temperature extremes are forcing many fauna and flora species to higher grounds, and eventually they could face extinction.
[22] The 2023 short documentary, "Sun and Thunder" about Nasa indigenous activist Nora Taquines, was filmed in the paramo region.
