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Páramo
Páramo () may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower term classifies the páramo according to its regional placement in the northern Andes of South America and adjacent southern Central America. The páramo is the ecosystem of the regions above the continuous forest line, yet below the permanent snowline. It is a "Neotropical high mountain biome with a vegetation composed mainly of giant rosette plants, shrubs and grasses". According to scientists, páramos may be "evolution, evolutionary hot spots", meaning that they are among the fastest evolving regions on Earth. Location The Northern Andean Páramo global ecoregion includes the Cordillera Central páramo (Ecuador, Peru), Santa Marta páramo (Colombia), Cordillera de Merida páramo (Venezuela) and Northern Andean páramo (Colombia, Ec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Andean Páramo
The Northern Andean páramo (NT1006) is an ecoregion containing páramo vegetation above the treeline in the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. In the past, when the climate was cooler, the treeline and the páramo units were lower and the units were connected. During the present warmer Holocene epoch the páramos have migrated uphill, shrinking and becoming isolated. They contain many rare or endangered species, some of them restricted to a narrow area of one mountain or mountain range. The ecoregion is relatively well preserved, but faces threats from over-grazing and farming. Geography Location The Northern Andean páramo surrounds the highest peaks of the Andes between the treeline and the snowline from north central Colombia along the ''cordilleras'' south to central Ecuador. It has an area of . The páramo is found at elevations from to the snow line at , islands of grasslands and shrubs surrounded by a sea of cloud forest lower down. Areas of the ecoregion are found within or ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Marta Páramo
The Santa Marta páramo (NT1007) is an ecoregion containing páramo (high moorland) vegetation above the treeline in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The isolated position of the range has allowed unique species to evolve. Some are related to those found in Central America and the Caribbean coastal areas, and some to species from the Andes. The habitat is relatively stable, but has been drastically changed from the original by long-term human activity. Geography Location The Santa Marta páramo has an area of . It covers the upper levels of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the north of Colombia. This is a roughly triangular massif with its north side parallel to the Caribbean sea, the southwest side facing the swamps of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta and the southeast side facing the Serranía del Perijá mountains across the Cesar River, Cesar and Ranchería River, Ranchería river valleys. The ecoregion is surrounded by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cordillera De Merida Páramo
The Cordillera de Merida páramo (NT1004) is an ecoregion containing páramo (high moorland) vegetation above the treeline in the Andes mountain range of Venezuela. The isolated habitat has many endemic species. It is relatively stable and intact. Geography Location The Cordillera de Merida páramo is to the south of the Lake Maracaibo in the Cordillera de Mérida massif of northeastern Venezuela. It has an area of . It is surrounded by the Venezuelan Andes montane forests ecoregion. Terrain Páramos in the southwest of the Cordillera de Merida include Batalló at above sea level and Nariño at . The highest point in the central section is the Piedras Blancas peak at , surrounded by extensive páramos, glaciers and lakes. From the Piedras Blancas páramo the land descends to the Mucuchíes páramo at , then continues to gradually descend towards the northeast. Climate The Köppen climate classification is "ETH": Alpine tundra, with no month with an average temperature in ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cordillera Central Páramo
The Cordillera Central páramo (NT1004) is an ecoregion containing páramo (high moorland) vegetation above the treeline in the Andes mountain range of northern Peru and southern Ecuador. Due to its isolation there are high levels of endemism. Despite many human settlements and some destruction of habitat by agriculture and mining, the ecoregion is relatively intact. Geography Location The Cordillera Central páramo is found in the upper regions of the Andes in northern Peru and southern Ecuador. The ecoregion has an area of . The páramo covers ridges and mountains in the high basins of the Piura and Cajamarca regions of Peru and in the south of Ecuador. The northern part of the ecoregion is surrounded by the Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests ecoregion. Further south it adjoins or is surrounded by Tumbes–Piura dry forests, Marañón dry forests, Peruvian Yungas, Ucayali moist forests, Sechura Desert and Central Andean wet puna. Terrain The Cordillera Central pá ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Costa Rican Páramo
The Costa Rican páramo, also known as the Talamanca páramo, is a natural region of montane grassland and shrubland of Costa Rica and western Panama. Setting The Costa Rican páramo includes several enclaves on the highest peaks of the Cordillera de Talamanca in eastern Costa Rica and western Panama, with a total area of 31 km.Dinerstein, Eric; David Olson; Douglas J. Graham; et al. (1995). ''A Conservation Assessment of the Terrestrial Ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean.'' World Bank, Washington DC. The páramo is found above 3000–3100 meters elevation on the summits of Cerro de la Muerte, Cerro Chirripó, and Cerro Kamuk in Costa Rica, Cerro Echandi on the Costa Rica-Panama border, Cerro Fábrega, and Cerro Itamut in Panama. It is surrounded at lower elevations by the Talamancan montane forests. The World Wide Fund for Nature includes the Costa Rican páramo within the montane forests ecoregion, although the páramo has a distinct flora with affinit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sumapaz Páramo
Sumapaz Páramo (Spanish: ''Páramo de Sumapaz'' - meaning "Utterly peaceful moorland" ) is a large páramo ecosystem located in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense mountain range, considered the largest páramo ecosystem in the world. It 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 savanna. History Sumapaz Páramo was considered a sacred place for the Muisca indigenous people. It was associated with the divine forces of creation and the origin of mankind, a domain where humans were not supposed to enter. During the 16th century, German adventurer and conquistador Nikolaus Federmann conducted an expedition crossing the Sumapaz, searching for El Dorado mythic treasure, with heavy casualties, where men, both Spaniards and indigenous, and horses, died of cold. The place was named by the Spaniards "País de la Niebla" ("Country of Fog") b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Altiplano Cundiboyacense
The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. (Do not confuse with The Altiplano or the Altiplano Nariñense, both further south.) The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Altiplano Cundiboyacense comprises three distinctive flat regions; the Bogotá savanna, the valleys of Ubaté and Chiquinquirá, and the valleys of Duitama and Sogamoso. The average altitude of the altiplano is about above sea level but ranges from roughly to . Etymology ''Altiplano'' in Spanish means "high plain" or "high plateau", the second part is a combination of the departments Cundinamarca and Boyacá. Geography The limits of the Altiplano are not strictly defined. The high plateau is enclosed by the higher mountains of the Eastern Ranges, with the Sumapaz mountains in the south and Chingaza to the east. The Tenza Valley is locate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cordillera De Talamanca
The Cordillera de Talamanca is a mountain range that lies in the southeast half of Costa Rica and the far west of Panama. Much of the range and the area around it is included in La Amistad International Park, which also is shared between the two countries. This range in the south of Costa Rica stretches from southwest of San José to beyond the border with Panama and contains the highest peaks of both Costa Rica and Panama, among them Cerro Chirripó at , and the more accessible high peak of Cerro de la Muerte. Much of the Caribbean areas of the range are still unexplored. Exploration and classification The range is covered by the Talamancan montane forests to elevations of approximately . Much of it is covered by rainforests. Above elevations of these are dominated by huge oak trees ('' Quercus costaricensis''). Above , the forests transition to enclaves of sub-páramo, a sort of shrub and dwarf bamboo '' Chusquea'' dominated scrub, above this becomes Costa Rican páramo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cordillera De Mérida
The Cordillera de Mérida is a mountain range, or massif, in northwestern Venezuela. The Cordillera de Mérida is a northeastern extension of the Andes Mountains and the most important branch of the Venezuelan Andes. The range runs approximately 400 kilometers, from the Venezuelan-Colombian border in the southwest to the Venezuelan Coastal Range, Venezuelan Coastal Complex in the northeast. The Táchira depression separates the Cordillera de Mérida from the Cordillera Oriental (Colombia), Cordillera Oriental, which forms the Colombia-Venezuela border. The range spans about 40,000 square kilometers, covering most of Táchira (state), Táchira, Mérida (state), Mérida, and Trujillo (state), Trujillo states, and parts of Lara State, Lara, Barinas (state), Barinas, Portuguesa (state), Portuguesa, Apure (state), Apure and Zulia (state), Zulia states. The southeastern slopes are drained by tributaries of the Orinoco River, while the streams that drain the northwestern slopes empty into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cordillera Oriental (Colombia)
The Cordillera Oriental () is the widest of the three branches of the Colombian Andes. The range extends from south to north, dividing from the Colombian Massif in Huila Department to Norte de Santander Department where it splits into the Serranía del Perijá and the Cordillera de Mérida in Venezuelan Andes. The highest peak is Ritacuba Blanco at in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy. Geography The western part of the Cordillera Oriental belongs to the Magdalena River basin, while the eastern part includes the river basins of the Amazon River, Orinoco River, and Catatumbo River. Within it, the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy (with the only snowy peaks in this mountain range) stand out. The mountain range contains the most páramos in the world. The Cordillera Oriental montane forests ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It comprises an area of , and its population was estimated at 29 million in 2022. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of Caracas. The continental territory is bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Colombia, Brazil on the south, Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east and on the east by Guyana. Venezuela is a presidential republic consisting of States of Venezuela, 23 states, the Venezuelan Capital District, Capital District and Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, federal dependencies covering Venezuela's offshore islands. Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America; the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north and in the capital. The territory o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guandera Biological Station
The Guandera Biological Station is a biological station established in 1994 and situated in the northern inter-Andean valley of Ecuador. The station is managed by the Jatun Sacha Foundation and is located in Ecuador's Carchi Province.. A verdant and species rich valley in the highest reaches of the Andes, Guandera represents the last of forest type that once carpeted the upper slopes of moister valleys within the tropical Andes from Colombia to Peru. With unusual and often unique plant forms, Guandera’s appearance is similar to that of a lowland tropical rainforest. However, this forest is nearly 2 ½ miles above sea level and evening temperatures hover around freezing. Also stretching above the tree line, Guandera’s protected area includes an expansive and unique páramo – a type of moist, alpine grassland whose bizarre plant forms create an almost otherworldly landscape. A last haven for the Andean spectacled bear, Andean fox, mountain lion, and the grey-breasted mountain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
