Sumapaz Páramo
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Sumapaz Páramo (Spanish: ''Páramo de Sumapaz'' - meaning "Utterly peaceful
moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...
" ) is a large
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 ...
ecosystem located in the
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 fur ...
mountain range, considered the largest páramo ecosystem in the world. It was declared a
National Park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
of
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
in 1977 because of its importance as a
biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a ecoregion, biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after ...
and main source of water for the most densely populated area of the country, the
Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a savanna#Savanna ecoregions, montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is si ...
.


History

Sumapaz Páramo was considered a sacred place for the
Muisca The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca spe ...
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 Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
Nikolaus Federmann Nikolaus Federmann (, ) (c. 1505, Ulm – February 1542, Valladolid) was a German adventurer and conquistador in what is modern-day Venezuela and Colombia. He is a significant figure in the history of Klein-Venedig (1528–1546), the concessio ...
conducted an expedition crossing the Sumapaz, searching for
El Dorado El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions â ...
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") because of the dense clouds at ground level, with great decrease in visibility. In 1783,
José Celestino Mutis José Celestino Bruno Mutis y Bosio (6 April 1732 – 11 September 1808) was a Spanish people, Spanish priest, botanist and mathematician. He was a significant figure in the Spanish American Enlightenment, whom Alexander von Humboldt met with ...
led the Botanic Expedition, with the purpose of studying the flora and fauna of the region. However, the páramo was not visited because of its harsh climatic conditions. The German naturalist
Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...
made the first description of the páramo and the local plants in 1799. He also described the presence of
glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
valleys and associated the geologic features of the region, comparing them with those seen in the geomorphology of the Alps. During the early 20th century, the Spanish naturalist José Cuatrecasas made important research of the páramo and the
tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...
. Other scientists that described and studied Sumapaz páramo were Ernesto Guhl, who conducted a long-term 3-decade research of the vegetal communities, and Thomas van der Hammen.


Climate and geography

Sumapaz Páramo has an inhospitable, cold climate with temperatures averaging below 10 Â°C (50 Â°F).(ranging from −10 Â°C to 17 Â°C) with quick changes from short periods of warm climate to freezing cold. The average altitude oscillates between 3500 and 4000 m.
AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...
. The highest point is the Nevado del Sumapaz peak (4306 m AMSL). The
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
is about 700–1000 mm/year. The rainy season lasts almost the entire year, except from December to February, when the sunlight reaches a peak, with intense
ultraviolet radiation Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of t ...
(adaptations such as white, glassy coloration help the local plants to survive). The
humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...
is usually high, (from 50 to 90%), and the ground remains soaked, and covered by shallow bodies of water and sticky mud, often covered with dense, flat vegetation difficult to spot by the inexperienced visitor, with danger of falling into them, and risk of drowning or other injuries. These places are called "Chupaderos" or "Chucuas" ("Drainages"). Sumapaz lies between the
Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...
River basin and the
Magdalena River The Magdalena River (, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, ...
basin, the two main
fluvial A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...
systems of Colombia, and provides tributaries to both. All but one of the tributaries of the Sumapaz River originate in the páramo. Its location on the Thermal equator generates high rates of precipitation, which together with its
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
flora that regulate the soil moisture acting like sponges for the rain waters, contribute to the high amount of
surface water Surface water is water located on top of land, forming terrestrial (surrounding by land on all sides) waterbodies, and may also be referred to as ''blue water'', opposed to the seawater and waterbodies like the ocean. The vast majority of surfac ...
and its role as source of water reservoirs.


Geology

The eastern part of Sumapaz consists of
Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...
metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...
formations, with
fault scarp A fault scarp is a small step-like offset of the ground surface in which one side of a fault has shifted vertically in relation to the other. The topographic expression of fault scarps results from the differential erosion of rocks of contrastin ...
ed configuration, and alpine landscapes. Its western part consists of
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...
sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...
s, with softer landscapes. The different stages of the
Quaternary glaciation The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial period, glacial and interglacial, interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma (million ...
left plenty of
glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
debris, and glacier lakes such as Chisaca lake. During the
Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...
, the glacier motion of the ice sheets through the Tunjuelo valley reached as far as Usme (today part of
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
).


Soil

The soil of this region is acidic, with high levels of
sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...
and
potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...
. This is a coarse-grained soil, with high permeability favoring the formation of
groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...
in
aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...
s. The composition of the soil and the low temperatures contribute to the low amount of
humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...
and poor decomposing of the
organic matter Organic matter, organic material or natural organic matter is the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come fro ...
making this soil largely unsuitable for
agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
.


Flora

Over 200 species of
vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified tissue ( ...
are native to the area with substantial amount of
endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
s. The most representative plants of the area are the Espeletias. Several species have been described here, the most common being Espeletia grandiflora Humb. & Bonpl. The largest one is Espeletia uribei Cuatrec., with specimens up to 12 meters of height, other species are: Espeletia algodonosa Aristeg. Espeletia banksiifolia Sch.Bip. & Ettingsh. ex Wedd. Espeletia cuatrecasasii Ruíz-Terán & López-Fig. Espeletia formosa S.Díaz & Rodr.-Cabeza Espeletia glossophylla Mattf. Espeletia killipii Cuatrec. Espeletia picnophyla Cuatrec. Espeletia schultzii (Benth.) W.M.Curtis and Espeletia curialensis Cuatrec. The
Sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...
moss covers wide areas of Sumapaz, which increases the soil's capacity to hold water and nutrients by increasing capillary forces and cation exchange capacity. In the canyons areas, encenillo tree and
tibouchina ''Tibouchina'' "Tibouchina." Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. Merriam Webster, 1961. is a neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Melastomataceae. Species of this genus are subshrubs, shru ...
are the dominant species. The European plant
Digitalis purpurea ''Digitalis purpurea'', the foxglove or common foxglove, is a toxic species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae, native to and widespread throughout most of temperate Europe. It has also naturalized in parts of North Ame ...
is an
introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...
, the way of its introduction is not known, either deliberate or accidental.Luteyn, J. L., 1999. Páramos: A Checklist of Plant Diversity, Geographical Distribution, and Botanical Literature. The New York Botanical Garden Press, New York, 278 pp.


Fauna

The endangered spectacled bear lives in Sumapaz, its main source of food being the '' Puya boyacana'' fruits and the Espeletia
plant stem A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaf, leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, engages ...
s, (known as caulirosule). Other animals described are: Little Red Brocket Deer,
tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a Suidae, pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk (proboscis). Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, South and Centr ...
, coati,
golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...
, torrent duck, Páramo duck (Anas georgica). An introduced species in the waterbodies is the
rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...
.


Socio-economic issues

Although the soil and climate are adverse for agriculture and other economic activities, human settlements do exist in the Sumapaz Páramo, including the villages of San Juan de Sumapaz, Nazareth, Santa Rosa and El Hato (only the first two have road access) with an estimated 1200 families, most of them under the
poverty threshold The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, living on less than $1.25 per day, without schools or
sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...
. In consequence, the peasants often invade the protected area to grow
potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...
crops. The natural forest line is severely altered by human activity (logging, intensive grazing), which makes the difference between natural and artificial grasslands difficult to distinguish. An estimated 10,000 heads of cattle live or feed within the protected area. In 1950, president Mariano Ospina Pérez ordered the Colombian banks not to approve loans destined to establishment of crops or cattle at altitudes higher than as an attempt to discourage such activities. Illegal armed groups such as
FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in 1966 from peasan ...
and ELN guerrillas used the area in recent years as a corridor for the transportation of
kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
victims,
weapon trafficking A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law e ...
and
drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...
. The Colombian government, in accordance with democratic security policies, established a center of military operations in 2002: the General Antonio Arredondo Military base, achieving the withdrawal of the illegal forces. However, the presence of the
Colombian army The National Army of Colombia () is the land warfare service branch of the Military Forces of Colombia. With over 361,420 active personnel as of 2020, it is the largest and oldest service branch in Colombia, and is the second largest army in the ...
has generated controversy over the environmental impact, with alleged destruction of the frailejones, whose leaves are supposedly collected by the soldiers for making rudimentary
mattress A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a person Lying (position), lying down, especially for sleeping. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a Quilting, quilted o ...
es to sleep on.


See also

* Ocetá Páramo * Chingaza National Natural Park


References


External links


Sumapaz National Natural Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumapaz Paramo Páramos Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Natural regions of South America Ecoregions of Colombia National parks of Colombia Geography of Cundinamarca Department Tourist attractions in Cundinamarca Department Protected areas established in 1977