Guaymaral y Torca () is a combined

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

, part of the

Wetlands of Bogotá Wetlands of Bogotá, Colombia, are important areas of the capital city, and their preservation has become increasingly important for the area north of the Andes. As a reserve for fauna and flora, the wetlands are vital for the preservation and re ...

, located in the north of the Colombian capital in the localities Suba and

Usaquén Usaquén is the 1st locality of Bogotá, capital of Colombia. It is located in the north of the city. This district is mostly inhabited by upper middle and upper class residents. It is designated as Bogotá's #1 locality, while being a separate m ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The wetlands on 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 ...

cover an area of about . Guaymaral y Torca, the northernmost wetlands of Bogotá at the foot of the Eastern Hills, is composed of three parts, Guaymaral in the west in Suba (), Torca in the east in Usaquén () and a small strip along the dividing

Autopista Norte Autopista Norte, also called Autopista paseo de los libertadores (Way of the Liberators Highway), is a major road in Bogotá, Colombia, running through the northern part of the city to its southern end at Avenida Caracas. Names The road was o ...

between the two main wetlands. The wetlands are located in the

Torca River The Torca River () is a river on the Bogotá savanna and a left tributary of the Bogotá River. The river, in a basin of , originates in the Eastern Hills of Bogotá at an altitude of . It flows in the north of the Colombian capital, through the l ...

basin.Humedal Guaymaral website
/ref>Humedal Torca website
/ref>Moreno et al., s.a., p.21 The Autopista Norte was constructed in 1952, dividing the wetlands.Aves el en separador del humedal Torca-Guaymaral
/ref>

Etymology

The word Guaymaral is derived from the

Chibcha The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia, Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonizati ...

name for ''

Brosimum utile ''Brosimum utile'' (Kunth), also called ''Galactodendron'', Pittier (= ''B. galactodendron)'' is a plant species in the family Moraceae. Description ''Brosimum utile'' can grow to a height of 30m. It is monoecious and has bisexual inflorescence ...

'', ''guaimaro'', cultivated by the indigenous people in the Valle de Upár and the

Muzo Muzo () is a town and municipality in the Western Boyacá Province, part of the department of Boyacá, Colombia. It is widely known as the world capital of emeralds for the mines containing the world's highest quality gems of this type. Muzo ...

.Plantas cultivadas y animales domésticos equinoccial I - Capítulo VI - Frutos y semillas (''Juglandaceas'' a ''Sapindaceas'')
-

Banco de la República The Bank of the Republic () is the central bank of Colombia. It was initially established under the regeneration era in 1880. Its main modern functions, under the new Colombian constitution were detailed by Congress according tLey 31 de 1992 O ...

Torca is named after the

Flora and fauna

Flora

Flora registered in Guaymaral y Torca are among others ''

Pennisetum clandestinum ''Cenchrus'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. Its species are native to many countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands. Comm ...

'', ''

Salix humboldtiana ''Salix humboldtiana'', called Humboldt's willow, is a tree species of willow native to North and South America, growing along watercourses. Some authorities consider it a synonym of ''Salix chilensis ''Salix chilensis'', the Chilean pencil wi ...

'', ''

Ulex europaeus ''Ulex europaeus'', commonly known as gorse, common gorse, furze or whin, is a species of flowering plant native to Western Europe. Description Growing to tall, it is an evergreen shrub. The young stems are green, with the shoots and leaves ...

'', '' Schonoplectus californicus'', ''

Galium ascendens ''Galium'' is a large genus of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Rubiaceae, occurring in the temperate zones of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Some species are informally known as bedstraw. Over 600 species of '' ...

'', ''

Bidens laevis ''Bidens laevis'' is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names larger bur-marigold and smooth beggarticks. It is native to South America, Mexico, and the southern and eastern United States. It grows in wetlands, in ...

'', '' Ludwigia peploides'', ''

Azolla filiculoides ''Azolla filiculoides'' (water fern) is a species of aquatic fern. It is native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Americas, and has been introduced to Europe, North and sub-Saharan Africa, China, Japan, New Zealand, the Caribbean, an ...

'', ''

Holcus lanatus ''Holcus lanatus'' is a perennial flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. The specific epithet ' is Latin for 'woolly' which describes the plant's hairy texture. Common names include Yorkshire fog, tufted grass, and meadow soft grass. In Nor ...

'', ''

Eichhornia crassipe ''Eichhornia'', commonly called water hyacinths, was a polyphyletic genus of the aquatic flowering plants family Pontederiaceae. Since it was consistently recovered in three independent lineages, it has been sunk into '' Pontederia'', together ...

'', ''

Typha domingensis ''Typha domingensis'', known commonly as southern cattail or cumbungi, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus ''Typha''. Distribution and habitat It is found throughout temperate and tropical regions worldwide. It is sometimes found as a ...

'', ''

Rumex conglomeratus ''Rumex conglomeratus'', known as clustered dock and sharp dock, is a plant of the family Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants known Common name, informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckw ...

'', ''

Alnus acuminata Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species e ...

'', ''

Baccharis cf. latifolia ''Baccharis'' is a genus of perennials and shrubs in the aster family (Asteraceae). They are commonly known as baccharises but sometimes referred to as "brooms", because many members have small thin leaves resembling the true brooms. They are n ...

'', '' Polygonum sp.'', '' Eleocharis sp.'', '' Carex sp.'', '' Rubus sp.'', '' Cuphea sp.''. Also ''

Hydrocotyle ranunculoides ''Hydrocotyle ranunculoides'', known commonly as floating pennywort, or floating marshpennywort, is an aquatic plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to North and South America. Origin and invasiveness Water pennywort is an aquatic plant, ...

'', ''

Lemna minor ''Lemna minor'', the common duckweed or lesser duckweed, is a species of aquatic freshwater plant in the subfamily Lemnoideae of the arum family Araceae. ''L. minor'' is used as animal fodder, bioremediator, for wastewater nutrient recovery, and ...

'', ''

Typha latifolia ''Typha latifolia'' is a perennial herbaceous wetland plant in the genus ''Typha''. It is known in English as bulrushStreeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ''Collins Flower Guide''. Harper Collins (sometimes as common b ...

'' and '' Juncus bogotensis'' have been noted.Moreno et al., s.a., p.22

Fauna

;Mammals A mammal present in the wetland is the Bogotá savanna

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy ( ), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'', family Caviidae. Animal fancy, Breeders tend to use the name "cavy" for the ani ...

species ''

Cavia anolaimae ''Cavia anolaimae'' is a guinea pig species from South America. It is found in Colombia near Bogotá. It is believed to be a feral offshoot of the domestic guinea pig, ''Cavia porcellus'', and is often treated as a synonym of ''C. porcellus'', ...

''. ;Amphibians Amphibians registered are among others the green dotted treefrog (''Hyla labialis'') and the

cream-backed poison frog The cream-backed poison frog (''Hyloxalus subpunctatus'') is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae endemic to Colombia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical, high-altitude grassland, shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, intermit ...

(''Colostethus subpunctatus'').Historia de los Humedales
/ref> ;Birds In Guaymaral, 43 and in Torca 24 bird species have been registered.Andrade & Benitez, s.a., p.8Andrade & Benitez, s.a., p.11 Birds spotted are among others the

saffron finch The saffron finch (''Sicalis flaveola'') is a tanager from South America that is common in open and semi-open areas in lowlands outside the Amazon Basin. They have a wide distribution in Colombia, northern Venezuela (where it is called "canari ...

(''Sicalis flaveola''),

yellow-billed cuckoo The yellow-billed cuckoo (''Coccyzus americanus'') is a member of the cuckoo family. Common folk names for this bird in the southern United States are rain crow and storm crow. These likely refer to the bird's habit of calling on hot days, often ...

(''Coccyzus americanus''), and

yellow-hooded blackbird The yellow-hooded blackbird (''Chrysomus icterocephalus'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found in grassy and brush areas near water in northern South America, and is generally fairly common. It is sexually dimorphic, and the ...

(''Chrysomus icterocephalus bogotensis'').

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
Fundación Humedales de Bogotá
*
Conozca los 15 humedales de Bogotá
- El Tiempo {{Wetlands of Bogotá, state=expanded Wetlands of Bogotá

Etymology

Flora and fauna

Flora

Fauna

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links