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 A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

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 El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or kin ...

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")http://www.sogeocol.com.co/documentos/Paramos.pdf because of the dense clouds at ground level, with great decrease in visibility. In 1783, José Celestino Mutis 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 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...

made the first description of the páramo and the local plants in 1799. He also described the presence of

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

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 the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

. 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 Thomas van der Hammen (Schiedam, Netherlands, 27 September 1924 - Chía, Colombia, 12 March 2010) was a Dutch palaeontologist, botanist and geologist. He had published more than 160 works in five languages.

Climate and geography

Sumapaz Páramo has an inhospitable, cold climate with temperatures averaging below 10 °C (50 °F).(ranging from −10 °C to 17 °C) with quick changes from short periods of warm climate to freezing cold. The average altitude oscillates between 3500 and 4000 m. AMSL. The highest point is the

Nevado del Sumapaz Nevado del Sumapaz is the highest point in the department of Meta, Colombia. It lies within the Sumapaz National Park. The summit is accessible by road from the city of San Juan del Sumapaz. The official altitude of the summit is given as above se ...

peak (4306 m AMSL). The

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hai ...

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 (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...

(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, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity dep ...

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 River basin and the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; 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 o ...

basin, the two main

fluvial In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluv ...

systems of Colombia, and provides tributaries to both. All but one of the tributaries of the

Sumapaz River The Sumapaz River ( es, Río Sumapaz) is a major tributary of the Magdalena River in Colombia. The long river originates in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes at the largest páramo in the world; Sumapaz, of which it takes its name. It form ...

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 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 found els ...

flora that regulate the soil moisture acting like sponges for the rain waters, contribute to the high amount of surface water and its role as source of water reservoirs.

Geology

The eastern part of Sumapaz consists of

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, w ...

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, cau ...

formations, with fault scarped configuration, and alpine landscapes. Its western part consists of

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but ...

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particle ...

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 and interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Ma (million years ago) and is ongoing. Although geologists describ ...

left plenty of

debris, and glacier lakes such as Chisaca lake. During the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent. Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eu ...

, the glacier motion of the ice sheets through the Tunjuelo valley reached as far as

Usme Usme is the 5th locality of the Capital District of Bogotá, capital city of Colombia. Usme is located in the south of Bogotá, bordering to the north the localities of San Cristóbal, Rafael Uribe Uribe and Tunjuelito, to the west the locali ...

(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 period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...

Soil

The soil of this region is acidic, with high levels of

sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...

and

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin '' kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosp ...

. 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 soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidat ...

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteri ...

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 refers to 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 c ...

making this soil largely unsuitable for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

Flora

Over 200 species of

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They a ...

are native to the area with substantial amount of

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

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 Winifred Mary Curtis (15 June 1905 – 14 October 2005) was a British-born Australian botanist, author and a pioneer researcher in plant embryology and cytology who played a prominent role in the department of botany at the University of Tasmani ...

and Espeletia curialensis Cuatrec. The

Sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...

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 ''Weinmannia tomentosa'', the encenillo, is a tree native of the highlands of the Andean region of Colombia, which belongs to the family Cunoniaceae. A synonym for ''Weinmannia tomentosa'' is ''Windmannia tomentosa''.tibouchina ''Tibouchina'' "Tibouchina." Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. Merriam Webster, 1961. is a Neotropical realm, neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Melastomataceae. Species of this genus a ...

are the dominant species. The European plant Digitalis purpurea 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 the ...

, 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 Puya may refer to: * ''Puya'' (plant), in the family Bromeliaceae * Puya (river), in Russia * Puya, a variety of Guajillo chili * ''Puya'' (Meitei texts), traditional or mythological texts of the Meetei people * ''Culoepuya The ''culo'e puya'' dr ...

'' 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 leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, stores nutrie ...

s, (known as caulirosule). Other animals described are:

Little Red Brocket Deer The little red brocket or swamp brocket (''Mazama rufina''), also known as the Ecuador red brocket, is a small, little-studied deer native to the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador and northern Peru, where found in forest and páramo at altitudes bet ...

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inh ...

, 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 birds ...

, 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 tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coast ...

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, 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 syste ...

. In consequence, the peasants often invade the protected area to grow

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Un ...

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 and ELN guerrillas used the area in recent years as a corridor for the transportation of

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/ asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the ...

victims, weapon trafficking and

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

. 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 Withdrawal means "an act of taking out" and may refer to: * Anchoresis (withdrawal from the world for religious or ethical reasons) * '' Coitus interruptus'' (the withdrawal method) * Drug withdrawal * Social withdrawal * Taking of money from ...

of the illegal forces. However, the presence of the Colombian army has generated controversy over the environmental impact, with alleged destruction of the

frailejones ''Espeletia'', commonly known as 'frailejones' ("big monks"), is a genus of perennial subshrubs, in the family Asteraceae. The genus, which is native mainly to Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, was first formally described in 1808. The genus was n ...

, whose leaves are supposedly collected by the soldiers for making rudimentary

mattress A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a lying person. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, con ...

es to sleep on.

References

External links

{{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 Muysccubun