Sumapaz Páramo

Paramo de Sumapaz
IUCN category II (national park)
Paramo de Sumapaz is the largest paramo ecosystem worldwide
Location	Cundinamarca
Nearest city	Bogota
Area	178.000 hectares
Established	1977
Governing body	National administration of natural parks

Sumapaz Paramo (Spanish Páramo de Sumapaz) is a large Paramo ecosystem located in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense mountain range. 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 Bogota Savannah.

Sumapaz Paramo was considered a sacred place for the Muisca aborigin people. It was asociated with the divine forces of creation and the origin of mankind, a domain where the humans were not supposed to enter.

During the XVI century, German adventurer and conquistador Nikolaus Federmann conducted an expedition crossing the Sumapaz, searching for El Dorado mithic treasure, with heavy casualties. The place was named by the spaniards "País de la Niebla" ("Country of Fog)"^[1] due to the dense clouds at ground level, with great decrease in visibility.

In 1783, José Celestino Mutis leaded the Botanic Expedition, with the purpose of study the flora and fauna of the region. However, the paramo was not visited because of its harsh climatic conditions. The german naturalist Alexander Von Humboldt made the first description of the paramo and the local plants in 1799.^[2] He also described the presence of glacier valleys and asociated the geologic features of the region with those seen in the Alpine geomorphology.

During the early XX century, the spanish naturalist Jose Cuatrecasas made important research of the paramo and the tree line. Other scientists that described and studied Sumapaz paramo were Ernesto Guhl, who conducted a long term 3-decade research of the vegetal communities, and Thomas van der Hammen.^[3]

Sumapaz Paramo 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 to 4000 m. AMSL. The highest point is the Nevado de Sumapaz peak (4300 m AMSL). The precipitation is about 700-1000 mm³/year. The rainy station last almost the entire year, except from december to february, when the sunlight reaches a peak, with intense ultraviolet radiation (adaptations such as white, glassy coloration help the local plants to survive). The humidity 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 unexperienced visitor, with danger of falling into them, and risk of drowning or other injuries. These places are called "Chupaderos" or "Chucuas" ("Drainages")^[4].

Sumapaz lays between the Orinoco River basin and the Magdalena River basin, the two main fluvial systems of Colombia, and provides tributaries to both. Its location in the Thermal equator generates high rates of precipitation, which together with its endemic 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 such as Tota, Chivor, Fúquene, Sisga, Tominé, Guavio, Muña, Iguaque, Guatavita, Sochagota and Chingaza.

The east part of Sumapaz consist of devonian metamorphic rock formations, with fault scarped configuration, and alpine-like landscapes. Its west part consist of oligocene sedimentary rocks, with softer landscapes. The different stages of the Quaternary glaciation left plenty of glacier debris, and glacier lakes such as Chisaca lake. During the Last Glacial Maximum, the glacier motion of the ice sheets through the Tunjuelo valley reached as far as Usme (today part of Bogota City).

The soil of this region is acidic, with high levels of sodium and potassium. This is a coarse-grained soil, with high permeability favoring the formation of groundwater in aquifers.

The most representative plants of the area are the Espeletias. Several species have been described here, being the most common 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 andEspeletia curialensis Cuatrec. The Sphagnum 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 are the dominant species. The european plant Digitalis purpurea is an introduced species, the way of its introduction is not known, either deliberate or accidental

The endangered spectacled bear lives in Sumapaz, being its main source of food the Puya boyacana fruits and the Espeletia plant stems, (known as caulirosule). Other animals described are: Little Red Brocket Deer, tapir, coati, golden eagle, torrent duck, Paramo duck (Anas georgica). An introduced species in the waterbodies is the rainbow trout.