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    Division BEE  >  Biodiversity & Ecology  >  Vol.4 >  Article 34

Biodiversity & Ecology

Long Database Report    Open Access 

Colombian Páramo Vegetation Database (CPVD) – the database on high Andean páramo vegetation in Colombia


Jesús Orlando Rangel-Churio* & Jairo Humberto Pinto-Zárate

Article first published online: 24 September 2012

DOI: 10.7809/b-e.00084

*Corresponding author contact: jorangelc@unal.edu.co

Biodiversity & Ecology  (Biodivers. Ecol.)

Special Volume: Vegetation databases for the 21st century,
edited by Jürgen Dengler, Jens Oldeland, Florian Jansen, Milan Chytrý, Jörg Ewald, Manfred Finckh, Falko Glöckler, Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez, Robert K. Peet & Joop H.J. Schaminée
Volume 4, pages 275–286, Sep 12
  PDF  (990 kB)

Keywords: Andes; biodiversity; phytosociology

English

Abstract: The Colombian Páramo Vegetation Database (CPVD; GIVD ID SA-CO-001) originates from the rush of phytosociological studies developed during the second half of the last century. The efforts of Spanish, Dutch and Colombian botanists have allowed almost the entire territory of the country where this natural region (páramo) is present to be covered. The database currently has records of approximately 1,000 plots representing at least 327 different physiognomic types such as shrubs, Espeletia stem rosettes and bunchgrasses established in localities of the three Andean Cordilleras and in the Caribbean massifs, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Serranía de Perijá. The Eastern Cordillera, which is the most explored mountain range, contains the highest diversity and richness in vegetation types. The construction of the database has allowed us to start the delimitation and syntaxonomical classification of vegetation units, as can be seen in the most recent phytosociological treatments of the páramo vegetation of the Western Cordillera and the massifs of the Caribbean region. The database provides information for programs on conservation of associated flora and fauna species and restoration – recovery of vegetation types under imminent risk due to habitat loss. Also relevant are its applications in spatial delimitation of conservation reserves, development of thematic cartography, and precise definition of altitudinal limits of the páramo region for land use purposes.

Suggested citation:
Rangel-Churio, J.O., Pinto-Zárate, J.H. (2012): Colombian Páramo Vegetation Database (CPVD) – the database on high Andean páramo vegetation in Colombia. – In: Dengler, J., Oldeland, J., Jansen, F., Chytrý, M., Ewald, J., Finckh, M., Glöckler, F., Lopez-Gonzalez, G., Peet, R.K., Schaminée, J.H.J. [Eds.]: Vegetation databases for the 21st century. – Biodiversity & Ecology 4: 275–286. DOI: 10.7809/b-e.00084.