Name:
Northern Andean Paramo Macrogroup
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This macrogroup includes several grasslands and shrublands characteristic of the Andean highlands in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and the very north of Peru. These grasslands normally grow above the timberline (ca. 3000-3500 m elevation) and up to the snowline. In most cases, the climatic conditions are humid to very humid, and the main differences in temperature happen during the day rather than seasonally, with near or below freezing temperatures at night. Because of their distribution, they occur as islands in the upper parts of the mountains, separated by the forested vegetation that grows downwards. The main component are tussock and bunchgrasses of the genera <i>Festuca, Calamagrostis</i>, and <i>Carex</i>, with almost 100% cover. Interspersed among them are a rich diversity of ferns and herbaceous species, some of them forming cushions. Due to the isolated distribution of the paramos, they host significant numbers of restricted endemic plant species. Other dominant elements are giant rosette plants from the genera <i>Espeletia</i> and <i>Puya</i>. Shrubs are also an important component, especially in paramos not frequently subjected to burning; their heights vary between 0.5-2 m. Among the common shrub genera are <i>Hypericum, Loricaria, Bejaria, Brachyotum, Diplostephium, Miconia, Espeletia, Espeletiopsis</i>, and <i>Ageratina</i>. Dominant families include Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Ericaceae, and Apiaceae. This vegetation occurs in a complex mosaic with hygrophilous grasslands, wetlands and peatlands, also with rocky outcrops covered by saxicolous communities, and riparian systems, all these with a generally very localized spatial expression.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40935-{004E5A21-1405-4AE1-A8D7-2BAB0D32D0CC}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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