Abstract

CARDENAS, María Fernanda  and  TOBON, Conrado. REHABILITATION OF HYDROLOGICAL FUNCTIONING OF PÁRAMO ECOSYSTEMS IN COLOMBIA. rev.udcaactual.divulg.cient. [online]. 2017, vol.20, n.2, pp.403-412. ISSN 0123-4226.

Páramos are equatorial alpine ecosystems characterized by a high air humidity, frequency of fog and the presence of shrub and herbaceous vegetation adapted to the specific equatorial alpine conditions. Under natural conditions these ecosystems present a high water yield, among other ecosystem services, however, this changes when they are degraded. Despite their importance, they are ecosystems that have been modified by man, most of them even without having been studied. This paper presents the results of a hydrological research carried out in three páramos in Colombia, which evaluates their hydrological functioning and their capacity for recovery once they are altered. Therefore, we studied their climate, hydrology, and soils properties. Results indicate that these ecosystems have different climatic conditions, which determine their water yield and water regulation. Differences in the hydro-physical properties of soils and organic matter content, which determine differences in their capacity to retain water and on the magnitude of the water available for plants. These results indicate that undisturbed páramos or with a low degree of disturbance present high water yield and good water regulation; and intervened páramos can recover the natural conditions of soil properties, and consequently their hydrological functioning, even in a few decades.

Keywords : Equatorial alpine ecosystems; degradation; hydro-physical soil properties; páramo soils; water yield; water regulation.

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