por The Colombian ecosystems They are grouped into 98 general types, of which 24 are ecosystems modified by humans, as well as continental, insular and marine ecosystems. These ecosystems are home to enormous biodiversity with around 10% of the known species on the planet.
It is estimated that about 56,724 species of plants and animals inhabit Colombia, without considering fungi, bacteria, archaea, or protists. It is one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries, among which it is generally ranked second only to Brazil.
Its abundant biological diversity is due to the geographical location of Colombia, as well as its varied relief and climate. The country is located in the extreme northwest of South America, in the middle of the tropical zone.
Therefore, it is influenced by the Andean, Amazonian and Caribbean domains of the Neotropical floristic kingdom. Likewise, it has representatives of the Guayanese flora and fauna in the outcrops present in Naquén, Chiribiquité and other areas of the south.
Its relief goes from sea level to 5,364 masl of the Nevado del Huila volcano, the Andean region being the most mountainous. On the other hand, in the Amazon and Caribbean region, the plains predominate.
Among the terrestrial ecosystems, the Andean area is the one with the greatest biodiversity in Colombia, followed by the Amazon and then the Caribbean region. While marine diversity includes ecosystems in the Caribbean Sea and in the Pacific Ocean.
[toc]
Amazon jungle
The Amazon jungle is a complex mosaic of diverse ecosystems such as aquatic ecosystems, grasslands, swampy areas, floodplain forests, lowland forests, palm groves, and mainland forests. The latter being the one with the greatest biological diversity, popularly known as the Amazon jungle.
This region has maximum temperatures of 33.8 ºC and rainfall of up to 4,277 mm, with relative humidity above 80%.
Flora
In the Amazonian aquatic ecosystems are the water cabbage (pistia stratiotes), the water lily (Eichhornia crassipes) and the Royal Victory (amazonian victory). In the swamps there are low forests of yagrumo (cecropia membranacea) as well as extensive areas dominated by grasses and sedges.
Within the forests themselves, those of the mainland and floodplains are distinguished, being found in the last species as inga nobilis. Other groups are palm groves with a predominance of Mauritia flexuosa (Cananguchales), Mauritiella aculeata and Leopoldinia piassaba.
While in the rain forest of the mainland, large trees such as goupia glabra, Swartzia schomburgkii and ferrule duckei.
Fauna
The fauna of the Colombian Amazon includes the jaguar (panthera onca), the white-bellied spider monkey (ateles belzebuth), Humboldt’s woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagothricha) and the red howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus).
The tapir also inhabits here (tapirus terrestris), the collared peccary (tajacu peccary), Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) and the three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus).
Among the birds are the macaws (aras spp.), toucans (Ramphastidae) and the cock-of-the-rock (rupicola rupicola). The latter in the enclaves that correspond to extensions of the Guayanés Massif, such as the Serranía de Chiribiquete.
Chocó Jungle
This jungle ecosystem extends between Colombia and Panama, being one of the tropical rain forests with the highest rate of precipitation. In this area, rainfall varies from zones with 730 mm to areas with 13,670 mm per year, with average temperatures between 23.5 and 27.9 °C.
As for the relief, it ranges from plains and estuarine areas on the Pacific coast to mountain ranges such as Baudó-Darién.
Flora
In the ecosystems of Chocó, around 4,525 species of seed plants have been identified. Here are large tree species such as some anacardiaceae (Anacardium excelsum and Anacardium giganteum).
Likewise, the ceiba inhabits it (kapok pentandra), the ladle (Gyranthera darienensis) of the malvácea family and palms abound, large as attalea or from the undergrowth as Bactris.
Fauna
The jaguar is presented, together with the covered howler monkey (Alouatta palliata) and the arboreal anteater (mexican tamandua). Another species of primate inhabiting this ecosystem is the Colombian black-headed spider monkey (Ateles fusciceps rufiventris).
Also characteristic is Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) and the Chocó toucan (ramphastos brevis).
Andean cloud forest
The cloud forest is one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, being a tropical forest with a complex structure. This ecosystem is high mountain, between 700 and 3,200 meters above sea level, with annual rainfall of 1,000 to 2,000 mm and average temperatures of 20 °C.
In this forest there are two to three tree layers, with a canopy close to 40 m in the medium cloud forest. The understory is not very dense with herbs, palms and shrubs, as well as abundant climbers and epiphytes.
Flora
In this ecosystem is the quina (Cinchona officinalis) a plant highly appreciated for its medicinal value for the control of malaria. As well as large trees like the male avocado (Ocotea calophylla) and tropical conifers such as Podocarpus oleifolius.
A fast-growing species that houses ants in its hollow trunk (myrmecophilous), called yagrumo (cecropia pastasana). In the Cordillera Oriental the southernmost limit in America of the oak is reached (quercus), with the species Quercus humboldtii.
Fauna
Here lives the spectacled bear or frontino bear (Tremarctos ornatus), the three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus) and the Andean tapir (tapirus prick). Likewise primates such as the brown spider monkey (Ateles hybridus) and the Colombian woolly monkey (Lagothrix lugens) critically endangered.
The pudu (pudu mephistophiles) is another species typical of these jungles and even the páramos, being the smallest species of deer in the world.
tropical wasteland
The tropical Páramo ecosystem is one of the most biodiverse on the planet, consisting of high mountain shrublands and grasslands. It develops above the tree growth limit, beyond 3,100 masl to the snow limit (4,800 masl).
Rainfall is relatively high (800 to 2,000 mm) as is solar radiation, and average annual temperatures can be around 15 ºC. There are night temperatures below 0 °C due to the altitude.
The typical vegetation of this ecosystem is the grassland of species with cushion or rosette leaves, with succulent or sclerotized (hard) leaves.
Flora
Some 3,173 species of vascular plants have been identified in the Colombian páramos, being the emblematic genus espeletia, of the Compositae family. They are perennial subshrubs with rosette leaves, succulent and hairy, with around 70 endemic species called frailejones.
On the other hand, there is the genus Polylepis of the Rosaceae, which are the trees that grow at the highest altitude in the world. With two species in this country, Polylepis ochreata in the southern tip of Colombia, and polylepis sericea in it center.
Fauna
The Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) and hummingbird (Oreotrochilus estella). There are also other species such as the collared lizard (Stenocercus lache) from the Eastern Cordillera and the tapeti hare (Sylvilagus brasiliensis).
Dry forests and warm xeric scrublands
These are deciduous and semi-deciduous forests, as well as scrublands in arid areas. In Colombia these ecosystems occur mainly to the north and northeast, in the Caribbean plain and the Guajira peninsula or in the Orinoco plains.
In areas with a long dry season and low availability of groundwater, deciduous forests develop. While in the Department of La Guajira in the extreme northeast, where the drought is more extreme, there are xeric scrubs.
The average high temperature is 33 °C (maximum 39.8 °C) and the precipitation is 546 mm.
Flora
In the deciduous forests there are trees of the genera Pithecellobium, Acacia, albizia and Handroanthusas well as the flying or white cedar (Gyrocarpus americanus). While in the semi-deciduous forests there are species such as the orejero (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) and the ceiba (kapok pentandra).
In the xeric scrublands, cacti (Cactaceae) and legumes predominate with genera such as prosopis, Acacia and others.
Fauna
They inhabit birds such as the red-crowned cardonero (Coryphospingus pileatus), the Tocuyo sparrow (Arremonops tocuyensis) and the cardinal vermilion or guajiro king (Cardinalis phoeniceus). Also, snakes such as rattlesnakes (crotalus spp.), marsupials such as the common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) and other mammals such as the crab-eating fox (piggyon thousand).
Sheet
It is an ecosystem of plains from 200 to 600 meters above sea level, dominated by grasses, with a vegetal structure formed by a herbaceous layer. There are also wooded savannahs, as well as jungles along the rivers that cross the plains (gallery jungles).
Here the climate is markedly seasonal, with a dry season lasting 3 to 6 months and a rainy season, with relatively high rainfall and warm temperatures.
Flora
Graminous herbs dominate, especially of the genera passalum, panicum and Andropogon among many others. In the wooded savannahs there are also species of large trees such as the caracaro (Enterolobium cyclocarpum).
Likewise, there are wooded savannahs with palms, such as the llanera palm (Copernicia tectorum).
Fauna
In these plains crossed by large rivers inhabits the chigüire or capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) and the anaconda (Eunectes murinus). Various birds are also present, such as the jabirú (Jabiru mycteria), the Orinoco goose (neochen jubata) and the scarlet ibis (eudocimus ruber).
They are also inhabited by the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).
Mangrove swamp
It is an ecosystem located on the border between land and sea, with a gradation of species from the mainland to entering the seawater. This ecosystem is found both in the continental and insular coastal areas of Colombia.
In the first case, there is the Magdalena River delta in the Caribbean Sea, and in the second, on the island of San Andrés. It is characterized by a highly saline substratum, strong solar radiation, rainfall of 500 to 1,000 mm and high temperatures (maximum 32 ºC).
Flora
The black or salty mangrove (Avicenia germinans and Avicennia tonduzii), the red mangrove (Rhizophora mangrove and Rhizophora harrisonii) and the yellow mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa). Other species are the zaragoza or bobo mangrove (Conocarpus erectus), the tea mangrove (skinny rhizophorae) and the red nato (blackberry megistosperma and blackberry oleifera).
Fauna
The mangrove fauna includes the needle caiman (Crocodylus acutus) and the stifle (Caiman crocodilus fuscus). As well as the Magdalena river turtle (Podocnemis lewyana) and snakes such as the boa (Boa constrictor) and the mapaná or size equis (Botrops atrox).
Among the birds is the Caribbean pelican…