The conservation status of tussock grass paramo in Ecuador

Abstract

In Ecuador, the degradation of the páramo is an ongoing and unrestrained process. Nevertheless, still it is not known exactly what part of the páramo is well conserved and what part is degraded or under threat. In this study we intent to quantify the area of the different types of páramo and to determine the general conservation status of these páramo areas. By using satellite image interpretation, different types of páramo were identified according to their general vegetation structure, as well as transformed and degraded areas. In all tussock grass páramos, which probably are the type with most human impact, a rapid ecological evaluation of vegetation, soils, fauna and land use was executed in representative sites, to determine their conservation status. The results of the evaluated sites were extrapolated to the entire tussock grass páramo area, to get an idea about the general conservation status of this area. We concluded that the vast majority of all tussock grass páramo area indeed shows signals of human interventions and that it is difficult to find a fully pristine páramo area in the Ecuadorian interandean region. Probably more than three quarters of all area that was originally covered by páramo, today is modified or transformed by human activities. The only areas that have a good conservation status are found on the Amazonian side of the Andes and in the extreme North and South of the country.