Spatial Scale matters: comparative cartography of the production of boundaries for the Colombia páramos

Keywords: spatial scale, environmental boundaries, páramos, Colombia
Session Type: Virtual Paper
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 4/9/2021 08:00 AM (Pacific Time (US & Canada)) - 4/9/2021 09:15 AM (Pacific Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 9

Abstract

The production of environmental boundaries can prove to be a complex task, as it is the result of the negotiation between distinct ecological, economic, political, social, and technological factors that intertwine in different (and sometimes uneven) ways. The complexity surrounding the creation of boundaries can be epitomized in the production of the páramo boundaries in Colombia. Páramos are high elevation neotropical ecosystems characterized by their richness in water, minerals, and endemic species. Found mainly in the high plateaus of the northern Andes, Colombia houses 37 of these fragile biodiversity hotspots representing roughly 3% of the country’s territory with is more than half of all the páramos in the world.

Since 2007, the Colombian government have delimited the paramos in three different occasions using different spatial scales. Each delimitation, produced different number of páramos, paramo boundaries and total area labelled as páramos. The reason behind this is because each delimitation process used different methodologies, technologies and criteria to define páramos boundaries. The aim of this presentation is to present a comparative analysis of the role that spatial scale play in the delimitation of critical ecosystems like the paramos. In particular, to talk about the effects that a change of spatial scale had on the delimitation of páramos and the effects that this had on the fragmentation and connectivity of the páramo ecosystem. My methodology uses spatial modelling and spatial statistics to map and compare the spatial distribution of the páramo ecosystems and identify the areas where the páramo appeared and disappeared.