Lakes inventory and advances in knowledge of high Andean wetlands in Las Hermosas paramos region, Central range – Colombia

Abstract

This paper presents an inventory of 653 lakes summarizing 1,495 hectares, located in the highlands of the Colombian Central Mountain Range between Tolima and Valle del Cauca departments. Inventory was realized in the area delimited by national government as Las Hermosas páramos Complex, based on the processing of cartographic information available in IGAC scale of 1:25,000, compared with a RapidEye 2009-2010 satellite image and other secondary sources using Geographic Information Systems. As part of inventory, the lakes’ distribution is analyzed by administrative-political jurisdictions, watersheds, size and altitudinal ranges. Finally, some interpretations based on the series of data obtained are discussed to conclude with the priority research needs to advance the knowledge of the wetlands in the observed area.