Venezuela Photograph by Cayrn Ernst   Northern South America: Western Venezuela Montane Grasslands and Shrublands   1,100 square miles (2,800 square kilometers) -- about the size of Rhode Island Relatively Stable/Intact

· Quilted Landscape
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Quilted Landscape

This dry, treeless páramo ecoregion occurs in high elevation patches in the northern Andes of western Venezuela, on top of the Cordillera de Merida, and south of the Maracaibo Basin. Typical of dry páramo habitat, the ecoregion consists of high-altitude alpine open bunchgrass communities, dwarf bamboo stands, and open meadows. Though not as common as in the wet páramo, marshes and bogs can be found here, too.

Special Features

Species that inhabit this dry páramo have to deal with extreme and rapid temperature changes, as well as high winds and severe fluctuations in humidity. As a result of these adaptive pressures and mountaintop isolation, the ecoregion is home to many endemic species. The plant community consists primarily of grasses, interspersed with cushion and rosette plants. Thick mats of sponge-like mosses, grasses, and shrubs are a characteristic feature of the páramo. At higher elevations, permanent snow creates a sort of "arctic desert."

	Reintroduction efforts are currently underway for the Andean condor, which has disappeared from the Venezuelan páramo. The largest of the vultures, it boasts a wingspan up to 10 feet (3 m). Its size and the distinct white markings on the dark wings make the Andean condor easy to spot in the sky as it soars above coastal cliffs and mountains.

Wild Side

As a ray of sunshine illuminates a sea of flowers and grass, a spectrum of colors paints the landscape. A bearded helmetcrest (a type of insect-eating hummingbird) zips by, as a cougar stretches out on a rock to bask in the fleeting warmth of the sunlight. An Andean ovenbird searches among the lower branches of a small, blueberry-like bush for tasty insects, while a little brown bird called a páramo pipit shakes its wings and tail between bouts of song from a nearby bush-top. Stealthily approaching a rock pile, a gray fox stalks a soft-furred spiny rat and finally pounces. This commotion spooks an endemic bird, the Merida flower-piercer, that was flitting about and foraging among the foliage. The high-pitched musical twittering of a group of barred parakeets fills the air as the birds feed on bamboo seeds, buds, and blossoms. A juvenile endemic Merida wren hides in a low mossy thicket beside a bog, keeping its eyes to the ground as it searches for insects among the cushion plants.

Cause for Concern

Intensive cattle ranching by indigenous peoples and colonists has affected extensive areas and resulted in severe erosion. Burning and converting wild lands to agriculture are also problems. Introduced species, including those in non-native conifer plantations, compete with native species for space and resources.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.