Atmospheric Water

Páramo de Sumapaz, by Alfonso Rueda Garzon (2008)

Horizontal rain, thick low cloud cover and fog are some of the main sources of water capture in the Páramo, due to the steep slopes of the mountain range, and the Pacific and steady easterly vientos alisios winds (Proyecto Paramo Andino, 2011).

The topography of the Páramo varies greatly and with it, clouds wrap into the slopes differentially. The effects of this are visible in superpáramo plant life. In the lower superpáramo, where humidity is greater and pressure higher, there is also richer diversity in vegetation cover; the dry superpáramo sees a far lower plant diversity and ‘scanty vegetation’ (Cleef, 2008). As well as the vegetation capture of atmospheric water (fog and cloud), through key species such as frailejones, dense cloud cover across the Páramo also causes frequent rainfall. These feed into a water system that supplies the population of Bogotá with the majority of their water supply needs (Correa et al., 2020), through filtration into groundwater and eventually, the Quebrada Limas river.

References

Alfonso Rueda Garzon (2008) Paramo de Sumapaz [oil on canvas]. Location unknown. Available at: https://www.artelista.com/en/artwork/8416987553061439-paramodesumapaz.html (Viewed: 12 January 2026).

Cleef, A.M., 2008. Humid cloud superparamo probably acts as a plant diversity centre and as a cool refuge: the case of Nevado de Sumapaz, Colombia. La Cordillera Oriental Colombiana, transecto Sumapaz. Studies on Tropical Andean Ecosystems, 7, pp.565-593.

Correa, A., Ochoa-Tocachi, B. F., Birkel, C., Ochoa-Sanchez, A., Zogheib, C., Tovar, C., Buytaert ,W. (2020) 'A concerted research effort to advance the hydrological understanding of tropical páramos', Hydrological Processes, 34(24), pp. 4609-4626. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13904 (Accessed 12 January 2026).

Proyecto Paramo Andino. (2011) El gran libro de los páramos. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt.