Santa Marta páramo

Santa Marta páramo (NT1007)
Pico Cristobal Colon
Ecology
Realm	Neotropical
Biome	Montane grasslands and shrublands
Geography
Area	1,295 km2
Countries	Colombia
Coordinates	10°49′37″N 73°40′01″W / 10.827°N 73.667°W / 10.827; -73.667Coordinates: 10°49′37″N 73°40′01″W / 10.827°N 73.667°W / 10.827; -73.667
Climate type	Cwb: warm temperate, winter dry, warm summer

The Santa Marta páramo (NT1007) is an ecoregion containing páramo (high moorland) vegetation above the treeline in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The isolated position of the range has allowed unique species to evolve. Some are related to those found in Central America and the Caribbean coastal areas, and some to species from the Andes. The habitat is relatively stable, but has been drastically changed from the original by long-term human activity.

The Santa Marta páramo has an area of 129,499 hectares (320,000 acres). It covers the upper levels of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the north of Colombia. This is a roughly triangular massif with its north side parallel to the Caribbean sea, the southwest side facing the swamps of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta and the southeast side facing the Serranía del Perijá mountains across the Cesar and Ranchería river valleys. The ecoregion is surrounded by the Santa Marta montane forests ecoregion, which in turn is surrounded by the Sinú Valley dry forests and Guajira-Baranquilla xeric scrub ecoregions.

The Santa Marta páramo is the most northern section of páramo (high moor) in South America. The isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta has an elevation of 5,775 metres (18,947 ft). The páramo is found between the treeline around 3,300 metres (10,800 ft) and the snowline around 5,000 metres (16,000 ft), with some variations due to differences in slope, rainfall and exposure to the wind and sun. The area is almost all granodiorite from the Jurassic period.

The Köppen climate classification is "Cwb": warm temperate, winter dry, warm summer. Where the Northern Andean páramo is generally humid throughout the year with moisture delivered in the form of rain, clouds and fog as air masses are lifted up over the mountains, the Santa Marta páramo is similar to the Costa Rican páramo and Cordillera de Merida páramo, where the northeast trade winds create a distinct dry season. Moist air currents rise every day and produce mist and rain. Most rain falls in May and September.