GAZETTEER OF PÁRAMO LOCALITIES
Páramo Ecosystem
The search function includes all
páramo localities (gazetteer) for Costa Rica, Panama,
Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru. The locality names omit
all Spanish articles such as El, La, Las, Los. The articles are given
after the proper name, and when placed within parentheses their use is
optional or varies. Localities with the same name are then designated
as (1),(2), etc. The most commonly used name is detailed, while lesser
used names are cross-referenced to the primary name. The highest known
altitude is given next, followed by latitude and longitude (rounded off
to the nearest minute), and country. The next two headings are called
DIV 1 (i.e., primary political divisions such as department in Colombia
and Peru, state in Venezuela, or province in Costa Rica, Panama, and
Ecuador) and DIV 2 (i.e., secondary political divisions such as
municipality in Colombia, district in Venezuela, canton in Costa Rica
and Ecuador, or province in Peru), when these are known (DIV 2 was not
used at all for Ecuador). If the páramo locality covers two
or more political divisions within DIV 1, these divisions are separated
by a slash (/). If the páramo locality covers two (or more)
political divisions within DIV 2, the DIV 2 divisions are separated
by an ampersand (&) and the DIV 1 by a slash (/). [Example 1: in
Colombia, Cerro Agua Blanca overlaps the Municipality Puracé of
the Departament Cauca and the Municipality La Argentina of the
Department Huila; therefore, DIV 1 reads Cauca/Huila and DIV 2 reads
Puracé/La Argentina. Example 2: in Colombia, Cerro Animas
overlaps the Municipalities of La Cruz and El Tablón of the
Department Nariño and the Municipality of Santa Rosa of the
Department Cauca; therefore, DIV 1 reads Nariño/Cauca and DIV
2 reads La Cruz & El Tablón/Santa Rosa.] The last entry
"Notes" usually gives more details about the geographical
location, direction from a large or well-known city, connection with
other nearby páramos, other spellings for the primary name,
cross-references to other names, and comments.
The primary sources of locality
information for the páramo gazetteer (i.e., the names, altitudes,
latitude and longitude, reference points in "Notes", etc.) were
individual country maps (topographical, geopolitical, road maps, tourist
maps, etc.), individual country gazetteers, label data from herbarium
specimens, and literature references. The complete database includes
detailed references for each individual entry, which are not included in
this book but are available upon request. The main sources of data for
each country are listed at the end of this chapter; the general literature
references cited in the text are found in the bibliography at the end of
the book.
It was not always easy to determine the
exact name, geographical position, or political division of a particular
páramo. In several cases, especially in older maps, elevations,
latitude/longitude readings, and sometimes DIV 2 names were different
(for the same páramo) on different maps. Therefore, it must
be remembered that some of the entries are approximate, although I have
tried to keep political divisions current. I have used only proper
names and not vague localities such as "shrub páramo between
Loja and Zamora." When a páramo name could not be located
(on a map) or confirmed (by literature or other sources), it is simply
listed without further comment and the entry is incomplete. Finally,
in the "NOTES" entry it was not always possible to give
precise páramo localities that included reference to a
well-known city or cities found on all maps; therefore, whenever
possible, one or more cities are given in the entry and these,
used together with the geographical coordinates, should help to
pinpoint the locality in question. Undoubtedly there are many more
local names that I have missed, and I very much welcome additions
and corrections to the Gazetteer.
Bibliographic Sources for Locations of
Páramos
GENERAL
Hanson, E. P. & N. Raymond (eds.). 1945. Index
to maps of Hispanic America. Maps of Hispanic America. 1:1,000,000.
American Geographical Society, Publication No. 5. United States
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
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