guinea pigs are important seed dispersers. Many of the larger mammals of the páramo are rare due to hunting. Human impact and climate change Humans have inhabited the páramo of the Andes for approximately the past 15,000 years. Deforestation has been extensive and in some cases, like the northern Andes, 90-95% of forests have been cleared. Other sites in Venezuela and Colombia show evidence that humans settled there at least 800 years ago and used the land for agriculture and hunting. When Europeans came to the Americas they introduced exotic plants and animals that greatly affected the land, especially cattle, which were introduced to the páramos in the early 18th century. By the 20th century the growing population of settlers led to an increased demand for land, and páramo ecosystems suffered accordingly. As more land was needed for cattle, fire was used to clear land, and eventually páramos became excessively burned and overgrazed. Both burning and grazing have damaged vegetation, soils, species diversity, and water storage capacity of the páramos. In burned and disturbed sites that were studied in the Andes the pH and phosphorus concentration in the soil are higher than in non-burned sites. Climate change is becoming an increasingly pressing issue for páramo ecosystems. Growing populations in Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador have forced settlements in higher elevations covering more páramo. Recent developments such as construction of aqueducts, drainage systems, and roads, mining, and afforestation have been a huge additional páramo disturbance. Increases in temperature extremes are forcing many fauna and flora species to higher grounds, and eventually they could face extinction. The flora of páramos is adapted to specific conditions and is thus vulnerable to even small climate changes. Climate change in the Andes is causing glaciers in the páramo to disappear and a drop in rainfall, virtually drying up páramo and in turn, drying up the water supply for cities such as Quito, Ecuador and Bogotá, Colombia. On 8 February 2016, the Constitutional Court of Colombia banned all mining operations in the paramos, prioritising the protection of the environment, and terminating 347 mining licenses that had operational rights in the ecosystem. References Further reading Montane grasslands and shrublands Ecoregions of Central America Ecoregions of South America Ecoregions of the Andes Montane ecology Natural regions of South America Regions of Central America Neotropical realm