Comprehensive Ecological Characterization of Landscape Units at the San José de Matadepantano Ranch (Yopal, Casanare)

Abstract

In 2010, we carried out a comprehensive ecological characterization of landscape units present at the San José de Matadepantano Ranch, in the Casanare foothills. Landscape units were divided into natural and cultural. Natural units were classified into five categories: savannah, flooded savanna and marsh, gallery forest, palm field, and relict forest. Cultural units were classified into four categories: changes in land area, vector changes, low impact constructions, and constructions with high impact. All units were mapped based on aerial photography, and coverage area was calculated by analyzing the dynamic trends of each. Natural landscape units with more coverage area were savannah and gallery forest, while the construction of the university campus of the Utopia project constituted the major cultural transformation of the land. In regional context, gallery forest showed a high degree of structural continuity and ecological integrity, compared to the surrounding farms, although with some sections affected by anthropogenic disturbances. The two main water currents running through the farm, the brooks named Tiestal and Güio, does not appear to have disturbances that jeopardize their ecological integrity, but it is necessary to await the outcome of detailed ecological surveys, currently under the way, to confirm the findings of this comprehensive study