Assessment of the impact of anthropic activities on carbon storage in soils of high montane ecosystems in Colombia

The organic carbon in the soil was quantified to assess the im- pact of anthropic activities on montane ecosystems in Colombia in Chingaza Parque Nacional Natural (PNN) and Los Nevados Parque Nacional Natural (PNN). For the development of the soil samples, a detailed in situ description of the edaphological profile of four ecosystems of paramo and high Andean forest areas, of both disturbed and undisturbed zones, was taken as the base. The calculation of the amount of total carbon stored by the soil profile shows that, in Colombia, undisturbed high montane ecosystems (520.9 t ha-1 in paramos and 323.6 t ha-1 in high Andean forests of Chingaza PNN, and 373.0 t ha-1 in paramos and 254.6 t ha-1 in high Andean forests of Los Nevados PNN) currently have more carbon than disturbed ecosystems (135.1 t ha-1 in paramos and 141.5 t ha-1 in high Andean forests of Chingaza PNN, and 356.3 t ha-1 in paramos and 217.1 t ha-1 in high Andean forests of Los Nevados PNN). It is clear that the disturbance of high montane ecosystems decreases the amount of carbon in the soil, a situation that is more concerning in Chingaza PNN where the difference between the disturbed and undisturbed ecosystems is much more marked than in Los Nevados PNN.