Formulación de estrategias de conservación del humedal Gualí Tres Esquinas

Abstract

Wetlands are characterized by offering a wide range of ecosystem services, which is why they are considered strategic ecosystems. This concept of “strategy” is derived from the benefits they provide to the human population and to the biota in general. In this regard, (Márquez, 2003), points out that an ecosystem is strategic because it contributes to the maintenance of ecological balance, because of its offer in terms of biodiversity, because it provides the resources to satisfy basic needs and because it is capable of preventing natural risks. among other benefits.

Colombia is a country that is considered amphibious due to the supply of rivers, lakes, lagoons and wetlands that are home to a great diversity of species. Thanks to this, the country currently has 13 wetlands considered as RAMSAR, among which the following stand out: La Laguna de Cocha, the Estrella Fluvial de Inírida, the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, the Chingaza complex and the urban wetland complex of Bogotá, among others (Ramsar, 2013). One of the conditions for declaring wetlands in this category is for the offer of services that contribute to the maintenance of essential ecological processes, called ecological strategy. . (Dou, Li, & Wang, 2013)

In the jurisdiction of the municipalities of Mosquera, Tenjo and Funza to the southwest of Bogotá, is the Gualí Tres Esquinas wetland, this represents one of the most important ecosystems in the Cundinamarca region, it is part of the ecological connectivity of the region since it interacts with the Herrera lagoon, the Chicú river and the Funzhé lagoons.

This wetland presents the supply of aquatic plant species called macrophytes, which are widely distributed among ecological units or ecological units defined by the association of plant species that offer uniform characteristics to each of them, these correspond to areas with distinctive characteristics of flora and fauna and therefore of the supply of niches.

Currently, these ecological units are subjected to a series of environmental stressors that destabilize them, that is why this research was based on the formulation of strategies for the conservation of the wetland. (Garibaldi & Turner, 2014) An identification of the ecosystem services was carried out, the evaluation of the environmental impacts of the wetland, the estimation of the ecosystem as strategic and the subsequent formulation of conservation strategies.

It was found in the wetland that among the most relevant environmental impacts are eutrophication, the contribution of discharges, erosion, the reduction of the water surface, the migration of species, among others. Likewise, it was identified that the most relevant ecosystem services are climate regulation, the supply of habitats for species, carbon capture and oxygen production by aquatic vegetation through the photosynthesis process, among others.