Ecobiogeography of Carabidae in the Andes of Venezuela

Summary

Above the mountain forest, at altitude higher than 3000 m, the Carabidae fauna of the Cordillera de Merida (Venezuela) can be divided according to several altitudinal levels. The periglacial areas, above 4000 m, the Polylepis forest, between 3500 and 4200 m, and the paramos have ecologically endemic faunas, entirely isolated from other cordilleras and different from the forest fauna. They can be separated by several limits, arising probably from paramo fragmentation in the glacial era. Quebrada Gavidia at 3700 m separates the Sierra Nevada from other central sierras while the San Pedro passes, southwest of the Sierra Nevada at 2600 m, separate the three central sierras, reaching altitudes higher than 4000 m, from the southwestern paramos, which are lower than 4000 m.