Transformation of vegetation covers and land use in the colombian amazon plain: The case of puerto leguízamo, putumayo (Colombia)

Abstract

The article describes the transformation of the vegetation cover on the margin of the La Tagua-Puerto Leguízamo highway, in Putumayo (Colombia), and its impact on global warming. To this end, it presents the historical context of settlement in the municipality that led to the ecological transformation of the landscape; it analyses the behaviour of climate variables, such as precipitation and temperature; and it measures deforestation and CO2 emissions by transformation of forest to grasslands during the period 2002-2016. This case study allows one to understand how changes in vegetation cover and land use in the Colombian Amazon, as a result of settlement processes, have increased the emission of greenhouse gases, such as CO2.