Lachemilla sprucei
Overview
A detailed profile for this species is sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as assessments become available.
Lachemilla sprucei faces significant pressure from agricultural expansion and livestock grazing in its high-altitude Andean habitats. Climate change poses an additional threat as warming temperatures force this cold-adapted species to retreat to increasingly limited suitable elevations. The conversion of páramo grasslands to potato cultivation and cattle ranching has fragmented its already restricted range across the northern Andes.
Habitat
This species inhabits high-altitude páramo grasslands and alpine meadows in the northern Andes, typically occurring between 3,000-4,200 meters elevation. It grows in moist, well-drained soils among tussock grasses and other cold-adapted vegetation in these montane ecosystems.