Since pre-Columbian times, Colombia has undergone transformation of large p
arts of its natural ecosystems, in particular in the Andean region. To date
, little is known about the patterns and processes of this transformation a
nd their relation with socioeconomic and biophysical aspects. Traditionally
, the lack of integration of multidisciplinary data has hampered the possib
ility to understand complex phenomena like this. An integrated approach hel
ps to bring into a relevant contextual analysis, data that are normally ana
lyzed separately. This paper presents an approach to understanding ecosyste
m transformation by linking and integrating, spatially, data on ecosystem d
istribution and transformation, with demographic, land use, and settlement
history data on a national scale. The transformation is analyzed and docume
nted in order to explain the present situation and to make some general pre
dictions about future tendencies. The results show that the demographic and
transformation patterns follow clear historical trends that can be spatial
ly differentiated, and are related to natural regions-plains and mountains,
and altitude belts-and to general land uses. In particular, the patterns o
f the Andes and the lowlands show historically distinct tendencies. The And
ean region has higher densities and transformation proportions than the low
lands. The older settlement areas show higher densities and more intensive
land use, and tend to be strongly related to the Andean region.