The high-altitude South American Andean ecosystem associated with spectacled bears is the páramo.
Páramos are tropical mountain ecosystems found mainly in the northern Andes, especially in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and northern Peru. They occupy elevations above the continuous forest and below the permanent snow line, creating cool, windy, and intensely changeable conditions despite their equatorial latitude.
The vegetation includes tussock grasses, mosses, shrubs, and distinctive rosette plants such as Espeletia, commonly called frailejones. Páramo soils and peatlands can store large quantities of water, making these landscapes important sources of drinking water for nearby cities and valleys.
Spectacled bears use páramo alongside cloud forests, montane forests, and other Andean habitats. Puna is another high-elevation Andean ecosystem, but it is generally drier and more strongly associated with the central and southern Andes. Moorland is a broad descriptive term, while alpine tundra usually refers to a colder, non-tropical high-mountain environment.