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Potential Effects of Projected Decrease in Annual Rainfall on Spatial Distribution of High Andean Wetlands in Southern Peru

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Abstract

High in the Central Andes, wetlands important to people and wildlife occur as medium to small patches within vast montane grasslands. Determining the effects of projected climate change on these high Andean wetlands is hindered by the lack of fine-scale environmental data. We used remote sensing data to develop an estimate of approximately 2.5% for wetland habitat in the study region. Assessing the potential effects of climate change relied on two assumptions. First, mean annual rainfall is an essential variable in the occurrence of wetlands (R2 = 0.82, p < 0.01) within the semi-arid climate of the high Andes. Second, climate change projections indicate a decrease in mean annual rainfall within the study region. In our linear regression model the projected decrease in annual rainfall resulted in a total wetland loss for watersheds within most semi-arid parts of the study region. Here, we provide quantitative data for Andean wetlands to inform conservation and land use decisions. Our study results also suggest that conservation efforts should focus on a more integrative approach including smaller wetlands at the watershed level as well as regions outside protected areas.

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Acknowledgments

Preparation for fieldwork was greatly assisted by T. Valqui whom provided advice for study sites and helped arrange field assistants. Z. Cheviron, S. Figueroa, F. Hernández, C. Santos, V. Cueva, A. Quiñones, L. Alza, J. Nuñez, and A. Quevedo also provided substantial support. Fieldwork assistance was provided by M. Villalba and K. Durand, two Peruvian botanists familiar with high Andean flora. We acknowledge Philipp Buss, former head of the project COPASA-GTZ in Arequipa/Peru, for providing valuable support in transportation and equipment during field studies. Some funding was provided from the National Science Foundation (USA) Grant # DEB 0543562. We are grateful to J.V. Remsen, Jr. for a thorough review that greatly improved the manuscript. The authors do not have any conflicts of interest with any of the funding sources for this work.

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  1. Richard E. Gibbons

    Present address: , 440 Wilchester Blvd., Houston, TX, 77079, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Chair of Climatology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstraße 12, 12165, Berlin, Germany

    Marco Otto

  2. Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, 119 Foster Hall, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Richard E. Gibbons

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Correspondence to Marco Otto.

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Otto, M., Gibbons, R.E. Potential Effects of Projected Decrease in Annual Rainfall on Spatial Distribution of High Andean Wetlands in Southern Peru. Wetlands 37, 647–659 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-017-0896-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-017-0896-2

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