Browsing by Autor "Paula Pacheco"

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A First Rock Glacier Inventory for the Bolivian Andes
(Wiley, 2014) Sally Rangecroft; Stephan Harrison; Karen Anderson; John R. Magrath; Ana Paola Castel; Paula Pacheco
ABSTRACT Rock glaciers in the arid Bolivian Andes are potentially important water sources, but little is known about their spatial distribution and characteristics. We provide the first rock glacier inventory for the region (15–22°S), based on mapping using remote sensing data in Google Earth, supported by field validation. Of the 94 rock glaciers identified, 57 per cent were classified as active (containing ice) and the remaining as relict (not containing ice). The majority (87%) have a southerly aspect (SE, S and SW), and the rock glacier length and area averages were 500 m and 0.12 km 2 , respectively. We approximate the lower limit of permafrost to be at 4700 m in the Bolivian Andes, with the mean minimum altitude of rock glacier fronts estimated to be 4980 m for active rock glaciers, and about 100 m lower for relict rock glaciers. The inventory provides an important first step towards assessing the spatial distribution of regional permafrost as well as information to allow permafrost‐based water resources in the Bolivian Andes to be understood against a backdrop of severe glacier recession. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Plant community assembly is predicted by an environmental gradient in high-altitude wetlands in the semiarid western Bolivian Andes
(International Mire Conservation Group and International Peat Society, 2021) Alejandra I. Domic; José M. Capriles; Rosa Isela Meneses; Paula Pacheco; Rosa Isela Meneses; Universidad Católica del Norte, Programa de Doctorado en Antropología, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile; Paula Pacheco; Centro de Apoyo a la Gestión Sustentable del Agua y el Medio Ambiente “Agua Sustentable”, La Paz, Bolivia
The floristic composition and distribution of plant communities is the product of species-specific responses to localized environmental conditions often structured following environmental gradients. Although the importance of Andean high-elevation wetlands (bofedales) for provisioning ecosystem services has been critically emphasized in various studies, very little is known about how different micro-environmental factors shape their zonation and community assembly. Here we examined and quantified differences in herbaceous plant composition, alpha diversity, and aboveground biomass within waterlogged and dry habitats in three bofedales located in western Bolivia. Our results show that although alpha diversity was similar between both habitats, obligate wetland taxa were more abundant in waterlogged habitats whereas upland graminoids and halophytes were predominant in desiccated habitats. Furthermore, aboveground biomass of obligate wetland graminoids was higher in waterlogged habitats, while saline tolerant forbs exhibited higher aboveground biomass in desiccated habitats. Together these results suggest that soil water and organic matter content largely governs plant composition and biomass production but not alpha diversity in the studied high-altitude Andean wetlands. These results have important consequences for predicting plant species’ response to changes in the hydrological cycle due to habitat degradation and aridification caused by land use intensification and global climate change.
Socio-ecological dimensions of Andean pastoral landscape change: bridging traditional ecological knowledge and satellite image analysis in Sajama National Park, Bolivia
(Springer Science+Business Media, 2019) Karina Yager; Corinne Valdivia; D. A. Slayback; Elizabeth Jiménez; Rosa Isela Meneses; Arely Palabral; Mary Bracho; Daniela Romero; Alfred Hubbard; Paula Pacheco