1. Tropical Mountain Mires and New Geographies of Water
in the Santa River Watershed
Bofedales Tropicales de Altura y la Nueva Geografía de Agua en la
Cuenca del Río Santa
Molly H. Polk1, Kenneth R. Young1, Jeffrey Bury2, Bryan G. Mark3,
Mark Carey4, Jeffrey M. McKenzie5, Michel Baraer6, Adam French2
1 Department of Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin, mollypolk@utexas.edu, kryoung@austin.utexas.edu
2 Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, jbury@ucsc.edu
3 Department of Geography and Byrd Polar Center, The Ohio State University, mark.9@osu.edu
4 Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, carey@uoregon.edu
5 Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, jeffrey.mckenzie@mcgill.ca
6 École de Technologie Supérieure, Université du Québec, michel.baraer@etsmtl.ca
ABSTRACT
Understanding the consequences of climate change and the complex interactions
between biophysical and social components requires novel research approaches.
Integrating disciplinary strengths within the framework of social-ecological systems
theory is a promising model that can lead to novel insights into the responses of
humans and nature. Mountain mires inside Huascarán National Park are situated within
a social-ecological system that is experiencing the impacts of glacier recession. These
hydrologic disturbances are inducing ecological shifts and related social adaptations.
Spatial alterations have been documented and are occurring as regional-scale land use
and land cover shift. Changes in mountain mires are a symbol of new geographies of
water and climate change within Peru that offer an opportunity to investigate coupled
systems. With their high capacity to store water, mires inside the Park are an important
link in Santa Basin hydrology, a large watershed that is heavily influenced by glacier
recession and pressure created by rapid and water-intensive economic development.
Shifting hydrologic regimes caused by climate-induced glacier recession will require
assessment tools that consider social and economic needs, biodiversity effects, and
other downstream consequences.
STUDY AREA
Huascarán National Park is located in the department of Ancash, Peru (Figure 1). It was established
in 1975 and is home to the world’s highest tropical mountain range, the Cordillera Blanca. It
provides habitat for the spectacled bear, vicuña, and Andean condor, among other important
animal species and plant communities. The glacial valleys of the study area serve multiple land use
goals although they are zoned by Huascaran National Park for protection of native plants and
animals. In practice the park is used by local people for livestock grazing, by park visitors for
recreation, and by the neighboring city of Huaraz as a source area for the municipal water supply.
Glacial melt drains into the Santa River, which runs along the valley bottom of the Callejón de
Huaylas and provides water to local communities and agro-industrial interests on the coast.
Approximately 267,000 inhabitants live in the region.
TROPICAL MOUNTAIN MIRES
The tropical alpine wetlands in the study area are mire complexes comprised of fens and bogs,
with peaty soils dominated by sedges and rushes. They form along lake and stream margins, in
some cases covering valley bottoms where the water table is high or perched. The humid peats
consist of decomposing plant materials with high soil porosity and low bulk density. Associated
high water storage capacity thus provides environmental buffering during the dry season. Organic
material in mire complexes stores vast amounts of carbon and, as a result, there is growing interest
in the role of mire systems in global environmental change.
RESULTS
The change detection from 2000 to 2011 revealed
wetland loss in Quilcayhuanca valley by 17.2% or 33 ha
(Table 1). Other results are as follows:
• The 2006 classified image revealed that most
overall loss occurred early in the decade, as there
was a slight increase in wetland extent from 2006
to 2011.
• Wetland loss from 2000 to 2006 included an
increase in habitat fragmentation, with smaller,
more numerous, and more clustered wetland
patches.
• By 2011 there were only 118 wetland patches,
because many of the small isolated patches had
vanished.
The changes illustrated in Figure 2 show that a number of
processes were involved. From 2000 to 2011 much of the
wetland loss in the valley bottoms was due to
contraction, implying less total water moving through
valley bottom substrates. The valley sides and higher
elevations had the loss of isolated wetlands, implying
that springs or small streams once connected to uphill
glaciers are drying out. There was some wetland
expansion, spatially constrained to valley bottoms and
presumably caused by new surface flows to those
particular places.
Figure 2. Wetland change from 2000 to 2011.
RESUMEN
Comprender las consecuencias del cambio climático y las interacciones complejas entre los
componentes biofísicos y sociales requieren una estrategia novedosa de investigación. La fortaleza
de la integración de disciplinas en el marco teórico de sistemas socio-ecológicos es un modelo
promisorio que podrá conducir a entendimientos originales de la respuestas del ser humano y la
naturaleza. Pantanos montanos (bofedales) en el Parque Nacional Huascarán están ubicados en un
sistema socio-ecológico que experiencia los impactos de la recesión glaciar. Estas perturbaciones
hidrológicas son inducidas por cambios ecológicos y adaptaciones sociales vinculadas. Los cambios
espaciales han sido documentados y están ocurriendo junto a los cambios de escala regional en
uso del espacio y cobertura de este. Los cambios en los pantanos de montaña son un símbolo de
geografías nuevas de cambio en agua y clima en el Perú que ofrecen una oportunidad para
investigar estos sistemas apareados. Dada la alta capacidad de almacenamiento, los pantanos en el
Parque son un vínculo importante para la hidrología de la cuenca del Santa; una cuenca altamente
influenciada por la recesión glaciar, así como por las presiones creadas por el crecimiento
económico rápido y de uso intensivo de agua. Por tanto, los regímenes hidrológicos cambiantes
debido a clima y recesión glaciar requerirán instrumentos de evaluación en los que se incluyen
consecuencias sociales, necesidades económicas, efecto a la biodiversidad y otras a lo largo de la
cuenca.
Landscape Metrics 2000 2006 2011
Wetland extent (ha) 191.7 141.93 158.67
Nonwetland extent (ha) 9230 9279.8 9263.1
Number wetland patches 135 141 118
Wetland patch density (per 100 ha) 0.6211 0.6487 0.5429
Mean wetland patch area (ha) 1.42 1.01 1.35
Mean Euclidean nearest neighbor (m) 149.23 122.82 142.9
COUPLED NATURAL HUMAN SYSTEMS
Tropical mountain mires are embedded within the hydrologic system of
the Cordillera Blanca. As climate change influences regional hydrologic
shifts, mountain mires will be impacted by new dynamics. Positioned
between the glaciers and their lakes and the downslope environments,
wetlands thus provide a way to link shifts in the glacial-hydrological
system with the demand for and use of water resources. The results
reported in this poster are part of a larger, transdisciplinary research
project that is analyzing the complex interactions among global,
regional, and local processes of anthropogenic and biophysical drivers
of hydrologic change in the Santa River watershed. The project takes an
approach that is both collaborative and integrated to empirically
examine the effects of recent climatic and social change in the
watershed. Using this coupled natural human systems framework, the
project will provide new insights about the role of water in shifting and
dynamic social-ecological systems.
REFERENCES
Bury, J., B. G. Mark,M. Carey, K. R. Young, J. McKenzie, M. Baraer, A. French, and M. H. Polk. 2013. New geographies of water and climate change in Peru: coupled natural
and social transformations in the Santa River watershed. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 103:363–374.
FUNDING
Funded by the United States National Science Foundation CNH Award Number 1010132: Hydrologic Transformation and Human Resilience to Climate Change in the Peruvian Andes.
MOUNTAIN MIRE ECOSYSTEM
SERVICES
Numerous ecosystem services have been identified:
 pasture for grazing
 carbon storage
 biodiversity conservation
 water supply for urban centers
 power generation
 temporary water storage
 groundwater recharge
 sediment accretion
 nutrient filtration
 pollution removal/bioremediation
 microclimate regulation
 water purification
 migratory bird habitat
 aesthetic value
 recreation value
Table 1. Metrics reporting temporal and spatial wetland change.
Figure 1. Study Area.