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Mosquera GM, Hofstede R, Bremer LL, Asbjornsen H, Carabajo-Hidalgo A, Célleri R, Crespo P, Esquivel-Hernández G, Feyen J, Manosalvas R, Marín F, Mena-Vásconez P, Montenegro-Díaz P, Ochoa-Sánchez A, Pesántez J, Riveros-Iregui DA, Suárez E. Frontiers in páramo water resources research: A multidisciplinary assessment. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 892:164373. [PMID: 37244621 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Revised: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Interdisciplinary knowledge is necessary to achieve sustainable management of natural resources. However, research is still often developed in an exclusively disciplinary manner, hampering the capacity to holistically address environmental issues. This study focuses on páramo, a group of high-elevation ecosystems situated around ∼3000 to ∼5000 m a.s.l. in the Andes from western Venezuela and northern Colombia through Ecuador down to northern Peru, and in the highlands of Panama and Costa Rica in Central America. Páramo is a social-ecological system that has been inhabited and shaped by human activity since ∼10,000 years BP. This system is highly valued for the water-related ecosystem services provided to millions of people because it forms the headwaters of major rivers in the Andean-Amazon region, including the Amazon River. We present a multidisciplinary assessment of peer-reviewed research on the abiotic (physical and chemical), biotic (ecological and ecophysiological), and social-political aspects and elements of páramo water resources. A total of 147 publications were evaluated through a systematic literature review process. We found that thematically 58, 19, and 23 % of the analyzed studies are related to the abiotic, biotic, and social-political aspects of páramo water resources, respectively. Geographically, most publications were developed in Ecuador (71 % of the synthesized publications). From 2010 onwards, the understanding of hydrological processes including precipitation and fog dynamics, evapotranspiration, soil water transport, and runoff generation improved, particularly for the humid páramo of southern Ecuador. Investigations on the chemical quality of water generated by páramo are rare, providing little empirical support to the widespread belief that páramo environments generate water of high quality. Most ecological studies examined the coupling between páramo terrestrial and aquatic environments, but few directly assessed in-stream metabolic and nutrient cycling processes. Studies focused on the connection between ecophysiological and ecohydrological processes influencing páramo water balance are still scarce and mainly related to the dominant vegetation in the Andean páramo, i.e., tussock grass (pajonal). Social-political studies addressed páramo governance and the implementation and significance of water funds and payment for hydrological services. Studies directly addressing water use, access, and governance in páramo communities remain limited. Importantly, we found only a few interdisciplinary studies combining methodologies from at least two disciplines of different nature despite their value in supporting decision-making. We expect this multidisciplinary synthesis to become a milestone to foster interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary dialogue among individuals and entities involved in and committed to the sustainable management of páramo natural resources. Finally, we also highlight key frontiers in páramo water resources research, which in our view need to be addressed in the coming years/decades to achieve this goal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanny M Mosquera
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales/Instituto Biósfera, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador.
| | - Robert Hofstede
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales/Instituto Biósfera, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador; Ecopar Corporation, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Leah L Bremer
- University of Hawai'i Economic Research Organization, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA; Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Heidi Asbjornsen
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
| | - Aldemar Carabajo-Hidalgo
- Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Rolando Célleri
- Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador; Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Patricio Crespo
- Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador; Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Germain Esquivel-Hernández
- Stable Isotopes Research Group and Water Resources Management Laboratory, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica
| | - Jan Feyen
- Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven-Heverlee, Belgium
| | - Rossana Manosalvas
- EcoCiencia, Quito, Ecuador; Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Franklin Marín
- Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Carrera de Ingeniería Agronómica, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador; Department of Environment, CAVElab - Computational and Applied Vegetation Ecology, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - Patricio Mena-Vásconez
- EcoCiencia, Quito, Ecuador; Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Paola Montenegro-Díaz
- Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador; Departamento de Posgrados, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, Ecuador; TRACES & Escuela de Ingeniería Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Ana Ochoa-Sánchez
- TRACES & Escuela de Ingeniería Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Juan Pesántez
- Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Diego A Riveros-Iregui
- Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Esteban Suárez
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales/Instituto Biósfera, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador
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Botter G, Carozzani A, Peruzzo P, Durighetto N. Steps dominate gas evasion from a mountain headwater stream. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7803. [PMID: 36528639 PMCID: PMC9759591 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35552-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Steps are dominant morphologic traits of high-energy streams, where climatically- and biogeochemically-relevant gases are processed, transported to downstream ecosystems or released into the atmosphere. Yet, capturing the imprint of the small-scale morphological complexity of channel forms on large-scale river outgassing represents a fundamental unresolved challenge. Here, we combine theoretical and experimental approaches to assess the contribution of localized steps to the gas evasion from river networks. The framework was applied to a representative, 1 km-long mountain reach in Italy, where carbon dioxide concentration drops across several steps and a reference segment without steps were measured under different hydrologic conditions. Our results indicate that local steps lead the reach-scale outgassing, especially for high and low discharges. These findings suggest that steps are key missing components of existing scaling laws used for the assessment of gas fluxes across water-air interfaces. Therefore, global evasion from rivers may differ substantially from previously reported estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianluca Botter
- grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padua, via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padua (PD), Italy
| | - Anna Carozzani
- grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padua, via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padua (PD), Italy
| | - Paolo Peruzzo
- grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padua, via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padua (PD), Italy
| | - Nicola Durighetto
- grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padua, via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padua (PD), Italy
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