The Chirrip o hydrological research site (CHRS) is located within the Chirrip o National Park, Costa Rica (between 3100 and 3820 m asl) whereby $100 km 2 are covered by P aramo, a high-elevation tropical grassland ecosystem. A lake district with approximately 30 lakes of glacial origin is also protected in this area. The CHRS has been monitored since April 2015 with the aim of establishing the first water isotope baseline for the Central American P aramo. At a regional scale, the water isotope ratios (δ 2 H and δ 18 O) in precipitation and surface water at CHRS are useful for describing the governing moisture transport from the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean and the complex rainfall producing systems across the N-S mountain range of Central America. These data are also providing unique information about the evaporation and water balance conditions of tropical glacial lakes and the formation of orographic and convective precipitation in high-elevation tropical ecosystems. Current data sets from CHRS include continuous lake water temperature and meteorological conditions (i.e., precipitation amount, air temperature and relative humidity), as well as water stable isotopes in precipitation, stream water, and lake water (daily to biweekly sampling frequency). Stream water is collected at several locations across the topographic gradient whereas lake water is sampled in the three main lake systems of CHRS. CHRS serves as a reference site for conducting pilot isotopic research in highelevation ecosystems to advance the atmospheric, hydrogeological and ecohydrological studies in these understudied biomes. All data from April 2015 to November 2020 are publicly available.
<p>The P&#225;ramo is a high&#8208;elevation tropical grassland ecosystem that plays an important role in the regional water cycle of Central America and the northern Andes. However, refined information about the ecohydrological partitioning in these mountainous biomes is scarce. This work aimed to assess sub-annual or monthly variations in the ecohydrological conditions along a N-S transect with three P&#225;ramo sites: Chirrip&#243; (Costa Rica) and El Carmen and Cajas (north and south Ecuador, respectively). A Budyko-type model for conditions under which evapotranspiration surpasses precipitation using monthly meteorological observations and evapotranspiration products (May 2016-April 2019) was applied to evaluate short-term ecohydrological dynamics based on the aridity index and precipitation partitioning in the P&#225;ramo sites. Stronger hydroclimatic variations were found in Chirrip&#243; than in the Andean P&#225;ramos, related with significant increments in the evaporative index (AET/P) during the dry season. We also found a clear separation between Chirrip&#243; and the Ecuadorian P&#225;ramos owing to a higher ecohydrological resilience (i.e., similar trajectories in the energy excess or 1- AET/PET and the water excess or Q/P) in Chirrip&#243; during dry season and a more effective regulation by the additional water available to evapotranspiration besides direct precipitation (y<sub>0</sub>, range: 37 &#8211; 90 %). Our results reveal the complex ecohydrological functional properties of the P&#225;ramo and its sensitivity to future moisture changes (e.g., ENSO cycles) that could alter its water yield synchronicity.&#160;</p>
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