Peatbogs are the most productive and biodiversity rich ecosystems of high dry Puna region, and provide essential ecosystems services to local inhabitants. Despite their ecological and economic importance, the geographic patterns and distribution of peatbogs as well the dynamic of this system are barely known. In this work we (1) identified and mapped subtropical Argentine High Andean peatbogs based in a supervised classification of Landsat images, and a posteriori spatial processing to define functional units; (2) used such classification to characterize the whole Argentina Puna region (14.3 million hectares) in terms of their geographic patterns of peatbogs; and (3) characterized the region's sub-watersheds according to their peatbogs density and geographic characteristics. The post-process map reports a total area of peatbogs of 94427.55 ha (0.66 % of total study area) with 10,428 polygons. The majority of peatbogs are small or median (i.e., 21.8 % of total area included \10 ha, while 24.5 % of total area are peatbogs from 10 to 50 ha), but only two peatbogs with [10,000 ha represent 18 % of total area. Peatbogs density is spatially heterogeneous, with much higher density in the north and central east of the study area. Subwatershed can be grouped into six main groups according to the percentage of peatbogs cover, mean size of peatbogs and altitude. The combination of basic information, such as map of peatbogs cover with spatial patterns characterization, is a priority input for the conservation planning of this extensive and valuable ecosystem, and to ongoing land use planning initiatives.
Aims: High-Andean vegas are key functional wetlands in the Puna ecoregion. Plant communities in combination with ecogeographic characteristics determine their functional processes. In this study, we identified groups of vegas based on their plant composition and characterized these groups with spatial and spectral variables representing their ecogeographic context.Location: Argentine Puna and High-Andean ecoregions.
Methods:We recorded the species composition and cover of plants in 50 vegas distributed along a ecogeographic gradient. We calculated six spatial and 14 spectral variables for each vega. We performed a correspondence analysis (CA) to explore species data and used the site's scores in a k-means analysis to identify groups of vegas.Then, we characterized each group of vegas with spatial and spectral variables with the v.test using the 'catdes' function in the FactoMineR package.
Results:The CA showed five groups of vegas segregated by the plant species composition. Each group was related to different spatial and spectral variables showing an ecogeographic gradient. Vegas with Poaceas were located at higher altitude and lower latitude and longitude (Group 1, Festuca nardifolia and Deschampsia hackelii). Vegas dominated by cushion species had higher humidity (Group 2, Oxychloe andina), and higher and more stable productivity (Group 3, Eleocharis pseudoalbibracteata), while vegas with halophytic species were associated with a larger area, higher salinity, and lower humidity (Group 4, Amphiscirpus nevadensis), and lower productivity (Group 5, Lycium humile and Salicornia pulvinata).
Conclusions:Our results are the first floristic classification and remote-sensing characterization of high-Andean vegas at a regional scale. This information shows the variation of these ecosystems and suggests that remote sensing, complemented with field information, could help to identify types of vegas at regional scales. This information is relevant for land planning and sustainable management of these key ecosystems in the context of threats of global change.
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