Climate in the Western Cordillera of the Central Andes over the last 4300 years

Engel, Zbyněk; Skrzypek, Grzegorz; Chuman, Tomáš; Šefrna, Luděk; Mihaljevič, Martin

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.06.019

Cited by 32 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 122 publications

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“…The rate of organic matter production and accumulation in Andean peatlands are among the fastest known in the world (Benavides, Vitt, & Wieder, ; Cooper, Kaczynski, Slayback, & Yager, ; Earle & Aravena, ; Hribljan et al, ). In most valleys, peatlands initiated 3,000–10,000 years BP (Engel et al, ; Hribljan et al, ), have peat 3–10 m thick, and have been dominated by the same plant species for this vast time (Engel et al, ), indicating tremendous hydrological and ecological stability. Wetland types dominate valley bottoms and basins in many regions of the tropical Andes (Benavides & Vitt, ; Cooper et al, ; Ruthsatz, ; Salvador, Monerris, & Rochefort, ), and their vegetation provides vital forage for the native camelid vicuña ( Vicugna vicugna ), domesticated camelids, llama ( Lama glama ), and alpaca ( Vicugna pacos ), as well as nonnative domesticated cattle, horses, and sheep, that are a source of food, fibre, and market sell for pastoralists (Bury et al, ; Buttolph & Coppock, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rapid climate change is resulting in dramatic glacier mass loss in Peru, Bolivia, and other Andean countries (Rabatel, Francou, Soruco, Gomez, & many, 2013;Vuille et al, 2018). The potential long-term reduction in stream flow is a significant issue where dense human populations and agriculture rely on water runoff from the highlands (Bradley, Vuille, Diaz, & Vergara, 2006;Buytaert et al, 2017;Buytaert, Celleri, & Timbe, 2009;Engel, Skrzypek, Chuman, & Sefrna, 2014;Mark et al, 2017;Rabatel et al, 2013;Soruco et al, 2015).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The rate of organic matter production and accumulation in Andean peatlands are among the fastest known in the world (Benavides, Vitt, & Wieder, 2013;Cooper, Kaczynski, Slayback, & Yager, 2015;Earle & Aravena, 2003;Hribljan et al, 2015). In most valleys, peatlands initiated 3,000-10,000 years BP (Engel et al, 2014;Hribljan et al, 2015), have peat 3-10 m thick, and have been dominated by the same plant species for this vast time (Engel et al, 2014), indicating tremendous hydrological and ecological stability.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Drivers of peatland water table dynamics in the central Andes, Bolivia and Peru

Cooper

Sueltenfuss

Oyague

et al. 2019

Hydrological Processes

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Cushion plant dominated peatlands are key ecosystems in tropical alpine regions of the Andes in South America. The cushion plants have formed peat bodies over thousands of years that fill many valley bottoms, and the forage produced by the plants is critical for native and nonnative domesticated mammals. The sources and flow paths of water supporting these peatlands remain largely unknown. Some studies have suggested that glacier meltwater streams support some peatlands, and that the ongoing loss of glaciers and their meltwaters could lead to the loss or diminishment of peatlands. We analysed the hydrologic regime of 10 peatlands in four mountain regions of Bolivia and Peru using groundwater monitoring. Groundwater levels in peatlands were relatively stable and within 20 cm of the ground surface during the rainy season, and many sites had water tables 40–90 cm below the ground surface in the dry season. Topographic and groundwater elevations in the peatlands demonstrated that the water source of all 10 peatlands was hillslope groundwater flowing from lateral moraines, talus, colluvium, or bedrock aquifers into the peatlands. There was little to no input from streams, whether derived from glacier melt or other sources, and glacier melt could not have recharged the hillslope aquifers supporting peatlands. We measured the stable water isotopes in water samples taken during different seasons, distributed throughout the catchments, and the values are consistent with this interpretation. Our findings indicate that peatlands in the study region are recharged by hillslope groundwater discharge rather than stream water and may not be as vulnerable to glacial decline as other studies have indicated. However, both glaciers and peatlands are susceptible to changing thermal and precipitation regimes that could affect the persistence of peatlands.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Drivers of peatland water table dynamics in the central Andes, Bolivia and Peru

Cooper

Sueltenfuss

Oyague

et al. 2019

Hydrological Processes

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“…This new Holocene climate record is timely and welcome since it will help to better understand the centennial hydrological and temperature changes in the region. Engel et al (2014) identify these 7 short arid events in other regional climatic reconstructions derived from lake sediments, speleothems, peat bog and ice cores from the Central Andes between 7 and 18ºS. One of these regional climatic reconstructions is based on the concentration of dust particles in the Sajama ice core studied by Thompson et al (1998).…”

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confidence: 99%

Comment on “Climate in the Western Cordillera of the Central Andes over the last 4300 years”, by Engel et al. (2014)

Sáez

Giralt

Hernández

et al. 2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…Especially in the arid west, the number of available paleoclimate archives is still considerably small. In this respect, high‐Andean cushion peatlands can be valuable (paleo‐)environmental recorders, especially due to their high accumulation rates that allow for chronologies up to sub‐decadal resolution (e.g., Engel et al, ; Kock, Schittek, Mächtle, et al, ; Schittek et al, ). Further, these peatlands are very sensitive towards climatic changes and offer comparability across climatic gradients and (Schittek, ; Schittek et al, ).…”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi‐Centennial‐Scale Variations of South American Summer Monsoon Intensity in the Southern Central Andes (24–27°S) During the Late Holocene

Kock

Schittek

Mächtle

et al. 2020

Geophysical Research Letters

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Oxygen isotope records of cushion‐plant peat cellulose from the southern central Andes capture evidence for significant environmental changes. We observe that the δ18Ocell peatland record from Cerro Tuzgle (24°S) is in high conformity with the respective Lagunillas peatland record (27°S). During the late Holocene, two significant fluctuations occurred and are interpreted as regional moisture signals with increased precipitation amounts indicated during multi‐centennial phases from 1,530 to 1,270 cal. yr BP and from 470 to 70 cal. yr BP. These fluctuations can be best explained by changes in the strength of the South American summer monsoon (SASM). This interpretation is further supported by consistency with northern Andean paleoclimate records (10–13°S) and very high correlation (R2 = 0.76) with the Southern Oscillation Index. The congruent precipitation signals suggest the persistent climatic control of the SASM‐strength in this latitudinal band during the last 1,800 years.

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Climate in the Western Cordillera of the Central Andes over the last 4300 years

Cited by 32 publications

References 122 publications

Drivers of peatland water table dynamics in the central Andes, Bolivia and Peru

Drivers of peatland water table dynamics in the central Andes, Bolivia and Peru

Comment on “Climate in the Western Cordillera of the Central Andes over the last 4300 years”, by Engel et al. (2014)

Multi‐Centennial‐Scale Variations of South American Summer Monsoon Intensity in the Southern Central Andes (24–27°S) During the Late Holocene

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