Journal of Water and Land Development

Abstract

The aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) of bofedales is one of the most important indicators for the provision of ecosystem services in the high Andean areas. In the case of bofedales, the evaluation of the ANPP supply capacity as a service on a spatial and temporal scale through remote sensing has been little addressed. The capacity, intra and interannual, to provide the ANPP of the high Andean wetlands was quantified at a spatial and temporal level through remote sensing. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of the MODIS sensor was used according to the Monteith model (1972), product of the incident photosynthetically active radiation, fraction of the absorbed radiation, and the efficiency of using the radiation of the calibrated vegetation with dry matter sampling in the field. Results show an ANPP prediction R 2 of 0.52 (p < 0.05), with no significant spatial difference between field samples. When applying the model, the intra-annual temporary ANPP supply capacity presents a maximum average of 160.54 kg DM•ha -1 •month -1 in the rainy season (December-May) and a maximum average of 81.17 kg DM•ha -1 •month -1 in the dry season (June-October). In 2003-2020, the interannual temporary capacity presented values of 1100-1700 kg DM•ha -1 •year -1 . This makes it possible not to affect the sustainability of the wetlands and prevent their depletion and degradation. Understanding the ANPP supply capacity of bofedales can favour the efficient use of the resource and indirectly benefit its conservation.