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Atlas of Bofedales in the Southern Tropical Andes: Spatial Distribution and Spatiotemporal Analysis

Zeballos Castellon, Gabriel
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7904-0843
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1658507392338322

Abstract Details

2022, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Geography.
Bofedales are ecologically defined as an Andean mountain wetland and peatland system, which constitute one of the most highly biodiverse and important hydroecological systems of the high Andes. Their geographic distribution is scattered across high mountain plateaus and glacier valleys across the Andean Cordilleras. Bofedales provide key environmental, social, and cultural services for pastoralist communities, including critical habitat for a wide range of wild flora and fauna, including also livestock animals and endemic birds. Alterations to the regional climate processes, land use change, and rapid glacier retreat are affecting the sustainability and equilibrium of bofedales, leading to their degradation. Despite their importance for ecosystem services, there is a substantial gap in the geographical distribution of bofedales, which is a critical need in order to understand current threats and vulnerabilities to these systems, and a dearth of information about the range of biophysical patterns regarding the classes of bofedales and differing bio-geographical characteristics of bofedales across the Andean region, including the seasonal to interannual patterns of vegetation productivity. In this research, I developed and applied new methodologies utilizing state-of-the-knowledge Earth Observation Systems analysis with extensive ground-truthing, archival research of published studies, and mixed botanical field methods to create an Atlas of bofedales in the Southern Tropical Andes, including the countries of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. In particular, this research has resulted in the development of mapping products to address the academic gaps in bofedal distribution including 1) A baseline inventory of varying bofedal classes and a regional map of their distribution and size of bofedales for the Southern Tropical Andes, and 2) A comparative geo-botanical analysis of bofedal classes in three regions of the Bolivian Altiplano, and 3) An examination of the annual to seasonal trends of the vegetation indices of bofedales (i.e. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), and an evaluation of the potential climatological drivers of their degradation to assess the degree of risk to their conservation.
Bryan Mark (Advisor)
149 p.
Geographic Information Science; Geography; Physical Geography; Remote Sensing
Bofedales; Earth Observation Systems; Southern Tropical Andes; NDVI; Climate Change

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Zeballos Castellon, G. (2022). Atlas of Bofedales in the Southern Tropical Andes: Spatial Distribution and Spatiotemporal Analysis [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1658507392338322

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Zeballos Castellon, Gabriel. Atlas of Bofedales in the Southern Tropical Andes: Spatial Distribution and Spatiotemporal Analysis . 2022. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1658507392338322.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Zeballos Castellon, Gabriel. "Atlas of Bofedales in the Southern Tropical Andes: Spatial Distribution and Spatiotemporal Analysis ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1658507392338322

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1658507392338322
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.