Anthropogenic activities in the páramo trigger ecological shifts in Tropical Andean lakes

Kimberley Hagemans; Timme H. Donders; Kees Nooren; Iris E.E. Scheper; Martin C.A. Stekelenburg; Maud Theunissen; Philip S.J. Minderhoud; Alejandra Goldenberg-Vilar; Susana León-Yánez; Manuela Ormaza; Friederike Wagner-Cremer; Aleksandra Cvetkoska

doi:10.1017/qua.2023.9

Anthropogenic activities in the páramo trigger ecological shifts in Tropical Andean lakes

Kimberley Hagemans, Timme H. Donders, Kees Nooren, Iris E.E. Scheper, Martin C.A. Stekelenburg, Maud Theunissen, Philip S.J. Minderhoud, Alejandra Goldenberg-Vilar, Susana León-Yánez, Manuela Ormaza, Friederike Wagner-Cremer, Aleksandra Cvetkoska^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

A robust understanding of the impact of anthropogenic activities on high-altitude tropical aquatic ecosystems is key for the conservation and protection of the Tropical Andean biodiversity hot spot. We present the results of a multiproxy study of lake sediments from the high Andean páramo of El Cajas National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve in Ecuador. The main site, Laguna Pallcacocha, is well known for recording El Niño-driven clastic flood layers that are triggered by high-intensity rainfall anomalies from the eastern Pacific. The second site, Laguna El Ocho, does not contain clastic laminations, providing a control. The records show abrupt shifts in diatom assemblages ca. AD 1991 in both high-elevation Andean lakes accompanied by local changes in páramo composition that suggest a sudden nutrient enrichment of the environment. The diatom assemblages from Laguna Pallcacocha, in relation to the clastic input events, are remarkably stable and do not show evident El Niño signals at the analysed resolution. Based on comparison with the nonlaminated El Ocho record, we deduce the main source of this nutrient enrichment to be the construction of a heavily transited road that runs through the park, while climate warming played secondary role by amplifying its effects.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	18-29
Number of pages	12
Journal	Quaternary Research (United States)
Volume	114
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2023.9
State	Published - 5 Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).

Funding

We are grateful to personnel from the ECP and ETAPA-EP for permitting access to the park and providing valuable information on its management and conservation. Hans van Aken assisted in fieldwork and measurement of water properties. Our thanks also go the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador (MAE) for providing research and fieldwork permissions (permit no. 009_SGA_2015_PNC_BD_VA_Donders). We thank Eva Wijnands for her contribution to the charcoal analyses. This research was funded by the Earth and Life Science council (ALW) of the Netherlands Organisation of Scientific Research (NWO; grant no. 824.14.018). The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. We are grateful to personnel from the ECP and ETAPA-EP for permitting access to the park and providing valuable information on its management and conservation. Hans van Aken assisted in fieldwork and measurement of water properties. Our thanks also go the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador (MAE) for providing research and fieldwork permissions (permit no. 009-SGA-2015-PNC-BD-VA-Donders). We thank Eva Wijnands for her contribution to the charcoal analyses. This research was funded by the Earth and Life Science council (ALW) of the Netherlands Organisation of Scientific Research (NWO; grant no. 824.14.018). The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Funders	Funder number
Earth and Life Science council
Ministerio del Ambiente, Agua y Transición Ecológica	009-SGA-2015-PNC-BD-VA-Donders
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek	824.14.018

Keywords

Andean lakes
diatoms
multiproxy
pollen
páramo
road construction

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1017/qua.2023.9

Cite this

Hagemans, K., Donders, T. H., Nooren, K., Scheper, I. E. E., Stekelenburg, M. C. A., Theunissen, M., Minderhoud, P. S. J., Goldenberg-Vilar, A., León-Yánez, S., Ormaza, M., Wagner-Cremer, F., & Cvetkoska, A. (2023). Anthropogenic activities in the páramo trigger ecological shifts in Tropical Andean lakes. Quaternary Research (United States), 114, 18-29. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2023.9

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title = "Anthropogenic activities in the p{\'a}ramo trigger ecological shifts in Tropical Andean lakes",

abstract = "A robust understanding of the impact of anthropogenic activities on high-altitude tropical aquatic ecosystems is key for the conservation and protection of the Tropical Andean biodiversity hot spot. We present the results of a multiproxy study of lake sediments from the high Andean p{\'a}ramo of El Cajas National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve in Ecuador. The main site, Laguna Pallcacocha, is well known for recording El Ni{\~n}o-driven clastic flood layers that are triggered by high-intensity rainfall anomalies from the eastern Pacific. The second site, Laguna El Ocho, does not contain clastic laminations, providing a control. The records show abrupt shifts in diatom assemblages ca. AD 1991 in both high-elevation Andean lakes accompanied by local changes in p{\'a}ramo composition that suggest a sudden nutrient enrichment of the environment. The diatom assemblages from Laguna Pallcacocha, in relation to the clastic input events, are remarkably stable and do not show evident El Ni{\~n}o signals at the analysed resolution. Based on comparison with the nonlaminated El Ocho record, we deduce the main source of this nutrient enrichment to be the construction of a heavily transited road that runs through the park, while climate warming played secondary role by amplifying its effects.",

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author = "Kimberley Hagemans and Donders, {Timme H.} and Kees Nooren and Scheper, {Iris E.E.} and Stekelenburg, {Martin C.A.} and Maud Theunissen and Minderhoud, {Philip S.J.} and Alejandra Goldenberg-Vilar and Susana Le{\'o}n-Y{\'a}nez and Manuela Ormaza and Friederike Wagner-Cremer and Aleksandra Cvetkoska",

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year = "2023",

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Hagemans, K, Donders, TH, Nooren, K, Scheper, IEE, Stekelenburg, MCA, Theunissen, M, Minderhoud, PSJ, Goldenberg-Vilar, A, León-Yánez, S, Ormaza, M, Wagner-Cremer, F & Cvetkoska, A 2023, 'Anthropogenic activities in the páramo trigger ecological shifts in Tropical Andean lakes', Quaternary Research (United States), vol. 114, pp. 18-29. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2023.9

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AU - Hagemans, Kimberley

AU - Donders, Timme H.

AU - Nooren, Kees

AU - Scheper, Iris E.E.

AU - Stekelenburg, Martin C.A.

AU - Theunissen, Maud

AU - Minderhoud, Philip S.J.

AU - Goldenberg-Vilar, Alejandra

AU - León-Yánez, Susana

AU - Ormaza, Manuela

AU - Wagner-Cremer, Friederike

AU - Cvetkoska, Aleksandra

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N2 - A robust understanding of the impact of anthropogenic activities on high-altitude tropical aquatic ecosystems is key for the conservation and protection of the Tropical Andean biodiversity hot spot. We present the results of a multiproxy study of lake sediments from the high Andean páramo of El Cajas National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve in Ecuador. The main site, Laguna Pallcacocha, is well known for recording El Niño-driven clastic flood layers that are triggered by high-intensity rainfall anomalies from the eastern Pacific. The second site, Laguna El Ocho, does not contain clastic laminations, providing a control. The records show abrupt shifts in diatom assemblages ca. AD 1991 in both high-elevation Andean lakes accompanied by local changes in páramo composition that suggest a sudden nutrient enrichment of the environment. The diatom assemblages from Laguna Pallcacocha, in relation to the clastic input events, are remarkably stable and do not show evident El Niño signals at the analysed resolution. Based on comparison with the nonlaminated El Ocho record, we deduce the main source of this nutrient enrichment to be the construction of a heavily transited road that runs through the park, while climate warming played secondary role by amplifying its effects.

AB - A robust understanding of the impact of anthropogenic activities on high-altitude tropical aquatic ecosystems is key for the conservation and protection of the Tropical Andean biodiversity hot spot. We present the results of a multiproxy study of lake sediments from the high Andean páramo of El Cajas National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve in Ecuador. The main site, Laguna Pallcacocha, is well known for recording El Niño-driven clastic flood layers that are triggered by high-intensity rainfall anomalies from the eastern Pacific. The second site, Laguna El Ocho, does not contain clastic laminations, providing a control. The records show abrupt shifts in diatom assemblages ca. AD 1991 in both high-elevation Andean lakes accompanied by local changes in páramo composition that suggest a sudden nutrient enrichment of the environment. The diatom assemblages from Laguna Pallcacocha, in relation to the clastic input events, are remarkably stable and do not show evident El Niño signals at the analysed resolution. Based on comparison with the nonlaminated El Ocho record, we deduce the main source of this nutrient enrichment to be the construction of a heavily transited road that runs through the park, while climate warming played secondary role by amplifying its effects.

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KW - diatoms

KW - multiproxy

KW - pollen

KW - páramo

KW - road construction

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JO - Quaternary Research (United States)

JF - Quaternary Research (United States)

ER -

Anthropogenic activities in the páramo trigger ecological shifts in Tropical Andean lakes

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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Cite this