Mapping high-altitude peatlands to inform a landscape conservation strategy in the Andes of northern Peru

Curatola Fernández, Giulia F.; Makowski Giannoni, Sandro; Delgado Florián, Ellen; Rengifo, Piero; Rascón, Jesús; Chichipe Vela, Elder; Butrich, Carolina; Salas López, Rolando; Oliva-Cruz, Manuel; Scheske, Christel (2023). Mapping high-altitude peatlands to inform a landscape conservation strategy in the Andes of northern Peru. Environmental Conservation, 50(4), pp. 212-219. Cambridge University Press 10.1017/S0376892923000267

Preview

Text mapping-high-altitude-peatlands-to-inform-a-landscape-conservation-strategy-in-the-andes-of-northern-peru.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike (CC-BY-NC-SA). Download (4MB) | Preview

The wetlands of the jalca ecoregion in the Andes of northern Peru form peat and play a major role in the hydrological ecosystem services of the ecoregion. Although peat is globally valued for carbon sequestration and storage, peatlands have not yet been mapped in the jalca. In this region, the Gocta waterfall, one of the 20 highest waterfalls in the world, depends on the jalca’s wetlands ecosystem. The local population depends on tourism to the waterfall and is concerned about preserving its drainage area. To inform conservation planning, in this study we delimited the drainage area of the Gocta waterfall and identified land tenure by applying Geographic Information System (GIS), remote sensing and participatory mapping techniques. Then, by classifying optical, radar and digital elevation models data, we mapped peatland in the jalca of the Gocta drainage area with an overall accuracy of 97.1%. Our results will inform conservation strategy in this complex area of communal, private and informal land tenure systems. At a regional level, this appears to be the first attempt at mapping peatlands using remote sensing imagery in the jalca ecoregion, and it represents a milestone for future efforts to map and conserve peatlands in other tropical mountain areas of the world.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

22 since deposited on 13 Oct 2023
22 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item