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A Tale of an Isotope: Where Does the Water Come from in Tropical Andean Ecosystems? A Case of Study in South Ecuador

Abstract:

Only few catchments in the Andean mountain range are currently monitored. Most basins in the region remain ungauged, and as a result, little knowledge is available on the processes governing their hydrological behavior. In particular, despite the importance of tropical alpine grasslands of the northern Andes (commonly known as the páramo) as providers of abundant high-quality water for downstream populations as well as a variety of other environmental services, very little is known about their hydrologic functioning. Understanding the hydrological behavior of the fragile Andean páramo ecosystems is critical given their high susceptibility to global and local stressors such as changes in land use, and the impacts of climate change and variability. To improve this situation, an analysis of the isotopic composition of oxygen-18 in the Zhurucay River experimental catchment (7.53 km2) located in south Ecuador …