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The lapwing in andean ethnoecology: Proxy for landscape transformation

Abstract:

The Andean lapwing (. Vanellus resplendens Tschudi) prompts rethinking of ethnoecology in neotropical cloud forests and páramos and challenges notions about conservation in mountain protected areas. Using archaeological, historical, and current evidence, I argue that the role of humans in shaping viable high-mountain bird populations is an important factor in the conservation priorities of tropandean landscapes, particularly in the mountains. The presence of the Andean lapwing demonstrates the intricate linkages between culture and nature in the Andean region. I highlight a paradox of conservation, using the Andean lapwing as the avian indicator of global environmental change as an example of the contest between landscape change, biodiversity, and ethnoecological insights. Landscape stewardship, conservation easements, and cultural landscapes are options for inclusion in the repertoire of scenarios for the survival of healthy avifaunal assemblages in high-mountain environments that have evolved in synchrony with humans, such as in páramos, cultural landscapes worth protecting in the tropical Andes. © 2010 by the American Geographical Society of New York.