Original paper
Vegetation and ecology of the high Andean peatlands of Bolivia
[Vegetación y ecología de los bofedales altoandinos de Bolivia]
Ruthsatz, Barbara
Phytocoenologia Band 42 Heft 3-4 (2012), p. 133 - 179
67 references
published: Dec 1, 2012
DOI: 10.1127/0340-269X/2012/0042-0535
ArtNo. ESP024004273001, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
Total plant lists of a representative selection of cushion plant peatlands from the high Andes of Bolivia (3800–4800 m) were used as basis for their description and classification. All of them correspond to minerotrophic fens, which are fed by seepage water from springs and brooks. The occurrence of the cushion forming Juncaceae of the genus Distichia, Oxychloe and Patosia is used as criterion for the subdivision of the peatlands, because they are forming the water retaining peat layers. A great part of the flora however is bound to different small habitats inside the peatland complexes. They develop from natural conditions and processes, the activity of the native fauna and the use of the peatlands as grazing land for Lamas, Alpacas and the domestic animals with European origin. The ecological conditions registered comprise sea level, exposition and inclination of the peatlands as well as the ion contents of the spring or brook water entering from the watershed area. The distribution of the most important cushion plants on the highlands of Bolivia is demonstrated on maps based on own investigations including the adjacent areas of Peru, Chile and Argentina. Due to differential species groups it can be proven, that the cushion plants itself and their accompanying flora follow a site gradient of humidity and salinity respectively, which runs from the humid northeast to the arid southwest of the Bolivian highlands. In this direction the precipitation diminishes and the salt content of the spring waters increases, influenced also by the young volcanism in the southwest. A DCA calculation, using the measured site conditions and the weighted species lists of the peatlands, shows that sea level and salt content of the water samples are the most important factors in arranging species and plots. The distribution of typical Bolivian peatland species along the Andes from its southern end to Colombia is pointed out. The corresponding data base consists of own observations and the species lists of the involved countries.
Keywords
Bolivia • cushion plant peatland • flora • ecological gradients • water chemistry • distribution areas • Distichia • Patosia • Oxychloe • Andes