Ecohydrology and ecosystem services of a natural and an artificial bofedal wetland in the central Andes

Cradle-to-grave environmental analysis of an alpaca fiber sweater produced in Peru

Animal fibers are an important raw material for the fashion industry but have recently been discussed due to the environmental impacts related to their production. In order to provide scientific information for decision-making in the Peruvian alpaca sector a cradle to grave carbon footprint of one (01) wear of a 100 % alpaca fiber sweater has been conducted. For the modeling of the fiber procurement stage primary data regarding livestock management and annual production parameters were obtained from interviews with 42 Peruvian alpaca herders from the main producing regions in South and Central Peru. Data for the processing stages (spinning and dyeing, knitting and weaving) were collected by means of interviews and questionnaires from three alpaca fashion companies in Arequipa and Lima. The distribution, use, and end-of-life stages were modeled with secondary data. The resulting carbon footprint of one wear of the alpaca fiber sweater is 0.449 kg CO2 equivalents (CO2e). Most emissions occur during the lifecycle stages of fiber production and distribution (70 % and 14 % of CO2e emissions, respectively). Methane emissions from enteric fermentation account for 87 % of the impact within the fiber procurement stage. The environmental impacts during the distribution stage were dominated by retailing and road transport in the destination countries and export by air and sea (53.1 % and 46.4 % of carbon emissions in this stage, respectively). Other life cycle stages were found to be less relevant emission sources. The study concluded that the main strategies for impact mitigation should focus on improving the efficiency of the fiber procurement systems. Furthermore, several knowledge gaps have been identified and should be addressed by future research regarding methane emissions associated with the main co-products of the livestock systems, ecosystem services in the Andes and especially Andean wetlands and potential mitigation strategies of greenhouse gases related to different pasture management options.

High-resolution grids of daily air temperature for Peru - the new PISCOt v1.2 dataset

Gridded high-resolution climate datasets are increasingly important for a wide range of modelling applications. Here we present PISCOt (v1.2), a novel high spatial resolution (0.01°) dataset of daily air temperature for entire Peru (1981-2020). The dataset development involves four main steps: (i) quality control; (ii) gap-filling; (iii) homogenisation of weather stations, and (iv) spatial interpolation using additional data, a revised calculation sequence and an enhanced version control. This improved methodological framework enables capturing complex spatial variability of maximum and minimum air temperature at a more accurate scale compared to other existing datasets (e.g. PISCOt v1.1, ERA5-Land, TerraClimate, CHIRTS). PISCOt performs well with mean absolute errors of 1.4 °C and 1.2 °C for maximum and minimum air temperature, respectively. For the first time, PISCOt v1.2 adequately captures complex climatology at high spatiotemporal resolution and therefore provides a substantial improvement for numerous applications at local-regional level. This is particularly useful in view of data scarcity and urgently needed model-based decision making for climate change, water balance and ecosystem assessment studies in Peru.

Water Sowing and harvesting application for water management on the slopes of a volcano

The present study aims to elaborate a hydrogeological characterisation in the Water Sowing and Harvesting context. The study is focused on rural parishes in the Ecuadorian Andes that, despite their proximity to snow sources (Chimborazo glaciers), need more supply of this resource, to satisfy the demand of a population of 70,466 inhabitants. The study is based on hydrology and geomorphological analysis, a geophysical exploration, and a definition of water management strategies. The application of non-destructive geophysical methods and Geographic Information Systems support the hydrogeological study and the proposal of strategies for sustainable water management on the slopes of the Chimborazo volcano. An aquifer potential was identified (sand, gravel and fractured porphyritic andesites) with resistivity values between 51.3 and 157 Ω m at an approximate depth of 30 m from the geophysical characterisation addressed. This potential saturated zone is on the southern slope of the Chimborazo volcano within the hydrographic watershed, with favourable drainage networks for water accumulation. The aquifer shows a high-water saturation level but uncontrolled losses. As a consequence of these characteristics, alternatives for managing water resources are proposed, such as wells construction, using Water Sowing and Harvesting system methods ("camellones") based on Nature-Based Solutions, dam construction and environmental education. The different proposals are associated with the four sustainability axes of Brundtland (economic, social, environmental and cultural axis) and contribute to the sixth objective of the Sustainable Development Goal 2030 Agenda.

The role of land use change in affecting ecosystem services and the ecological security pattern of the Hexi Regions, Northwest China

The land use and land cover change (LUCC) associated with climate change and human activities is supposed to exert a significant effect on ecosystem functions in arid inland regions. However, the role of LUCC in shaping the spatio-temporal patterns of ecosystem services and ecological security remain unclear, especially under different future LUCC scenarios. Here, we evaluated dynamic changes of ecosystem services and ecological security pattern (ESP) in the Hexi Regions based on LUCC and other environment variables by integrating morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), entropy weight method and circuit theory. Our result showed that the LUCC was generally stable from 1980 to 2050. Compare to 2020, the land conversion under natural growth (NG), ecological protection (EP) and urban development (UD) scenarios in 2050 has changed by 10.30 %, 10.10 %, and 10.31 %, respectively. The forest, medium-cover grassland and water increased in the EP scenario, and construction land and cropland greatly expanded in the other two scenarios. Ecosystem services grew larger in the EP scenario by 2050 in comparison with the NG and UD scenarios. The ESP in the Hexi Regions has obvious spatial differences during 1980-2050. The larger ecological sources and less resistance corridors were mainly distributed in the central and eastern of the Hexi Regions with high ecosystem services. Conversely, fragmented ecological sources and larger resistance corridors were mostly located in the western regions blocked by sandy land, bare land or mountains. Compared to 2020, the area of ecological sources and pinch points under the EP scenario in 2050 increased by 4.10 × 10³ km² and 0.31 × 10³ km², respectively. The number of ecological corridors reduced while the length and resistance increased apart from the EP scenario. Our results highlighted the importance of ecological protection in shaping the LUCC, which further enhances the integrity of ecosystem and ecological security.

Effects of climate changes on net primary productivity variation in the marsh area of the Sanjiang Plain

The Sanjiang Plain includes the largest freshwater marsh in China, playing an important role in regional carbon cycle. As an important indicator of carbon cycle, the net primary productivity (NPP) is a crucial index for estimating the carbon storage of marshy wetlands. Investigating the association between climate factors and NPP variation quantitatively is of great significance for estimating carbon sequestration of marsh. Based on NPP data and climatic data from 1954 to 2014, the spatiotemporal change of NPP in marsh area was analyzed and its association with climate factors was investigated in the Sanjiang Plain in this study. The results indicated that the NPP showed an increase trend in the marsh area of the Sanjiang Plain in the past six decades. Temperate growth made the largest contribution to the NPP increase among the main climate factors in the last six decades, followed by CO2 concentration. Solar Radiation had the largest explanatory power on the spatial distribution of NPP among three climate factors before 1985. After 1985, temperature played an important role in leading the NPP distribution. Results also showed that the explanatory power of interactions between climate factors was stronger than that of single factor. Our results highlight the asymmetric effects of interactions between climate factors on marsh vegetation, which should be adequately considered in estimating carbon sequestration in marsh area in the Sanjiang Plain.