Nature of alpine ecosystems in tropical mountains of South America

Christmann, Tina and Oliveras, Imma (2020) Nature of alpine ecosystems in tropical mountains of South America. In, Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes. Elsevier Ltd., pp. 282-291. (doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-409548-9.12481-9).

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

The three grass-dominated mountain top formations in South America are the Puna, the Parámos and the Campos de altitude. The first two span a wide latitudinal range in the Andes, while the Campos de Altitude are found in relicts in the higher areas of the Brazilian Atlantic forest. They are all dominated by C3 tussock grasses and harbor high levels of endemism. Remarkably, they share a number of grass genera despite the geographical distance between the Andes and the Atlantic forest. All these alpine grasslands also harbor iconic fauna and provide key ecosystem services. Moreover, they share a history of intense human-induced disturbance, which has resulted in high degradation and fragmentation rates. Climate change is exacerbating the threats to these ecosystems because they are systems driven by specific adaptations and narrow niches of species, thus small environmental changes can cause a re-assemblage of species communities and increase fragmentation. Lastly, they remain poorly studied compared to other grasslands ecosystems, and we identify the main knowledge gaps that should be urgently addressed if we aim to conserve these precious systems.

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