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COURSE INFO PROVIDER: SWSPCP Webinar
COURSE TITLE: Atlas of Bofedales of the Southern Tropical Andes

INSTRUCTORS Gabriel Zeballos Castellon, Ph.D.

COURSE DESCRIPTION Atlas of Bofedales of the Southern Tropical Andes
Gabriel Zeballos Castellon, Ph.D.
Latin American Conference Webinars
March 2023

ABSTRACT:
Bofedales are the most biodiverse hydroecological systems of the High Andes. Scattered along glacier valleys and high plateaus, bofedales perform multiple cultural, social, and ecosystem services. Among these, they regulate the hydrology of groundwater, they are habitat for wild and domesticated fauna, and they are important carbon sinks. Climate change is affecting the equilibrium between bofedales and the environment, causing their degradation. Despite their importance, there is a substantial gap in the geographical distribution of bofedales, which increases the critical need for understanding the current threats and vulnerabilities to these systems and information pertaining to the range of biophysical patterns among the various classes of bofedales, and differing bio-geographical characteristics of bofedales across the Andean region including the seasonal to interannual patterns of vegetation productivity. In this research, I developed and applied new methodologies utilizing state-of-the-knowledge Earth Observation Systems analysis with extensive ground truthing archival research of published studies, and mixed botanical field methods to create an Atlas of bofedales in the Southern Tropical Andes, including the countries of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. We produced a baseline inventory of varying bofedal classes and a regional map of their distribution and size for the Southern Tropical Andes, a comparative geo-botanical analysis of bofedal classes, an examination of the annual to seasonal trends of the vegetation indices of bofedales, and an evaluation of the potential climatological drivers of their degradation.

BIO:
Gabriel Zeballos is a Ph. D. in Geography, focused on the impacts of climate change on the socio-ecological systems of the mountains. Gabriel's research involves the integration of the traditional ecological knowledge of the indigenous peoples and the culture of the Andes with remote sensing tools, cloud-based programming, and botanical fieldwork to understand the vulnerability of High Andean ecosystems. Gabriel speaks six languages, including Quechua and Aymara.

Credit Points: 0.06

SYLLABUS/TOPICAL OUTLINE SYNOPSIS: 1) Introduction to bofedales ecosystems of the Southern Tropical Andes (5 min.). 2) Ecosystem services rendered by bofedales (10 min.). 3) Threats to bofedales (10 min.). 4) Paucity of information regarding bofedalis (5 min.). 5) The authorâ��s research and results that help to fill these data gaps (15 min.). 6) Questions and answers (15 min.).

COURSE CONTACT

Louis Mantini
9225 CR49, Live Oak, FL, FL 32060
lfm@srwmd.org
P: 13866974891
F:

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