Environmental Changes Affecting the Andes of Ecuador
Peters T, Drobnik T, Meyer H, Rankl M, Richter M, Rollenbeck R, Thies B, Bendix J (2013)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Book chapter / Article in edited volumes
Publication year: 2013
Publisher: Springer Verlag
Edited Volumes: Ecosystem services, Biodiversity and Environmental Change in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of South Ecuador. Ecological Studies
Series: Ecological Studies
City/Town: Heidelberg
Book Volume: 221
Pages Range: 19-29
ISBN: 978-3-642-38137-9
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-38137-9_2
Abstract
Global terrestrial biodiversity is strongly affected by expanding land use, climate change and nitrogen deposition. This holds especially true for tropical forests which already show large changes due mainly to land use activities. The extent of land use in Ecuador has increased considerably during the last century. An extensive network of primary and secondary roads now opens up most of the western and central areas of the country, while parts of the Oriente have been converted into protected areas. Concerning climate change warming is predicted to be moderate for western Ecuador, while the eastern part of the country will suffer from rising temperatures that will affect a floristic region harbouring one of the global diversity hotspots for vascular plant species. Changes in precipitation are expected to be spatially much less cohesive, with increasing and decreasing amounts of precipitation being unevenly distributed throughout the Andes. The spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of precipitation and wind also regulate the deposition of rainwater-dissolved matter in the mountain ecosystem which results from biomass burning in Amazonia. In this chapter, our current knowledge as to the past development of these major threats of the ecosystem will be discussed focusing on the study area South Ecuador.
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APA:
Peters, T., Drobnik, T., Meyer, H., Rankl, M., Richter, M., Rollenbeck, R.,... Bendix, J. (2013). Environmental Changes Affecting the Andes of Ecuador. In Springer Berlin Heidelberg (Eds.), Ecosystem services, Biodiversity and Environmental Change in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of South Ecuador. Ecological Studies. (pp. 19-29). Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.
MLA:
Peters, Thorsten, et al. "Environmental Changes Affecting the Andes of Ecuador." Ecosystem services, Biodiversity and Environmental Change in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of South Ecuador. Ecological Studies. Ed. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Heidelberg: Springer Verlag, 2013. 19-29.
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