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Replacement of grasslands with Polylepis forests reduces aquifer recharge in the seasonally dry Andes
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Created: Jun 02, 2026 at 11:24 p.m. (UTC)
Last updated: Jun 03, 2026 at 1:08 a.m. (UTC)
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Abstract

The high-Andes biome, which includes grasslands, peat-forming wetlands known as bofedales, and native forests, provides vital ecosystem services, such as water regulation, to millions of people living downstream. Whereas recent studies have highlighted the hydrologic regulation of native grasslands and bofedales, and quantified reductions in water yield resulting from afforestation with exotic species, little is known about changes to water resources resulting from the conversion of native grasslands to Polylepis forests. We measured hydrologic fluxes from the root zone to catchment scale in Jarava Ichu grasslands, young Polylepis (afforested over 0.568 km2 in 2016-2017), and a mature Polylepis forest in the seasonally dry puna of the Cusco region, Perú. Compared to grasslands, the Polylepis root zone experienced more drying, reached field capacity later in the wet-up, and passed an average of 41 % less water annually to the underlying aquifer. Average annual evapotranspiration in young and mature Polylepis was 1.9 and 3.2 times larger than in J. ichu grasslands, respectively. Despite the varied ecosystem services provided by native forests to the local and regional communities, we predict a 10-11 % reduction in aquifer recharge in the Upper Ramuschaka Watershed (2.12 km2) if the afforested Polylepis grows to maturity. The results presented here will guide hydrological modeling in the region and inform community-led discussions assessing the relative importance of the ecosystem services provided by the varied land covers of the puna biome.

Subject Keywords

Coverage

Spatial

Coordinate System/Geographic Projection:
WGS 84 EPSG:4326
Coordinate Units:
Decimal degrees
Place/Area Name:
Zurite, Perú
Longitude
-72.2698°
Latitude
-13.4291°

Temporal

Start Date:
End Date:

Content

Credits

Funding Agencies

This resource was created using funding from the following sources:
Agency Name Award Title Award Number
U.S. National Science Foundation Empowering students to be interdisciplinary and community-minded water scientists in Andean Peru 2420251
U.S. National Science Foundation Collaborative Research: RUI: IRES Track 1: Empowering students to bridge the gap between hydrologic science and community resilience: A case study in post-glacial Perú 2107395
Geoscientists Without Borders Bonanza en los Andes 2017080009

Contributors

People or Organizations that contributed technically, materially, financially, or provided general support for the creation of the resource's content but are not considered authors.

Name Organization Address Phone Author Identifiers
Kristina Keating Rutgers university, Newark NJ, US
Margaret Lang Cal Poly Humboldt CA, US
Joaquin Cambeiro Rutgers University, Newark

How to Cite

Oshun, J. (2026). Replacement of grasslands with Polylepis forests reduces aquifer recharge in the seasonally dry Andes, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/5aa85dc8de5c4341bfb79f09e501bb0d

This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY.

 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
CC-BY

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