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This work examines the poetry collection Junín (1930) by the Peruvian author Enrique Bustamante y Ballivián (1883–1937). While a part of the Latin American avant-garde expresses a fascination with the rise of new machines in the metropolis, this article demonstrates that Bustamante y Ballivián responds to this trend by representing machinery of a different kind – extractivist machinery – in a different type of space: the Andes. The author also engages with the indigenista avant-garde poetic proposals of his Peruvian contemporaries. Unlike them, the poet does not aim to give voice to the indigenous subject, nor does he idealize or solely link it to nature. Instead, he portrays it as 'coupled' to the mineral extraction machinery. Additionally, the poet depicts this machinery as invasive, contaminating and destructive to the landscape and its inhabitants. This work argues that Junín emerges as the first poetic representation of the ecological impacts caused by large-scale mining exploitation in the Andes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tall, spiky snow structures (penitentes) occur high in subtropical mountains, in the form of blades oriented east-west and tilted toward the noontime sun. By trapping sunlight, they cause a reduction of albedo by ~0.3 relative to flat snow. The formation of penitentes, explained by Lliboutry in 1954, requires weather conditions allowing the troughs to deepen rapidly by melting while the peaks remain dry and cold by sublimation, losing little mass, because of the 8.5-fold difference in latent heats. Lliboutry's explanation has been misrepresented in some recent publications. A concern has been raised that in the low latitudes of Jupiter's moon Europa, the ice surface may have developed penitentes, which would pose a hazard to a lander. They would require a different mechanism of formation, because Europa is too cold for melting to occur. If penitentes are present on Europa, they cannot be resolved by the coarse-resolution satellite images available now, but the high albedo of Europa (~0.7 at visible wavelengths) argues against the existence of such extreme roughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tall, spiky snow structures (penitentes) occur high in subtropical mountains, in the form of blades oriented east-west and tilted toward the noontime sun. By trapping sunlight, they cause a reduction of albedo by ~0.3 relative to flat snow. The formation of penitentes, explained by Lliboutry in 1954, requires weather conditions allowing the troughs to deepen rapidly by melting while the peaks remain dry and cold by sublimation, losing little mass, because of the 8.5-fold difference in latent heats. Lliboutry's explanation has been misrepresented in some recent publications. A concern has been raised that in the low latitudes of Jupiter's moon Europa, the ice surface may have developed penitentes, which would pose a hazard to a lander. They would require a different mechanism of formation, because Europa is too cold for melting to occur. If penitentes are present on Europa, they cannot be resolved by the coarse-resolution satellite images available now, but the high albedo of Europa (~0.7 at visible wavelengths) argues against the existence of such extreme roughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research assessed waste-based briquettes consumption compared to conventional fuels in the Andes. Laboratory tests were conducted together with on-field analysis in Colquencha (Bolivia). The laboratory study shows that the performances of briquettes are better in terms of PM2.5 (933.4 ± 50.8 mg kg−1) and CO emissions (22.89 ± 2.40 g kg−1) compared to animal dung (6265.7 ± 1273.5 mgPM2.5 kg−1 and 48.10 ± 12.50 gCO kg−1), although the boiling time increased due to the lower fuel consumption rate and firepower compared to shrubs. The social survey organized with 150 Bolivian citizens suggested that low-income households are not able to pay for an alternative fuel: about 40% would pay less than 4 USD per month, while methane use for cooking is positively correlated with the income level (r = 0.244, p < 0.05). On field analysis suggested that local cookstoves are not appropriate for briquettes combustion since indoor air pollution overcomes 30 ppm of CO and 10 mgPM2.5 m-3. On balance, local small manufactures can be the main target for selling waste-based briquettes to reduce shrubs and wood consumption. However, briquettes production costs seem not yet competitive to natural easy-to-obtain fuels (i.e., animal dung). The research encourages the use of cellulosic and biomass waste-based briquettes in the Andean area for cooking, heating, or manufacturing and strongly advises policy-makers to introduce economic incentives for the recovery of secondary raw materials. • Analysis of waste-based briquettes use in Andean areas were conducted. • Laboratory analysis, social surveys, and on field evaluations are the methods. • Briquettes can be employed for reducing about 30% of the conventional fuels. • The research encourages the employment of waste-based briquettes in the Andes. • Incentives to briquettes production and consumption should be introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Resource histories determine how particular parts of the environment come to be defined as valuable. As elsewhere, protected areas in Latin America link the governance of people, territory, and resources by reinterpreting and reclassifying practices and environments. Set in highland Peru, the article focuses on how such revisions imply contestation of both history and future. It explores particular modes of claiming space through an archeology of the claims to knowledge and legitimacy put forward by a national park and a campesino community, respectively. Claims to space entwine with social struggles about local development where territorial claims are based on different notions of history and interpretations of the esthetic and productive values of the landscape. While the park officials navigate interests of conservation, tourism, and extraction, the campesino community mobilizes a different set of values and interests based on their historical occupation of the territories. These processes of contestation over authority and legitimacy highlight different views on the role of landscapes in the history and progress of local communities. Conservation may not only dispossess people of their land and natural resources, but also of labor and territorial sovereignty. This case shows how an Andean campesino community counters such movements by a wide repertoire of legal and social actions that works simultaneously in legal and extra-legal domains. Paper works mediate claims to territorial sovereignty, people, and resources. These claims involve contestations over interpretations of history which, besides their oral forms, materialize in paperwork such as official communications, community records, and cadastral maps, as well as in visual representations, internal statutes, and deliberate history writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Symposium on Andean Geodynamics (ISAG) is an international conference that was held, on average, every 3–4 years in different European cities between 1990 (Grenoble) and 2008 (Nice). These symposia usually offer an opportunity for researchers from Latin American countries and Europe as well as other countries to review the state of knowledge in geosciences on the Andes. After a long period without an edition, the 8th ISAG was organized for the first time in a Latin American country, Ecuador, from 24th to 26th September 2019. The organizing committee led by Pablo Samaniego relied heavily on the Instituto Geofísico of the Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN) and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), in particular through its office in Quito, and through the Laboratoire Mixte International in France and Ecuador: "Seismes et Volcans dans les Andes du Nord" (LMI-SVAN); and the French Embassy in Ecuador. Field trips in tectonics, seismotectonics and volcanology at emblematic sites in Ecuador were organized by researchers from the IRD (Isterre and LMV), the Institut de Radio Protection Nucléaire (IRSN), IG-EPN and the University of Geneva. Four invited speakers gave presentations: Peter Molnar (University of Boulder) on the mechanisms of the Andes uplift, Suzanne Kay (Cornell University) on its magmatism, Victor Ramos (University of Buenos Aires) on the scientific approaches developed through time for the Andean orogeny and Eric Calais (Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris) on the difficulty of dialog between seismic risk specialists and the authorities in Haiti. The symposium also provided an opportunity for more than 250 participants to meet, with more than 80 oral presentations and over 150 posters. As a result of this conference, the Editor of the Journal of South American Earth Sciences proposed to the organizing committee to publish a special issue on the contours of these presentations. Following the peer review process, 19 papers are published in this special issue. These manuscripts reflect the various disciplinary fields, geophysics and deep imaging, tectonics, volcanism, geomorphology and seismic hazard, from the local scale to the Andes as a whole. Not surprisingly, a higher density of works is found in Ecuador and the northern Andes (Figure 1). As this collection of articles reflects the outlines of a symposium and not a specific scientific question, our aim here is not to develop a synthesis of current knowledge on the Andes. We therefore present these articles in sequence, by discipline, although this categorization may appear subjective since some articles are multidisciplinary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bergmann's rule generally predicts larger animal body sizes with colder climates. We tested whether Bergmann's rule at the interspecific level applies to moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) along an extended elevational gradient in the Ecuadorian Andes. Moths were sampled at 22 sites in the province Zamora-Chinchipe in southern Ecuador in forest habitats ranging from 1040 m to 2677 m above sea level. Wingspans of 2282 male geometrid moths representing 953 species were measured and analysed at the level of the family Geometridae, as well as for the subfamily Ennominae with the tribes Boarmiini and Ourapterygini, and the subfamily Larentiinae with the genera Eois, Eupithecia and Psaliodes. Bergmann's rule was not supported since the average wingspan of geometrid moths was negatively correlated with altitude ( r = −0.59, P < 0.005). The relationship between body size and altitude in Geometridae appears to be spurious because species of the subfamily Larentiinae are significantly smaller than species of the subfamily Ennominae and simultaneously increase in their proportion along the gradient. A significant decrease of wingspan was also found in the ennomine tribe Ourapterygini, but no consistent body size patterns were found in the other six taxa studied. In most taxa, body size variation increases with altitude, suggesting that factors acting to constrain body size might be weaker at high elevations. The results are in accordance with previous studies that could not detect consistent body size patterns in insects at the interspecific level along climatic gradients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High mountains are harsh environments in which colder temperatures and higher levels of UV-B radiation are common. These abiotic conditions strongly affect animals' biology, often constraining their survival and reproduction. As a result, adaptations to live in such habitats are expected to evolve. Body color is thought to be adaptive to the environment that animals experience. Tegument melanization improves heat gain and provides photoprotection. Therefore, at high elevation, ectotherms are expected to be darker (well-melanized). We test this prediction in the paper wasp Agelaia pallipes (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), a species distributed across an elevational gradient in the Colombian Andes. We used Malaise traps and sampled a total of 146 wasps along nine elevations, ranging from 2,600–3,380 m above sea level. Standard digital photography was used to measure the body luminance and colour patterning in different body parts of dry-preserved specimens. There was striking variation in body luminance (darker and lighter), color patterning (patched, smoothed, homogeneous) and surface texture (shiny and matte), but the kind and degree of variation depended on the body part examined. Wasps from higher elevations had darker thoraces, confirming our prediction. Besides, at high elevation, the frequency of wasps with a matte rather than a shiny face strongly increased. Overall, our findings support the thermal melanism hypothesis and suggest that intraspecific color variation might be an adaptation to the environment of paper wasps. Image 1 • High mountains exhibit harsh abiotic conditions, like low temperatures and higher levels of UV-B radiation. • Tegument melanization (darkening) improves heat gain and provides photoprotection. • Females of Agelaia pallipes are darker at high elevations. • Intraspecific colour variation might be an adaptation to the environment where of paper wasps live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores illegal coca crop expansion in indigenous Amazonian communities in Peru. The ethnographic study sheds light on the historical development of these areas as frontier spaces, where the growth of illicit crops intertwines with socio-ecological transformations and gives rise to conflicts over new forms of land control, opportunities for capital accumulation, and political power dynamics. The paper argues that this expansion is shaped by dual processes: from 'below,' involving small-scale migrant farmers from the Andes, and from 'above,' primarily driven by state-led agrarian interventions. Consequently, communities experience significant tensions, as they adapt to the forces of market expansion to secure their livelihoods, while simultaneously facing risks of violence and insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper employs the concepts of heritage-making, communal identity formation, and landscape production to analyse the spaces that contribute to local, provincial, and national identities. Specifically, we examine how these spaces, now valued for their natural and historical significance, shape contemporary collective identity. Our study is located in the Andes mountain range, in an area called Manzano Histórico, in central- western Argentina, which is part of a larger nature reserve created to protect the headwaters of the basin and mountain areas from large-scale economic projects. This paper utilises a qualitative methodology that combines archaeological and historical studies with ethnographic techniques and a survey to describe and analyse the millennial occupation of the region. This continuous occupation has been shaped by multiple ways of inhabiting the world, some dominant and others marginalised or made invisible, resulting in ongoing present-day tensions. The heritage landscape proposed is a partial result of these tensions, a textured, fractured, and patched product of diverse, historically enabled practices. By analysing these spaces, we aim to acknowledge the various ways of being in the world that intersect within them, as well as the identity formations of alterity that hierarchise or invisibilise these practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elevation gradients provide opportunities to explore environmental controls on forest structure and functioning, but plot-based studies have proven highly variable due to limited geographic scope. We used airborne imaging spectroscopy and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) to quantify changes in three-dimensional forest structure and canopy functional traits in a series of 25 ha landscapes distributed along a 3300m elevation gradient from lowland Amazonia to treeline in the Peruvian Andes. Canopy greenness, photosynthetic fractional cover and exposed non-photosynthetic vegetation varied as much across lowland forests (100-200 m) as they did from the lowlands to the Andean treeline (3400 m). Elevation was positively correlated with canopy gap density and understory vegetation cover, and negatively related to canopy height and vertical profile. Increases in gap density were tightly linked to increases in understory plant cover, and larger gaps (20-200m²) produced 25-30 times the response in understory cover than did smaller gaps (< 5m²). Scaling of gap size to gap frequency was, however, relatively constant along the elevation gradient, which when combined with other canopy structural information, indicates equilibrium turnover patterns from the lowlands to treeline. Our results provide a first landscape-scale quantification of forest structure and canopy functional traits with changing elevation, thereby improving our understanding of disturbance, demography and ecosystem processes in the Andes-to-Amazon corridor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world's glaciers recede in response to a warming atmosphere, a change in the magnitude and frequency of related hazards is expected. Among the most destructive hazards are glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs), and their future evolution is concerning for local populations and sustainable development policy. Central to this is a better understanding of triggers. There is a long‐standing assumption that earthquakes are a major GLOF trigger, and seismic activity is consistently included as a key hazard assessment criterion. Here, we provide the first empirical evidence that this assumption is largely incorrect. Focusing on the Tropical Andes, we show that, of 59 earthquakes (1900–2021) the effects of which intersect with known glacier lakes, only one has triggered GLOFs. We argue that, to help develop climate resilient protocols, the focus for future assessments should be on understanding other key GLOF drivers, such as thawing permafrost and underlying structural geology. Plain Language Summary: Climate change is increasing glacier melt in high mountains and increasing the size and number of glacial lakes. Over time, these lakes may drain catastrophically to generate glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which can devastate downstream communities and destroy valuable infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and hydroelectric power facilities. As a result, many risk assessments have been carried out to understand what the triggers of GLOFs might be, in order to better predict their occurrence. One of the main triggers has been assumed to be earthquakes, but this association has not been properly tested. In this paper, we use earthquake and GLOF data from the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes to test this and find that there is little association between earthquakes and GLOFs. We conclude by arguing that focus needs to be on other GLOF triggers, and earthquake activity should be used as a secondary – not primary – indicator in GLOF susceptibility studies. Key Points: Glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are a major risk concern, with earthquakes being commonly considered effective triggers in hazard assessmentsOf 59 earthquakes (1900–2021), the effects of which intersect lakes in the Tropical Andes, only one triggered GLOFsWe suggest that earthquake activity should be used as a secondary – not primary – susceptibility indicator for GLOFs [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The field of human biology has long explored how human populations have adapted to extreme environmental circumstances. Yet, it has become increasingly clear that conditions of social stress, poverty, and lifestyle change play equally important roles in shaping human biological variation and health. In this paper, I provide a brief background on the foundational human adaptability research of the International Biological Programme (IBP) from the 1960s, highlighting how its successes and critiques have shaped current research directions in the field. I then discuss and reflect on my own field research that has examined the influence of both environmental and social stresses on human populations living in different ecosystems: the Peruvian Andes, the Siberian arctic, and the Bolivian rainforest. Finally, I consider how the papers in this special issue advance our understanding of human adaptability to extreme conditions and offer directions for future research. Drawing on our field's distinctive evolutionary and biocultural perspectives, human biologists are uniquely positioned to examine how the interplay between social and ecological domains influences the human condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The timing of Tiwanaku's collapse remains contested. Here we present a generational-scale chronology of Tiwanaku using Bayesian models of 102 radiocarbon dates, including 45 unpublished dates. This chronology tracks four community practices: residing short- vs. long-term, constructing monuments, discarding decorated ceramics, and leaving human burials. Tiwanaku was founded around AD 100 and around AD 600, it became the region's principal destination for migrants. It grew into one of the Andes' first cities and became famous for its decorated ceramics, carved monoliths, and large monuments. Our Bayesian models show that monument building ended ~AD 720 (the median of the ending boundary). Around ~AD 910, burials in tombs ceased as violent deaths began, which we document for the first time in this paper. Ritualized murders are limited to the century leading up to ~AD 1020. Our clearest proxy for social networks breaking down is a precise estimate for the end of permanent residence, ~AD 1010 (970–1050, 95%). This major inflection point was followed by visitors who used the same ceramics until ~AD 1040. Temporary camps lasted until roughly ~AD 1050. These four events suggest a rapid, city-wide collapse at ~AD 1010–1050, lasting just ~20 years (0–70 years, 95%). These results suggest a cascading breakdown of community practices and social networks that were physically anchored at Tiwanaku, though visitors continued to leave informal burials for centuries. This generation-scale chronology suggests that collapse 1) took place well before reduced precipitation, hence this was not a drought-induced societal change and 2) a few resilient communities sustained some traditions at other sites, hence the chronology for the site of Tiwanaku cannot be transposed to all sites with similar material culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intense disputes between companies and the local population have led to new governance regimes, raising concerns about the hydropower business's sustainability, social instability, and violence in emerging economies. New approaches to these issues must go beyond a critical view to be more adaptative and result oriented. This paper explores how the hydropower business's sustainability influences governance regimes on the territory. A cross-case study is applied in the Samaná River basin in the Colombian Andes through a qualitative-quantitative mixed methodology to generate a grounded theory of sustainability and governance in hydropower territories. A qualitative approach was used to produce a framework about territorial factors based on 45 in-depth interviews. The quantitative approach was used as a machine-learning data compression and prediction method. It served as an additional test to extend and reshape the prediction power of the coding. The results suggested three territorial factors of hydropower business as drivers of governance regimes: (1) context variation, (2) the spatial configuration of governance, and (3) the importance of long-term stakeholder interactions. Implications of findings involve addressing power asymmetries and adapting the collaborative dynamics to the territory. This analysis validated a previous interpretative model and proposed sustainability and governance patterns useful in similar hydropower territories in emerging countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to advance our theoretical understanding of diversifying and homogenizing processes in human societies by exploring the sources of and threats to ethnolinguistic or cultural diversity. Invoking concepts such as ethnogenesis, schismogenesis, and structural transformations, it discusses the parallels as well as the divergences between biological and cultural theory. Models in historical linguistics risk importing unwarranted assumptions about diversification from biological models of speciation. A more pertinent theorization of ethnolinguistic diversity might build on anthropological perspectives such as those of Fredrik Barth, Gregory Bateson, and Claude Lévi-Strauss, all of whom recognized that such diversity reflects interaction rather than isolation. The empirical test of these considerations is the ethnography and history of language use among Indigenous peoples in Amazonia and the Andes. The conclusion is that premodern expansions of language families, in tolerating local cultural autonomy, multilingualism, and diglossia, did not threaten ethnolinguistic identities as has modern globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Citizen science and related engagement programmes have proliferated in recent years throughout the sciences but have been reasonably limited in the cryospheric sciences. In the semiarid Andes we at the Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas have developed a range of initiatives together with the wider community and stakeholder institutions to improve our understanding of the role snow and ice play in headwater catchments. In this paper we reflect on ongoing engagement with communities living and working in and near study sites of cryospheric science in northern Chile as a strategy that can both strengthen the research being done and empower local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape restoration activities must be conducted through a transdisciplinary process, integrating social, economic, environmental, and governance aspects. Combining visions from the natural and social sciences is a challenge in highly complex territories, where unique ecosystem characteristics, economic processes, stakeholders of diverse nature, and different normativity converge. The harmonization of multiple techniques, such as multicriteria spatial analysis, expert knowledge elicitation, and social mapping, allows for an approach to defining landscape restoration areas in complex regions. This paper employs multiple techniques to define ecosystem restoration areas in a complex Colombian Andes landscape, integrating ecological and social components for sustainable development. We observed that areas of high and very high feasibility for ecological restoration, encompassing 179.5 hectares (4.84% of the study area), are predominantly located near primary forests. Although some areas have a low feasibility for conservation processes, they should not be disregarded as they still require protection. Landowners prioritize watershed and soil restoration as the most important landscape restoration activity due to their interest in improving water-related ecosystem services. This proposal enables the identification of areas with a higher restoration potential at the property level, facilitating prioritization and investment allocation for future implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kañawa/Cañihua (Chenopodium pallidicaule Aellen) is the lesser-known cousin of the domesticated Andean pseudocereal quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.). In 1970, Daniel Gade hypothesized that Andean farmers may have domesticated volunteer wild kañawa plants that occupied quinoa or potato fields after observing that they could survive harsh climatic events such as drought or frost. To revisit this question of kañawa domestication, this paper provides an overview of the current botanical, genetic, and archaeological knowledge of kañawa domestication. It then provides patterns in the presence of wild and domesticated kañawa seeds from archaeological sites in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin of Bolivia, spanning the Formative and Tiwanaku periods from approximately 1500 BCE to 1100 CE. This archaeobotanical evidence supports Gade's hypothesis that kañawa was a later domesticate, not appearing until after 250 CE. Regional paleoclimatic evidence of frequent climatic fluctuations lends support to the argument that kañawa contributed to a diversified food supply, which could provide a buffer against climate risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Climate change may affect sediment fluvial export from high mountain regions, leading to downstream environmental disruptions and direct impacts on human activities. In this paper, three decades (1990–2020) of turbidity measurements, along with climate and hydro‐glaciological variables, were used to investigate the interannual and interdecadal variability in the number of extreme turbidity events (ETE) in the glacierized Maipo River basin, located in the western subtropical Andes. ETE are defined as a sequence of days (most often 1 or 2) during which the daily maximum turbidity was in the 99% quantile of the entire study period. Some of these events compromised the drinking water provision for the city of Santiago, with more than 6 million inhabitants. ETE are more frequent during summer and are mostly associated with melt‐favourable conditions. The number of ETE tends to increase in summers with large glacier ice melt and low snowmelt (outside or over glaciers). Most notable, the mean annual number of ETE exhibits a 6‐fold increase in the last decade compared with the 1990–2010 period. After 2010, ETE also shifted their seasonal maximum from late spring to mid‐summer and their occurrence became strongly coupled with large ice melt rates. We hypothesize that such regime change was caused by an enhanced hydrological connectivity of subglacial sediment pools that increased the sensitivity of the sediment system to glacier melt. The latter is in line with recent research and is consistent with the ongoing glacier retreat due to strong regional warming and drying. Plain Language Summary: Climate change may affect sediment fluvial transport from high mountain regions, leading to environmental disruptions and direct impacts on human activities. In this paper, three decades (1990–2020) of river turbidity measurements to investigate how extreme turbidity events (ETE) have changed in the glacierized Maipo River basin, subtropical Andes. ETE are defined as a sequence of days (most often one or two) during which the turbidity was very high. Some of these events compromised the drinking water provision for the city of Santiago, with more than 6 million inhabitants. ETE are more frequent during summer and are mostly associated with melt‐favourable conditions. Most notable, the mean number of ETE exhibits a sharp increase in the last decade compared with the 1990–2010 period. After 2010, ETE also shifted their seasonal maximum from late spring to mid‐summer and their occurrence became strongly coupled with large ice melt rates. We hypothesize that such regime change was caused by meltwater that has reached subglacial sediments that used to be confined under the glacier ice. The latter is in line with recent research and is consistent with the ongoing glacier retreat as a consequence of intense regional warming and drying. Key Points: The interannual and interdecadal variability in the number of extreme turbidity events are analyzed in a glacierized basin of the AndesMost events are melt‐driven and their number increased by a factor of six during the last decade with respect to the 1990–2010 averageIt is hypothesized that the rise was due to a higher hydraulic connectivity in the subglacial system driven by regional warming and drying [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses how anthropology contributes to climate change research and communication. Building on theoretical works that highlight the cultural framing of communication it investigates the signs and symbols that a Peruvian highland community creates and the imaginaries and identities it generates to interpret and communicate climate change and its environmental impact. To explore the community's communicative repertoire the paper explores three climate voices that illuminate the conflicting ways the global discourse on climate change impacts the community's future visions. Arguing that anthropogenic climate change poses a new challenge to the communication of urgent public issues the paper asks: Should the communication discuss climate change as a matter-of-fact issue? Or should it present climate change as a cultural phenomenon that is acknowledged as an issue in dispute? The paper concludes that climate change research is a post-normal science that not only must engage a range of scholarly traditions and methods but also listen to the voices that are affected by climate change in the real world. It encourages climate change communicators to recognize that climate communication is a dialogical relation based on the mutual interests of its experts and its users in providing as well as receiving knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos de Geografia: Revista Colombiana de Geografía is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A complete, fluvial stratigraphic record for the last glacial period of the Western Andes in Peru is not available due to preservation issues and spatial variability in sedimentation. Deposits are typically restricted to incomplete records of fluvial terraces or localised occurrences of alluvial fans and landslides. These landforms are thought to have formed under a regime of climate cyclicity controlling increases in precipitation. Because of the fragmented preservation of these deposits, as well as dating uncertainties, it remains unclear if orbital climate cycles, such as the precession cycle, or suborbital cycles, such as the wet Heinrich events, are driving Andean sedimentation. In this paper, we try to answer this question through a sedimentological–stratigraphical analysis of a much more complete sedimentary sequence than usually found in the region. We present the results of a grain size analysis of 5000 clasts and 13 new luminescence ages of a 52‐m‐long, stratigraphic section of the Lima fluvial fan in Peru. Bayesian age–depth modelling resulted in a robust chronostratigraphic framework and derived sedimentation rates. The stratigraphic record registered sedimentation from 121.7 ± 4 to 6.3−1.6+1.5 ka. Three major sedimentation periods occurred between 121.7 to 110−5+4, 87 ± 1 to 67−3+2, and 31−3+4 to 6.3−1.6+1.5 ka. These periods registered various unconformities and coarsening–fining upward sequences which chronologically correlate to suborbital pluvial periods, recognised from speleothems and lake records, that drove fluvial deposition. They also correlate with the timing of other recognised sedimentation events throughout the Western Andes. Marine regression resulted in fan progradation and not in incision. The Lima fan stratigraphy represents therefore the most complete, last glacial fluvial record for the Peruvian Western Andes to date and it highlights the potential of fluvial fans as recorders of suborbital climate variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an exploratory study on the taxonomic diversity of pre-Hispanic archaeofaunas in the South-Central Andes (SCA; western South America) from the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary to the Late-Holocene. The SCA is a complex of diverse environments and has undergone distinct climate events for the last 13,000 years, such as the occurrence of warmer and drier conditions in the Middle-Holocene. The South-Central Andean area was part of the larger Andes interaction area, which was a primary center for animal and plant domestication and the emergence of agro-pastoralist economies. Since subsistence was key to these processes, the SCA provides a relevant case study on the interactions among environment, foodways and sociocultural evolution. Taxonomic diversity was used here as a proxy for diet breadth. A total of 268 archaeofaunal assemblages were sampled from the zooarchaeological literature. Reviewed variables included the cultural chronology and spatial coordinates of the assemblages, as well as the presence and abundance of taxa at the family rank. Taxonomic diversity covered two dimensions: composition (families present in each assemblage) and structure (quantitative relationships among taxa), which was measured through richness (NTAXA), ubiquity and relative abundance (NISP based rank-order). Despite the uneven distribution of samples, the analyses revealed the following trends: (1) a moderate relationship between NTAXA and distance from coastline for most of the Holocene; (2) a potential decrease in assemblage richness for coastal ecoregions during the Late-Holocene; and (3) a generalized increase in the relative abundance of Camelidae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes spatial and temporal changes of aridity in Argentina (1961–2022). The aridity degree, using Climatic Research Unit (CRU) monthly data, was defined through six climate types classified by De Martonne Aridity Index (DMI). Argentina presents a very arid, arid and semiarid region that extends from Puna to Patagonia, alongside two humid and very humid regions: one located in the Chaco-Pampas Plains and Mesopotamia, and another in the Patagonian Andes. Between these regions, there are subhumid areas with marked aridity variations. These structures persist over time, but advances or setbacks were observed in their bordering areas, with significant changes in the Andes (leading to more arid conditions) and the southwestern Pampas Plains (leading to more humid conditions) during the historical period. The contribution of temperature and precipitation changes to these DMI changes was quantified, indicating that precipitation modulated the DMI spatial changes, while temperature intensified or weakened the change magnitudes. The extension variations of the arid and semiarid regions in Argentina were related to three climate variability modes (El Niño – Southern Oscillation [ENSO], Pacific Decadal Oscillation [PDO] and South Atlantic Ocean Dipole [SAOD]). Significant correlations were found with PDO (r < 0) and SAOD (r > 0), which indicate that an increase in the area occupied by arid and semiarid climates are associated with PDO negative phase or SAOD positive phase. Moreover, when these phases occur simultaneously, the expansion of arid and semiarid regions is larger than under the action of an individual forcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we explore what campesino [peasant] livelihoods in the rural Andean mountains of Colombia offer to understandings of more-than-human co-existence and care. For, while new conservation paradigms promise to transform economic and social horizons, being "paramuno" [resident of the "paramo," or high moorlands] in the small community of Monquentiva is already characterized by becoming-with-other-beings-and-practices; a disposition toward incorporation of elements that are at-hand, and an ethics of care toward other beings in the landscape. We draw on ethnographic data to present this case study, emphasizing the forms of social organization and persistence that have enabled the emergence of economically and ecologically sustainable livelihoods. We explore these processes in terms of what we call world-making practices, showing how relationships with Indigeneity and collectivity are being renegotiated, and arguing for modes of conservation that engage with existing forms of peasant innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-elevation peatlands of the páramos of the northern Andes constitute a diverse environment that harbors large numbers of species and several types of plant communities along altitudinal, latitudinal, and environmental gradients. However, little is known about the structure and functioning of these ecosystems, including peatland vegetation types and their relative contribution to the production and accumulation of peat soils. In this paper we characterized the structure of peatland plant communities of the humid páramos of northern Ecuador by describing the distribution of plant growth-forms and their aboveground biomass patterns. Along an elevation gradient of 640 m we sampled vegetation in 16 peatlands and aboveground biomass in four peatlands. Three distinct peatland vegetation types were identified: High elevation Cushion peatlands, dominated by Plantago rigida and Distichia muscoides, Sedge and rush peatlands dominated by Carex spp. and Juncus spp., and Herbaceous and shrubby peatlands, with a more heterogenous and structurally complex vegetation. In terms of aboveground biomass, we found an 8-fold reduction in the higher peatlands compared to the lower sites, suggesting that the steep elevational gradients characteristic of Andean environments might be crucial in structuring the physiognomy and composition of peatland vegetation, either through its effects on temperature and other environmental factors, or through its effects on the age and development of soils. Additional studies are needed to evaluate the potential effects of temperature, hydrology, micro-topography, geological setting, and land-use, which are likely to influence vegetation patters in these peatlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Returning to Earth's safe operating space requires driving social–ecological transformations toward a new human–nature configuration, while navigating changes and creatively dealing with crises. Family farms in the Colombian Andes have been navigating changes by using modalities of integrated management that recognize family interdependence with nature, which illustrates social–ecological resilience on a small scale. We potentiated family farming by creating FiNCO (Farms for knowledge exchange) as a strategy that renews the connection between disciplines, academia and farmers, and the rural and urban sectors, in order to promote knowledge co-production and landscape stewardship. In this sense, FiNCO is considered as a seed for a good Anthropocene. This paper is an invitation to plant FiNCO seeds in different social–ecological contexts and to share those experiences as an ideal way to create abilities to transform the upcoming humanity challenges into opportunities for humanity's needed transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Andean montane forests are biodiversity hotspots and large carbon stores and they provide numerous ecosystem services. Following land abandonment after centuries of forest clearing for agriculture in the Andes, there is an opportunity for forest recovery. Field‐based studies show that forests do not always recover. However, large‐scale and long‐term knowledge of recovery dynamics of Andean forests remains scarce. This paper analyses tropical montane forest recovery trajectories over a 15‐year time frame at the landscape and tropical Andean scale to inform restoration planning. Methods: We first detect "potential recovery" as areas that have experienced a forest transition between 2000 and 2005. Then, we use Landsat time series analysis of the normalized difference water index (NDWI) to classify four "realized recovery" trajectories ("ongoing", "arrested", "disrupted" and "no recovery") based on a sequential pattern of 5‐yearly Z‐score anomalies for 2005–2020. We compare these results against an analysis of change in tree cover to validate against other datasets. Results: Across the tropical Andes, we detected a potential recovery area of 274 km2 over the period. Despite increases in tree cover, most areas of the Andes remained in early successional states (10–25% tree cover), and NDWI levelled out after 5–10 years. Of all potential forest recovery areas, 22% showed "ongoing recovery", 61% showed either "disrupted" or "arrested recovery", and 17% showed "no recovery". Our method captured forest recovery dynamics in a Peruvian arrested succession context and in landscape‐scale tree‐planting efforts in Ecuador. Main conclusions: Forest recovery across the Andes is mostly disrupted, arrested or unsuccessful, with consequences for biodiversity recovery and provision of ecosystem services. Low‐recovery areas identified in this study might be good candidates for active restoration interventions in this UN Decade on Restoration. Future studies could determine restoration strategies and priorities and suggest management strategies at a local planning scale across key regions in the biodiversity hotspot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Boletin de Geologia is the property of Universidad Industrial de Santander and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With the aim of understanding the impact of air pollution on human health and ecosystems in the tropical Andes region (TAR), we aim to couple the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) with the chemical transport models (CTM) Long-Term Ozone Simulation and European Operational Smog (LOTOS–EUROS), at high and regional resolutions, with and without assimilation. The factors set for WRF, are based on the optimized estimates of climate and weather in cities and urban heat islands in the TAR region. It is well known in the weather research and forecasting field, that the uncertainty of non-linear models is a major issue, thus making a sensitivity analysis essential. Consequently, this paper seeks to quantify the performance of the WRF model in the presence of disturbances to the initial conditions (IC), for an arbitrary set of state-space variables (pressure and temperature), simulating a disruption in the inputs of the model. To this aim, we considered three distributions over the error term: a normal standard distribution, a normal distribution, and an exponential distribution. We analyze the sensitivity of the outputs of the WRF model by employing non-parametric and robust statistical techniques, such as kernel distribution estimates, rank tests, and bootstrap. The results show that the WRF model is sensitive in time, space, and vertical levels to changes in the IC. Finally, we demonstrate that the error distribution of the output differs from the error distribution induced over the input data, especially for Gaussian distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A companion paper by Lund et al. employed a compressible model to describe the evolution of mountain waves arising due to increasing flow with time over the southern Andes, their breaking, secondary gravity waves and acoustic waves arising from these dynamics, and their local responses. This paper describes the mountain wave, secondary gravity wave, and acoustic wave vertical fluxes of horizontal momentum, and the local and large-scale three-dimensional responses to gravity breaking and wave–mean-flow interactions accompanying this event. Mountain wave and secondary gravity wave momentum fluxes and deposition vary strongly in space and time due to variable large-scale winds and spatially localized mountain wave and secondary gravity wave responses. Mountain wave instabilities accompanying breaking induce strong, local, largely zonal forcing. Secondary gravity waves arising from mountain wave breaking also interact strongly with large-scale winds at altitudes above ~80 km. Together, these mountain wave and secondary gravity wave interactions reveal systematic gravity wave–mean-flow interactions having implications for both mean and tidal forcing and feedbacks. Acoustic waves likewise achieve large momentum fluxes, but typically imply significant responses only at much higher altitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Forma y Funcion is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Linguistica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In mountain environments, both temperature and food availability vary strongly with altitude, leading to a major challenge to the thermo‐energetic balance of organisms. In this sense, the behavioral repertoire is crucial for animals' adequacy because it implies a short‐term response in the face of environmental changes. In this paper, we explored the behavioral versatility of Phyllotis vaccarum and Abrothrix andina (Rodentia: Cricetidae), two of the mammal species with the highest altitudinal distribution worldwide. By radiotelemetry, we analyzed the activity pattern, home range, and microhabitat selection in populations of both species inhabiting at 2300 and 3100 m altitude in the Central Andes of Argentina. We found that A. andina was diurnal at 3100 m and cathemeral at 2300 m a.s.l., while P. vaccarum was nocturnal at both elevations. Moreover, home range size was larger in A. andina males at 3100 m in contrast to females at identical altitude and males at 2300 m; while, in P. vaccarum, there were no differences according to altitude or sex. Furthermore, we recorded a complex and species‐specific microhabitat selection pattern at different altitudes. Finally, the magnitude of behavioral variability was higher in A. andina than in P. vaccarum for all the traits analyzed. These results are discussed with emphasis on the impact of behavioral traits and their plasticity for species adequacy in high‐altitude environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional, Indigenous houses in Puno, Peru, were built using adobe bricks, stone, and wood. Today, young Indigenous couples are building houses that utilize modern materials such as concrete, brick, and steel. In this paper, I analyze the effects that changing materialities of house construction practices have on the durability and breadth of kin-relationships in Puno. I argue that these changes are possible due to the kind of personhood that houses occupy within kin networks in the Puno and the Andes. Furthermore, I show how access to new materials allows younger families to build houses more quickly than their parents did, shortening the time to develop stronger kin relationships that were once afforded by building with traditional materials. These new materials affect the house's ability to make and maintain kinship in the future where the quality of kin relationships is directly influenced by the material qualia of the house. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plot-based monitoring has yielded much information on the taxonomic diversity and carbon (C) storage in tropical lowland forests of the Amazon basin. This has resulted in an improved understanding of the relationship between lowland forest biomass dynamics and global change drivers, such as climate change and atmospheric CO2 concentration. Much less attention has been paid to the mountain ecosystems of South America that comprise montane forests and alpine vegetation (páramo, puna, high Andean grasslands, wetlands, and alpine heath). This vegetation complex provides a variety of ecosystem services and forms a natural laboratory along various physiographic, geological and evolutionary history/biogeography, and land use history gradients. Here, we review existing empirical understanding and model-based approaches to quantify the contribution of mountain ecosystems to ecosystem service provision in the rapidly changing socioecological setting of the South American mountains. The objective of this paper is to outline a broad road map for the implementation of mountain vegetation into dynamic global vegetation models (DGVM) for use in Earth System Models (ESM), based on our current understanding of their structure and function and of their responsiveness to global change drivers. We also identify treeline processes, critical in mountain ecosystems, as key missing elements in DGVMs/ESMs, and thus explore in addition a treeline model. Stocktaking of the availability of empirical data was undertaken from eight research sites along the Andes and in south-eastern Brazil. Out of eight sites, two (one each in Venezuela and Brazil) had some climate, ecological and ecophysiological data potentially suitable to parametrise a DGVM. Tree biomass data were available for six sites. A preliminary assessment of the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) DGVM was made to identify gaps in available data and their impacts on model parametrisation and calibration. Additionally, the potential climate-determined elevation of the treeline was modelled to check the DGVM for its ability to identify the transition between the montane forest and alpine vegetation. Outcomes of the evaluation of the JULES land surface model identified the following key processes in montane forests: temperature-related decrease in net primary production, respiration, and allocation to above-ground biomass and increase in soil C stocks with elevation. There was a variable agreement between simulated biomass and those derived from field measurements via allometric equations. We identified major gaps between data availability and the needs for process-based modelling of South American mountain vegetation and its dynamics in DGVMs. To bridge this gap, we propose a transdisciplinary network, composed of members of the theoretical/modelling and empirical scientific communities, to study the natural dynamics of mountain ecosystems and their responses to global change drivers locally, regionally and at the continental scale, within a social-ecological system framework. The work presented here forms the basis for the design of data collection from field measurements and instrumental monitoring stations to parametrise and verify DGVMs. The network is designed to collaborate with and complement existing long-term research initiatives in the region and will adopt existing standard field protocols. Complementary protocols will ensure compatibility between field data collection and data needed for process-based and empirical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Meteorologica is the property of Centro Argentino de Meteorologos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Caldasia is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Tiempo y Economía is the property of La Fundacion Universidad de Bogota Jorge Tadeo Lozano and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper, 'A relational turn for sustainability science? Relational thinking, leverage points and transformations' presents a compelling summary of the incipient relational turn in sustainability science. That piece and the reply and response that follow put forth important arguments about what relational thinking is and how it can infuse sustainability science research. We are grateful for this conversation, but also recognize that crucial intellectual contributions from the Global South require further treatment. In response to West et al'.s invitation to conversation, we offer a summary of a diverse body of scholarship and practice that informs sustainability science in subtle but clear ways: Latin American contributions. We first summarize a set of Latin American theoretical contributions to relational thinking relevant to sustainability science. We then offer examples of how relational thinking infuses everyday life in many Latin American contexts. We close with reflections on the importance of Latin American thinking for sustainability science and transformations toward sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) were at risk of extinction due to indiscriminate hunting for their fibre in the mid-twentieth century. The conservation of the species included numerous international and regional legal mechanisms, as well as the will and care of local communities. The vicuña was saved, and now it is classified as "Least concern" by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Sustainable harvest of vicuña fibre is achieved by way of the chaku, capture and live-shearing (an ancient practice, now informed by modern knowledge of biology). Although most communities and cooperatives sell raw fibre, prices are falling. The making of artisanal vicuña garments has been identified as an activity that potentially leads to sustainable development in the Andean Altiplano. This paper analyses a key aspect to achieve this goal, a detailed description of the production (including economic and time costs) involved in weaving a shawl. The manual work has been recognized, with an hourly rate and costs calculated. The first action before starting any intervention was a ceremony, in which the family women infused the fibre with the smoke of a local plant, k'oa (Parastrephia spp.). The rituals and traditions are an important part of livelihoods in the Andes. The steps to creating the finished garment were fibre acquisition, dehairing and cleaning the fibre, spinning, twisting, loom weaving, finishing and fringing. The techniques for spinning and weaving are an essential part of the indigenous cultural heritage; no intervention or suggestion was made in that regard. The final cost of the garment was approximately 3,300 US dollars and half of this cost was the dehairing and cleaning of the fibre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores institutional changes in two water users' associations (WUAs) in the Venezuelan Andes. The methodology is based on ethnographic work. The results show that both WUAs have modified the rule systems in irrigation management to respond to economic, institutional and environmental changes. They have implemented a better organization of water sharing, adopted more efficient irrigation technologies, restored infrastructure and preserved high-altitude wetlands. The comparative approach adopted allowed us to show not only the similar factors that promoted institutional change, such as social capital, but also the differences related to the characteristics of the resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]