Contemporary Landscape Change in the Huascarán National Park and Buffer Zone, Cordillera Blanca, Peru
2000
Byers, Alton C.
As part of The Mountain Institute's monitoring and evaluation program, historic landscape photographs from 10 photopoints of the 1936 and 1939 German/Austrian climbing and cartographic expeditions to the Cordillera Blanca (Huascarán National Park) were replicated in 1997 and 1998. Comparisons revealed contemporary changes in native forest cover, nonnative forest cover, glacial recession, grazing impacts, and urban expansion. Results indicated an apparent stability and/or increase in native Polylepis forest cover, significant regional increases in nonnative Eucalyptus and Pinus forest cover, improved pasture conditions in some areas, widespread glacial recession, and increases in regional urbanization. Important management-related questions in need of further study are identified, such as the impacts of cattle on Polylepis regeneration, correlations between road construction and forest loss, long-term impacts of nonnative forests, and strategies for the reintroduction of native forest species. Increasing the photographic, quantitative, and oral databases for the Huascarán National Park and buffer zone will continue to provide important insights regarding contemporary landscape change processes, human versus natural impacts, and future management and restoration options.
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