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Home , Altiplano, Cotacotani Lake, Lauca (volcano), Lauca National Park, Parinacota (volcano), Parinacota Province

Preserving the Unique Puna Ecosystems of the Andean Author(s): Philip W. Rundel and Beatriz Palma Source: Mountain Research and Development, 20(3):262-271. 2000. Published By: International Mountain Society DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1659/0276-4741(2000)020[0262:PTUPEO]2.0.CO;2 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1659/0276-4741%282000%29020%5B0262%3APTUPEO %5D2.0.CO%3B2

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BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. Mountain Research and Development Vol 20 No 3 Aug 2000: 262–271

Philip W. Rundel and Beatriz Palma Preserving the Unique Puna Ecosystems of the Andean Altiplano

262 A Descriptive Account of National Park,

Lauca National Park elevation of 4518 m. It is the highest of significant forms a unique area of size in the world. Beyond these scenic attributes are puna and prepuna rich and unique flora and fauna exhibiting remarkable ecosystems in the high adaptations to the high elevations of Lauca. Vicuña, Altiplano of northeast- , huemul, viscacha, , and are ern Chile. Its extensive among the notable wildlife readily visible and protect- puna steppe shrub- ed in this park. lands lying above Associated with , which com- 4000 m and high vol- prises 137,833 ha, are Las Vicuñas National Reserve canoes reaching above (209,131 ha) and the Salar de Surire National Monu- 6000 m provide some ment (11,298 ha). The former was established to pro- of many strong justifications for its designation as a tect and manage populations of the endangered UNESCO International Biosphere Reserve in 1983. The vicuña, while the latter protects a relatively small saline park also contains Lago Chungará, the highest lake in lake that is of international significance for its large the world at 4518 m elevation, and a rich variety of fau- and diverse populations of resident birds. Lauca Bio- na and flora. The mammal fauna of the park includes sphere Reserve (including Lauca National Park, Las notable populations of large herbivores such as vicuña, Vicuñas National Reserve, and Salar de Surire National guanaco, and huemul, and a rich diversity of Monument) was declared a UNESCO International species. More than 140 species of birds, one third of the Biosphere Reserve in 1983, 1 of only 7 reserves in total Chilean bird fauna—with many rare wetland Chile so designated. species— and more than 400 species of vascular plants Lauca National Park is situated at about occur within the park. Despite its relatively pristine natu- 18°10'–18°25' S latitude along the Bolivian border in ral environment, Lauca National Park faces numerous 1 of northern Chile (Figure 1). Despite its very management challenges. These include the management high elevation, the entrance to the park lies only of critical and limited , the impacts of 160 km east of the coastal city of . The area of Lau- human population and tourism, management of rare and ca National Park was first set aside as a portion of a endangered species, and pressures from mining and large forest reserve in 1965 and then redesignated as a agricultural interests to decertify areas currently within national park in 1970 by a decree of the Chilean Min- park boundaries. Expansion of the park boundary west- istry of Agriculture. Its present boundaries were set in ward to include ecologically significant prepuna habitats 1983, along with those of Las Vicuñas National Reserve should be a high priority of park management. and Salar de Surire National Monument. It is 1 of only 2 national parks existing in the puna region of the Keywords: ; Lago Chungará; bofedales; northern Chilean . The other, Volcán Polylepis; Azorella; park management; Lauca National National Park, lies 120 km to the south. Park; Chile. The summer rainfall regime in the puna region is unique in Chile and different from the Mediterranean- Peer reviewed: April 2000. Accepted: May 2000. like climate in most of the country (Table 1). This cli- matic regime represents the most arid extension of a tropical alpine ecosystem that occurs from central Introduction southward through western into northern Chile and . Tropical alpine climates create extreme Lauca National Park, positioned in the high Andean conditions for survival, with freezing temperatures Altiplano of northern Chile, provides an unparalleled occurring almost every night of the year. Daily ranges example of a pristine, arid puna ecosystem. The Lauca of temperature extremes from high to low may be as Basin within which the major area of this large park much as 25–30°C. The puna as represented at Lauca lies forms a portion of the Altiplano shared by thus represents a unique bioclimatic and biogeographic southern Peru, western Bolivia, northern Chile, and region of Chile, with strong floristic and faunistic rela- Argentina. Included within the park boundaries are tionships to Peru and Bolivia rather than to other parts spectacular vistas of extensive puna landscapes, large of Chile. Andean and wetlands, and a series of snow- Despite its many attributes, Lauca National Park capped volcanoes. Three volcanic cones rise above continues to face significant issues of resource manage- 6000 m elevation—Parinacota (6342 m), Ponerape ment and protection that are critically important for its (6240 m), and Guallatire (6063 m)—and numerous future. The present article briefly reviews the natural peaks reaching above 5000 m ring the Lauca Basin in attributes of Lauca and discusses issues of resource which the park lies. Lago Chungará is situated at an management and external forces impacting the park. Research

FIGURE 1 Map of Lauca National Park showing the primary geographical features and vegetation formations. The transitions from pre-puna shrub- 263 lands to puna shrub steppe and from puna shrub/steppe to high Andean occur at elevations of roughly 4000 and 5000 m, respectively.

TABLE 1 Mean monthly maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall at Geomorphology and hydrology Parinacota (4390 m asl). Data from Novoa and Villaseca (1989) for tempera- tures and wind speed and CONAF (1986) for rainfall. Lauca National Park lies largely within the northern Lauca Basin, which is the westernmost extension of a Mean Mean Mean series of fluvio-lacustrine basins that stretch over more maximum minimum Mean wind than 800 km from Lago Titicaca across the Bolivian temperature temperature rainfall speed Altiplano to the . This basin is drained by Month (°C) (°C) (mm) (km/h) the Rio Lauca, which flows eastward into the Copiasa January 7.9 0.3 90.0 5.3 Basin of Bolivia. The eastern margin of the basin is February 7.8 0.2 99.3 4.9 formed by a line of active volcanoes extending from Parinacota and Ponerape to Cerro de Quisiquisini, March 7.5 -0.1 55.9 4.7 Guallatire, and south to Puquintica (5780 m). The west- April 6.1 -1.1 9.5 4.9 ern hydrologic boundary of the basin is formed by a May 3.9 -2.9 3.0 4.9 chain of deeply eroded volcanoes, which are sometimes termed the Chilean Western Cordillera. Geo- June 1.1 -5.1 1.7 5.9 logically, this chain consists of folded and faulted Creta- July 0.0 -6.0 0.6 5.7 ceous and Tertiary sediments mixed with former vol- August 3.1 -3.5 1.4 5.9 canic centers of activity. The most prominent peaks are the Nevados de (with the Cerro de at September 3.7 -0.1 2.7 6.0 5775 m) and Cerro Belén, Cerro Tallacollo, Cerro Oro- October 5.9 -1.3 2.9 6.1 tunco, and Cerro de Anocarire, which all reach above November 6.7 -0.7 14.2 6.0 5000 m. Beyond this chain to the west, the Altiplano plateau exhibits a sharp staircase drop of more than December 7.3 -0.3 39.8 ND 2500 m along two north–south striking normal faults Mean 5.1 -2.0 321.6 5.5 (Kött et al 1995). Philip W. Rundel and Beatriz Palma

FIGURE 2 Volcán Parinacota (6342 m) with Lago Chungará, the highest elevation lake in the world, at its base. In the right foreground are dwarf woodlands dominated by Polylepis tarapacana, and the left foreground 264 shows wetland habitats termed bofedales with grazing vicuñas. (Photo by authors)

The relatively gentle topography within the Lauca the youngest of a trio of volcanoes forming the Nevados Basin averages about 4100 m in altitude, giving it an de , is one of the most active volcanoes in elevation about 500 m higher than Lago Titicaca. Geo- northern Chile. It has the distinction of being the logical evidence and climate indicators such as pollen, southernmost in the Central Andes to retain a evaporites, and sedimentary facies indicate that an arid perennial thick . climate has existed in the Lauca Basin over the past 6.2 At 4518 m, Lago Chungará (Figure 2) is the highest million years (Kött et al 1995; Gaupp et al 1999). natural lake of moderate to large size in the world and Volcán Parinacota (Figure 2) and the adjacent Vol- covers about 2100 ha (CONAF 1986; Andrew 1987). It cán Ponerape are jointly known as the Nevados Pay- was formed when an avalanche of rocky debris from achata. These volcanoes have been the subjects of rela- Volcan Parinacota 13,500 years ago dammed existing tively detailed vulcanological and geochemical studies. westward drainages at Lauca. Water seeping slowly Ponerape is extensively glaciated and therefore pre- through the remains of this avalanche deposit supply in age, while Parinacota is younger and con- water for Lagunas Cotacotani, which itself serves as the sists of an older dome and flow complex capped by source of the Río Lauca. younger flows. This volcano possesses a well- Hydrologic studies in the Lauca Basin and adjacent preserved summit crater about 300 m in depth and a basins have indicated that ongoing hydrologic large on its southern slope. Volcán , recharge of aquifers is relatively limited

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FIGURE 3 Volcán Ponerape (6240 m, left) and Volcán Parinacota (6342 m, right) tower over rocky ridges with stands of Polylepis tarapacana grow- 265 ing with Parastrephia lucida and Azorella compacta. (Photo by authors)

(Messerli et al 1997). Thus, many of the existing pools of groundwater likely date from more humid periods about 13,000–12,000 BP, with evidence for maximum lake levels from the period about 10,000–9200 BP (Gehy et al 1999).

Terrestrial communities and biodiversity Vegetation and flora The plant communities of Lauca National Park can be divided into three formations, or alliances, as they are termed in the phytosociological literature. The lower prepuna elevations at about 2900–3900 m on slopes leading up to the Altiplano plateau are dominated by shrublands of varying height and densities that can be characterized as prepuna shrublands. This relatively diverse shrubland commonly has a woody plant cover of 40% or more. Various authors have distinguished a number of associations within these shrublands on the basis of dominant shrub species (Cabrera 1957; Hernández 1980; Gajardo 1994). The plateau of the Altiplano, which forms the major area of Lauca National Park at 4000–4500 m ele- vation, is a steppe shrubland. The bunchgrasses Festuca orthophylla and Deyeuxia breviaristata are the dominant species (see Figure 4), together with two widespread evergreen shrubs, Parastrephia lucida and P. quadrangu- laris (Asteraceae). Two additional steppe shrubland communities can be distinguished at Lauca. Rocky slopes above 4000 m commonly support a cushion plant shrubland characterized by the presence of Azorella compacta (Apiaceae), a large woody cushion reaching up to 1 m in height and 4 m in diameter. Its unusual lemon-green color is visible at great distances. Polylepis woodlands dominated by P. tarapacana form the final distinctive community on north-facing slopes at 4400–4900 m (Figure 3). Individual trees of P. tara- pacana reach 3–4 m in height and more than 40 cm in diameter at Lauca. The biogeographic affinities represented in the The final puna communities at Lauca are the wet- flora of Lauca National Park and adjacent areas of lands of the bofedales (see Figure 2). These wetland com- Parinacota show differing patterns between munities cover 10,170 ha of the park and are a keystone zonal and wetland floras. The flora of zonal habitats of habitat for wildlife. Woody cushions of Oxychloe andina the prepuna and puna show stronger floristic links to (Juncaceae) form the dominant cover of the bofedales, a regional puna flora extending from southern Peru with a diverse assemblage of associated plant species and western Bolivia into northern Chile and Argenti- (Ruthsatz 1995). na. This puna flora in the Andean puna habitats of No thorough field study of the flora of Lauca northern Chile is markedly distinct from that of the National Park has been carried out, but it is possible to Andean flora characteristic of the central and south- estimate the approximate size of this flora from litera- central Andes, where winter rainfall regimes exist ture surveys carried out in Region 1 of northern Chile. (Arroyo et al 1988). There is a stronger floristic simi- Combined records from all available surveys and bio- larity, however, between the puna wetland flora of geographic studies of suggest that northern Chile and the Andean wetland flora of cen- the expected number of vascular plant species within tral and southern Chile, and little local is the present boundaries of Lauca National Park is present in this group (Arroyo et al 1982, 1988; Ruth- between 400 and 450. satz 1993). Philip W. Rundel and Beatriz Palma

FIGURE 4 Grazing vicuñas on one of the roadside bofedales near Las Cuevas in Lauca National Park. The rocky hillside slopes behind are domi- 266 nated by perennial bunchgrasses, particularly Festuca orthophylla and Deyeuxia breviaristata. (Photo by authors)

Mammals and puna areas. Populations of Andean huemul at Lau- The mammal fauna of Lauca National Park is relatively ca are most common in prepuna grasslands and shrub- small, including approximately 31 species, not consider- lands below about 4000 m in western areas of the park. ing bats, which are poorly studied and collected. The Once threatened with extinction by hunting, popula- most charismatic of the large mammals at Lauca is the tions of Andean huemul at Lauca are increasing. vicuña, Vicugna vicugna (Figure 4). These large Six species of carnivores are also present at Lauca. cameloids, once threatened with extinction due to The largest but rarest of these is the puma, Puma concol- hunting for their valuable fur, numbered less than 1000 or. This extremely wide-ranging predator has been elim- individuals in the early 1970s; their populations have inated over much of its former range in southern South recovered remarkably under park protection. Vicuñas America but once occurred throughout Chile. The are commonly found grazing on the wetlands of the most notable other carnivores are the Andean cat (Felis bofedales at Lauca, where their territorial habits give jacobita) and the (Felis colocolo). rise to competition for food and water. The most abundant, diverse, and locally distrib- (Lama guanicoe), once extremely wide uted group of mammals at Lauca is certainly the ranging in southern , are now relatively rodent family, with 22 species present. High Andean rare in the northern half of their former range. Guana- areas of northern Chile fall within the range of a cos are common around and above Putre at the lower remarkably diverse assemblage of puna , and margins of Lauca National Park in prepuna shrublands the puna region of the Altiplano has been an area of and grasslands up to about 4200 m (see Figure 6). active among rodents (Reig 1986; Marquet Although there is overlap in habitat range between 1994). The diversity of rodents within Lauca is as great vicuñas and guanacos at 4000–4200 m, minimal compe- or greater than in any other part of Chile. The ability tition for food is thought to occur. of many of these rodent species to survive at the The third large ungulate present at Lauca is the extreme upper limits of vegetation is remarkable, with Andean huemul or taruca, Hippocamelus antisensis. The 9 rodent species known to occur at elevations up to distribution of the Andean huemul in Chile is highly 5000 m or more, the typical upper limit of occurrence restricted, occurring only in the northernmost prepuna for vascular plants in the puna.

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The most apparent and charismatic of the Lauca bofedales around Parinacota and at Laguna Cotacotani rodents is the viscacha (Lagidium viscaria). These large and Lago Chungará. Aquatic bird populations are par- rodents collect considerable amounts of plant material ticularly rich at Lago Chungará, with thousands of birds for their nests and thus build up middens of significant present. The most abundant species are the giant coot size. These middens remain for thousands of years and (Tagua gigante), silvery grebe (Podiceps occipitalis), and are now being used to develop a 40,000-year chronology Chilean teal (Anas flavirostris). Large mud nests built by of vegetation change in areas of the Chilean puna. the giant coot form prominent small islands 5–10 m Ctenomys opimus, the tuco-tuco of the puna, is from the shore. These nests are a protection against another abundant rodent at Lauca. This species inhab- predators. Among the diverse wetland birds present is its open areas on sandy, gravelly, or cindery soils up to the diademed sandpiper-plover (Phegornis mitchellii), 5000 m. It is their burrowing and feeding activities one of the rarest shorebirds in the world. rather than tuco-tucos themselves that are readily Lauca is one of the very few places in the world apparent on the puna landscape. Tuco-tucos build bur- where one can observe three species of flamingo row systems consisting of main and lateral tunnels. together. These are the Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopteris They forage for roots, stems, and leaves in the immedi- chilensis), Andean flamingo (Phoenicopteris andinus), and ate area of the mouths of their burrows, producing puna, or James’, flamingo (Phoenicopteris jamesi). The large open areas where vegetation has been removed. (Vultur gryphus), puna hawk (Buteo poe- cilochrous), the red-backed hawk (B. polyosoma), and the Birds mountain caracara (Phalcoboenus megalopteris) are pres- Bird populations in Lauca are surprisingly rich and ent as carrion feeders and predators at Lauca. diverse for such an extreme environment. About 148 species are reported from the park, accounting for Human history nearly a third of the total Chilean bird fauna. The open Festuca grassland areas of the park are home to several Human history in the Lauca region of Parinacota interesting bird species, including the lesser rhea (Pte- Province extends back thousands of years. Hunter-gath- rocnemia pennata). These large flightless birds reach 1 m erers are thought to have inhabited this region at least in height and 20 kg in weight. Other common flightless 7000 years ago and perhaps as far back as 10,000 BP. birds of the open grasslands at Lauca are the puna Agricultural and herding centers began to develop (Tinamotis pentlandii) and ornate tinamou (Nothoprocta ornata), which reach 35–40 cm in height. FIGURE 5 Village of Parinacota at 4400 m elevation in Lauca National The largest and most spectacular populations of Park. The church was originally constructed by the Spanish conquistadors birds at Lauca are found in wetland habitats in the in the 17th century, and rebuilt in 1789. (Photo by authors) Philip W. Rundel and Beatriz Palma

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about 3000 years ago. One thousand years ago, the Pari- long before its establishment as a national park nacota region came under the control of the Tiawanaku (Andrew 1987). International controversies between Empire centered at the edge of Lago Titicaca and 500 Bolivia and Chile over legal rights to water from the Río years later under the control of the Incan Empire. Lauca have continued for decades. The basin of the Río Numerous archeological sites representing these eras Lauca drains Lago Chungará, Lagunas Cotocatani, and have been identified within the park, but have not been the Parinacota bofedales but then flows eastward into carefully excavated or studied. The most significant Bolivia. A concrete canal to tap the Río Lauca for agri- archeological sites are the Tambo de Chungará, Refugio cultural water was considered as early as 1856 (Keller Rocoso Las Cuevas, and the Chacus Incaico Las Cuevas. 1946) and was finally built during the 1960s. This canal Although the village of Parinacota dates from pre- sends water through a nearly 4-km tunnel to a hydro- Columbian times, the Spanish rebuilt the town as a cen- electric plant at Chapiquiña and then into the Río San ter along a herding trail connecting Arica with the silver Jose, where it flows westward to irrigate the fertile Aza- mines of Potosí in Bolivia. The church of Parinacota was pa Valley near Arica. No evidence exists to suggest that first constructed in the 17th century and then rebuilt in this channelization of flow from the Río Lauca has had 1789 in its present form (Figure 5). The wall paintings a significant impact on the water resources of the and statuary inside date from the 17th century. important Parinacota bofedal and the lakes that feed The human inhabitants of the Lauca National Park this wetland. Records of the water level in Lago Chun- today are largely Aymara Indians, whose ancestors have gará show remarkable stability, with little interannual lived in the Altiplano for thousands of years. However, change from 1962 to 1998. Nevertheless, there have there has been significant migration of Aymara into the been efforts in the past to directly tap water resources park from Bolivia in relatively recent decades. There from Lago Chungará. A water-pumping facility was once are two primary population centers within the park. built on the western margin of the lake but was never These are at Parinacota and at Chucuyo, a newer village operated because of public outcry over the potential that arose as a separate center from Parinacota. impact of lowered lake levels. Strong economic pres- sures to allow groundwater withdrawal from within Lau- Management issues and threats ca National Park continue today and generate some of the political pressure to re-evaluate park boundaries. Despite the remoteness of the Altiplano region of Scientific evidence has shown that only limited hydro- northeastern Chile, Lauca National Park is facing seri- logic recharge of groundwater is occurring today. Using ous management issues. These include both internal wells to tap this resource for agricultural use in the Aza- management of natural resources and outside pressures pa Valley on the coast would amount to mining a non- on these same resources. Potential human impacts on renewable resource and would therefore have a poten- park ecosystems are at the center of both of these man- tially significant ecological impact. agement concerns. The management issues and natural resources of Lauca were described in some detail in a Human population impacts Plan de Manejo prepared by Corporación Nacional Fore- Human populations living or working within Lauca stal (CONAF) in 1986. This plan, however, was meant to National Park have the potential to make significant have a 10-year lifespan and is now under revision. Relat- impacts on the puna landscape and ecology. Resource ed to this re-evaluation of management plans for Lauca management issues, however, are complicated by contro- is a broader evaluation of priorities for conservation in versies related to the level of political control granted to the surrounding Parinacota Province, including Las the Aymara, whose ancestors have lived in this region Vicuñas National Reserve and Salar de Surire National for thousands of years. The economic and political Monument. There are five areas of particular concern agendas of rural Aymara, urban Aymara, private compa- for resource management, and these are highly interre- nies, and the government are often vastly different. lated in many respects: Human impacts became dramatic across much of the puna region in Chile in the late 19th and early 20th (1) Management and protection of water resources. centuries, with the development of the nitrate mining (2) Human population impacts. industry. Fuel and timber were in great demand in the (3) Ecotourism. mining areas of the , leading to exten- (4) Management of rare and endangered species. sive harvesting of both queñua (Polylepis species) and (5) Re-evaluation of park boundaries. llareta (Azorella compacta). Dried llareta burns well, with half of the energy content of coal, and remains a com- Management and protection of water resources mon source of fuel today for rural Aymara populations. Water resource issues lie at the core of many manage- As recently as the 1940s, huge quantities of llareta were ment concerns that have faced Lauca from a period harvested annually in Parinacota Province. Keller

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(1946) gives annual harvest figures of 20,000 tons of out of Arica and Putre and provide guided tours of the llareta used in the nitrate mining industry, 12,000 tons park. The total number of visitors to the park remains used as fuel for steam locomotives along the railway line relatively modest, however. CONAF currently estimates a connecting Arica with , and 2400 tons for domes- monthly mean number of about 2400 park visitors. Most tic fuel in Arica. During this same period, an average of visits occur in the summer months of January– March, about 1000 tons of queñua firewood and charcoal was and most visitors spend 1–3 days in the park. Three used annually by the railroad. Fortunately, both Polylepis quarters of the visitors are Chilean, with Europeans and Azorella appear to be aggressive colonists and have comprising two thirds of the foreign visitors. The adja- made a rapid recovery in revegetating much of the area cent Las Vicuñas National Reserve and Salar de Surire from which they were once harvested in Parinacota National Monument are virtually unvisited, having only Province. Existing population centers at Parinacota and an average of 22 and 37 monthly visitors, respectively Chucuyo do not appear to be having strong negative (CONAF, unpublished data). Facilities for park visitors impacts on these species. include a refugio, campgrounds, and nature trails; these Both vicuña and chinchilla were hunted extensively facilities have been improved significantly in recent in the past throughout the Chilean puna for their valu- years. A newly remodeled CONAF refugio in Parinacota able fur. Once highly endangered, the vicuña has made provides an excellent introduction to the ecology and a remarkable recovery in the bofedales at Lauca, which natural resources of the park and its puna habitats. offer protection and good grazing. Vicuña populations The road traversing Lauca National Park is busy have recovered less well in unprotected bofedales out- Highway 11, which connects Arica with La Paz. Literally side the park, where they compete with domestic ani- hundreds of large trucks pass this route daily, providing mals. The chinchilla population has likely always been a potential for pollution impacts from material spills, low at Lauca. These animals are more common to the air pollution, and wildlife disturbance. Lago Chungará south in semiarid mountain of Chile with a and the Parinacota bofedal would be potentially highly regime. sensitive to major point-source pollution since they are One component of human impact at Lauca is relat- directly adjacent to the highway. Thus, it is important ed to large numbers of domestic animals grazing on the that consideration be given to regulating the transport bofedales. Domestic animals have probably existed in of hazardous materials along this route and to develop- the puna region for thousands of years but much more ing emergency response plans for possible toxic spills. intensively over the past 400 years since the introduc- tion of goats and sheep by the Spanish in the 16th cen- Management of rare and endangered species tury. Keller (1946) reported a population of 10,461 lla- Lauca National Park is home to a significant number of mas and and 1836 sheep in the region of Putre rare and endangered species of vertebrates and vascular and the present national park in the 1940s. Smaller plants and undoubtedly to invertebrates as well, though numbers of domestic animals are present today. Large these groups are not known well enough. The conserva- populations of and alpacas, however, graze on tion and preservation of these rare and endangered the Parinacota bofedal near settlements at Chucuyo and species is best considered not on a species-by-species Parinacota. Small numbers of sheep, goats, and horses basis but through a policy of protecting the habitats are also present. and ecosystem processes that allow their survival. Of Domestic animals have been shown to have a signif- particular concern are the large charismatic vertebrates icant impact on the structure and diversity of the puna such as the vicuña, Andean huemul, and rhea as well as wetland communities where they graze (Ruthsatz 1995). the diverse assemblage of bird species. Their feeding preference for grasses and rushes A key element in managing these rare and endan- reduces the cover of these species and expands the gered species is an improved knowledge of their popu- dominance of less palatable cushion plants such as Oxy- lation structure and dynamics, resource requirements, chloe andina. The net effect is a reduction of diversity in and important species interactions. Basic ecological grazed bofedales. Vicuñas are able to graze cushion research should be integrated into the management species and thus maintain the species richness of the plans of the park, with cooperative interactions between bofedales. resource managers and scientists. For the vicuña, protection of the bofedales has Tourism been the key element in the spectacular recovery of this Tourism is beginning to expand within Lauca National species since the establishment of the park. This suc- Park. Much of this tourism could be classified as eco- cess, however, has led to a new management issue of tourism, with individuals and organized groups arriving determining the potential carrying capacity of the in increasing numbers to observe wildlife and photo- bofedales for populations of vicuñas. A proactive policy graph park landscapes. Ecotourism services now operate of preparing for this issue was important in the decision Philip W. Rundel and Beatriz Palma

FIGURE 6 Grazing guanacos in pre-puna shrubland about 30 km southwest 270 of Putre, outside of Lauca National Park. This habitat is poorly represented within the park. (Photo by Karen Esler)

leading to the creation of Las Vicuñas National Reserve in a relatively species-rich shrubland matrix. Much of adjacent to Lauca as an area where more active man- the primary habitat for Andean huemul, as well as for agement can take place. Careful consideration is now guanacos, lies in this prepuna shrubland. Arid areas being given to how herds of vicunas can be managed so at lower altitudes of 2200–3000 m dominated by the that an industry can be developed by indigenous popu- candelabra cactus (Browningia candelaris) have only lations to harvest valuable vicuña fur in a sustainable modest diversity, but addition of this area to the park manner and without violating the restrictions of CITES would protect this unique habitat and species (Gibson for this endangered species. Management and protec- and Rundel, in press). tion of Andean huemul, guanacos, and a variety of rare It has been argued in recent months that the addi- plant species in prepuna habitats can best be imple- tion of new prepuna areas to Lauca National Park mented by adding larger areas of these habitats to the should be accomplished as part of a re-evaluation of the existing park (Figure 6). This issue is discussed in more conservation significance of lands presently protected detail below. within the park and within Las Vicuñas National Reserve and Salar de Surire National Monument. The Re-evaluation of park boundaries—issues and concerns implicit basis for these arguments has been that an There is an obvious need to consider additions to the addition of new protected areas may be appropriately area of Lauca National Park so that representative balanced against a decertification of some existing pro- prepuna habitats of the puna region of northeastern tected areas of lesser conservation value. Driving these Chile can be preserved. Of primary concern here are pressures for re-evaluation of park boundaries have prepuna shrubland communities of Parinacota been strong economic forces that seek to open new Province, which are poorly represented within the areas for mining and for tapping groundwater pools for current boundaries of Lauca. This zone west of Putre agriculture in the coastal Azapa Valley below. Economi- at elevations of 3000–3600 m includes significant cally significant deposits of a number of are stands of the rare Polylepis besseri (Rosaceae), growing known to exist near or within the boundaries of Lauca.

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These include sulfur, borax, gold, silver, and zinc should never be a justification for such a step. While (Keller 1946). Pressure has existed in the past, and will detailed evaluations of conservation value for Lauca no doubt continue in the future, to allow selective National Park and adjacent conservation lands were exploitation of these resources. It is these pres- completed in 1999 as a portion of a resource evaluation sures, along with interests in mining groundwater as project, the rating systems used for evaluating conserva- described above, that have led to proposals to re-evalu- tion value were indices based on evaluations of habitat ate the boundaries of Lauca National Park. type and species presence. Little consideration was giv- Any consideration of decertification of national en to evaluating critical ecosystem processes that sup- park lands—particularly within an area such as Lauca port species richness and habitat distribution. The National Park—that are internationally recognized as a maintenance of basic ecosystem processes at the water- UNESCO Biosphere Reserve should only be accom- shed and landscape level is critical to the sustainability plished with the strongest justification and opportunity of natural resources and the species richness of Lauca for extended public review. Decertification on the basis National Park. of a quid pro quo to allow new areas to be included

AUTHORS

Philip W. Rundel Beatriz Palma Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution, University of Cal- Division of Agronomía, Universidad de las , Santiago, Chile. ifornia, Los Angeles CA 90095 USA and White Mountains Research Sta- [email protected] tion, Bishop CA 93514 USA. [email protected]

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