Earth Syst. Dynam., 7, 499–515, 2016 www.earth-syst-dynam.net/7/499/2016/ doi:10.5194/esd-7-499-2016 © Author(s) 2016. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Comparing peasants’ perceptions of precipitation change with precipitation records in the tropical Callejón de Huaylas, Peru Wolfgang Gurgiser1, Irmgard Juen1, Katrin Singer2, Martina Neuburger2, Simone Schauwecker3,4, Marlis Hofer1, and Georg Kaser1 1Institute of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria 2Institute of Geography, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany 3Institute of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland 4Meteodat GmbH, Zurich, Switzerland Correspondence to: W. Gurgiser (
[email protected]) Received: 19 August 2015 – Published in Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss.: 9 October 2015 Revised: 25 April 2016 – Accepted: 6 May 2016 – Published: 26 May 2016 Abstract. Pronounced hygric seasonality determines the regional climate and, thus, the characteristics of rain- fed agriculture in the Peruvian Callejón de Huaylas (Cordillera Blanca). Peasants in the Cuenca Auqui on the eastern slopes above the city of Huaraz attribute recently experienced challenges in agricultural produc- tion mainly to perceived changes in precipitation patterns. Statistical analyses of daily precipitation records at nearby Recuay (1964 to 2013) and Huaraz (1996 to 2013) stations do not corroborate the perceived changes. Ei- ther insufficient temporal resolution of available precipitation records or other environmental and sociopolitical factors impacting