Changes in the vegetation and water cycle of the Ecuadorian páramo during the last 5000 years

Abstract

We analyzed changes in the long-term vegetation cover and in fire activity over the past 5000 years in the Ecuadorian páramo using a sediment core from Papallacta (Ecuador). The chronology is constrained by three tephra layers and 32 AMS 14C ages, and 168 samples yielded a high-resolution record of environmental changes. We estimated the upslope wind convectivity as the ratio between pollen transported from the Andean cloud forest and Poaceae pollen to distinguish changes in atmospheric moisture from changes in soil moisture. The record showed that the two sources of moisture, either from year-round adiabatic cloud dripping linked to SASM activity or to ENSO variability at decadal-scale, influenced vegetation-cover changes. Between 5000 and 2450 cal yr BP, both soil moisture and biomass burning were higher than after 2450 cal yr BP. The shift between the two states matches the zonal increase in summer insolation that drove the ITCZ to its southernmost position. Our results underline resilience to volcanic activity, the importance of the upslope convective dripping with the lowest convective index observed at ~4500 cal yr BP, the anomalous last century with the highest convective activity and the driest soil conditions recorded in the last 5000 years, the recent increase in fire activity and the link between soil moisture and the position of the ITCZ.