Towards sustainable land use in the Bolivian Altiplano: effects of grazing and fire on biomass productivity, diversity and soil stability

The main target of this project will be to assess the questions of productivity, carrying livestock capacity and the effect of management on biodiversity, biomass production, and soil protection in the Bolivian Andes (altiplano) and to develop recommendations on sustainable  land use. A focal point will be the separation of tussock grass versus non-tussock productivity and functional diversity.  The intertussock space is key in terms of forage protein content and erosion control. In large parts of the altiplano, intertussock covers from 80 to 95% of the land area and so far it has not been explored separate from tussocks. The project will act as a pilot study in order to develop a common protocol on comparative studies on grazed high elevation rangeland systems. The pilot project will contribute to knowledge transfer and capacity building of ecological science in Bolivia and involves two local PhD student projects of the University Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia. Part of the PhD educational training in ecology will be in Switzerland, and include field work experience in a project on mountain biodiversity and water catchment yield at Furka Pass, a Alpine Ecology Field course at the University of Basel, and a virtual course „ALPECOLe“ of the Swiss Virtual Campus. Local partners in Bolivia are Maximo Liberman Cruz (Servicio Nacional des Areas Protegidas (SERNAP) Bolivia), Stephan Halloy (University Mayor de San Andrés) and Stephan Beck (Director of the Herbario Nacional in Bolivia).

Tropical highlands above 3500 m are commonly dominated by grasslands which are mainly used for animal grazing. At the same time these areas are water catchments for lower regions. Destructive grazing practices not only endanger sustained local livelihood but also welfare at lower elevation. The project emerged from two workshops in Moshi (Tanzania) and La Paz (Bolivia) financed by SDC and FAO and is proposed in line with the research priorities documented in the recent Moshi/ La Paz Research Agenda by the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment of DIVERSITAS (GMBA 2003). Impact of fire and grazing will be experimentally quantified, allowing future impact assessment of different management regimes and therefore will serve as a knowledge basis to improve natural resource management and sustainable use of tropical highlands.

 

Swiss Coordinator:		Christian Körner, Institute of Botany, University of Basel, ch.koerner@unibas.ch
Main foreign partner:		Maximo Libermann Cruz, Servico Nacional des Areas Protegidas
		Stepahn Halloy, Instituto de Ecologia ,Universidad Mayor de San Andres
Cooperation with Bolivia
Disciplines: Ecology, Environmental Research

High elevation tussock grassland in Bolivia (in the background Sajama, the highest mountain of Bolivia, 6522 m)

Land use in the Bolivian Altiplano (Lama grazing)


Burning tall tussock grass (Festuca orthophylla), Bolivia 4150 m