Science and Technology Production
Article
Authorship
ALVAREZ GUERRERO, LEANDRO MANUEL
;
Fernandez, Maria Emilia
;
Rivera, Juan Antonio
;
Zalazar, Laura
;
Díaz, Fabián
;
Ontivero, Marcela
Date
2026
Publishing House and Editing Place
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
Magazine
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
Summary
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Introduction: The degradation and loss of High Andes wetlands result from climate change, landscape modifications, reduced hydrologicalconnectivity, and intensive grazing. Knowledge about the ecological processes regulating wetland recovery after disturbanceremains limited.Objective: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of low-cost, traditional techniques for landscape rehydration in promoting therecovery of a degraded mountain wetland in the High Andes of Mendoza Province, Argentina.Met...
Introduction: The degradation and loss of High Andes wetlands result from climate change, landscape modifications, reduced hydrologicalconnectivity, and intensive grazing. Knowledge about the ecological processes regulating wetland recovery after disturbanceremains limited.Objective: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of low-cost, traditional techniques for landscape rehydration in promoting therecovery of a degraded mountain wetland in the High Andes of Mendoza Province, Argentina.Methods: We built five check dams in 2020 and 2024 to redistribute water in the Ciénaga del Tupungato wetland. We monitored thewetland area using Sentinel-2 and Landsat imagery and applied a Before–After–Control–Impact-style comparison with two nearbyuntreated wetlands. To detect local treatment effects, we delineated a restoration sector using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) map algebra and analyzed pixel-level NDVI statistics (mean SD).Results: Vegetation cover estimates show a 48% increase in vegetated surface following restoration efforts, from 3.8 ha in 2020 to5.6 ha after the second intervention in 2024. Long-term analysis (1986–2025) revealed marked interannual variation in wetland extent.At the landscape scale, restored and control wetlands displayed similar climate-driven patterns. Still, the delineated restoration sectorexhibited a higher mean NDVI and reduced temporal variability than surrounding areas. Field GPS measurements indicated an increasein vegetated area (0.4 ha).Conclusions: These findings suggest that rehydration low-cost techniques can be an effective strategy for restoring these ecosystems.Monitoring and replication across sites are necessary to assess effectiveness and improve our understanding of the ecological drivers ofHigh Andes wetlands.
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Key Words
climate variabilityremote sensingNDVIHigh Andes wetlandscheck dams,overgrazing