The Galapagos archipelago: A natural laboratory to examine sharp hydroclimatic, geologic and anthropogenic gradients
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Abstract
Poor understanding of the water cycle in tropical ecosystems has the potential to exacerbate water shortages and water crises in the region. We suggest that the Galápagos Islands provide an excellent proxy to regions across the tropics as a result of sharp hydroclimatic, anthropogenic, and pedohydrologic gradients across the archipelago. Hydroclimatic and pedohydrologic gradients are found across different elevations on single islands, as well as across the archipelago, whereas anthropogenic gradients reflect land use and land cover change across islands as population and growth in tourism have affected individual islands differently. This article highlights specific opportunities to further examine our understanding of the interactions between water and critical zone processes in tropical ecosystems, making connections between the Galápagos archipelago and much of the understudied tropics. The Galápagos archipelago offers a natural laboratory through which we can examine current threats to freshwater security as well as the dynamics of coupled natural and human systems.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | The Galapagos archipelago: A natural laboratory to examine sharp hydroclimatic, geologic and anthropogenic gradients |
| Series title | WIREs Water |
| DOI | 10.1002/wat2.1145 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Year Published | 2016 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | John Wiley & Sons |
| Publisher location | Hoboken, NJ |
| Contributing office(s) | Geologic Hazards Science Center |
| Description | 14 p. |
| First page | 587 |
| Last page | 600 |
| Country | Ecuador |
| State | Galapagos Islands |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |