Effects of anthropogenic disturbances on Paramo vegetation in Podocarpus National Park, Ecuador

Paramo, a form of tropical alpine vegetation, has experienced intense anthr opogenic disturbances throughout the northern Andes, but relatively few stu dies have examined the disturbance ecology of this ecosystem. This article concerns the use of experimental techniques to quantify the effects of huma n disturbances on lower paramo vegetation in southern Ecuador. Beginning in January 1992, thirty-eight 3 x 2 m plots were inventoried at a site (3285 to 3384 m elevation) that includes both grass paramo and shrub paramo commu nities. Within the grass paramo, three different treatments were applied: e ight plots were cut with a machete, eight were burned with gasoline, and ei ght were cut and burned; ten plots in the shrub paramo were cut only. The r egeneration within these plots was monitored one year later. Within the gra ss paramo, "burned" plots experienced a higher rate of woody stem regrowth than did plots in the other treatments. "Cut and burned" plots experienced the lowest rate of woody stem regeneration and the greatest loss of species . In the shrub paramo, cutting alone resulted in the loss of rare woody spe cies and an increase in frequency of common herbaceous species.