Catchment Scale Hydro-Biogeochemical Fluxes And Aquatic Diversity Under Global Change

Water Is A Key Component Of Tropical Montane Rainforest Ecosystems That Facilitates Energy Transfers, Triggers Erosion And Drives Biodiversity Patterns And Also Acts As A Key Agent Of Lateral Transport For Particulate And Dissolved Nutrients. Increasingly, Attention Is Focused To Better Understand Hydrological Fluxes And Processes And The Interaction To Other Biogeochemical And Ecological Processes. Further, Hydroelectricity Plays An Important Role In Electricity Production, Providing 63% Of The Country´S Total, According To The Recipes Report (Www.Energyrecipes.Org). Hence, A More Complete Understanding Of The Hydrological Cycle Is Crucial In The Investigation Of How Future Land Use And Climate Change Will Alter Water Fluxes And Associated Biogeochemical Processes, Nutrient Losses Or Changes In Stream Ecology. A Key Question Is, Whether Gcm Observations Are Transferable To Tropical Montane Rainforest Ecosystems, With Their Differing Contributions Of Evapotranspiration And Lateral Flow Components To The Total Water Cycle. The Impact Of Global Change On Biodiversity, Habitats And Community Patterns Is Also Not Well Understood. Whereas Land Use Change Immediately Impact Biodiversity, Climate Change Is Estimated To Influence On Longer Time Frames (Malmqvist & Rundle 2002). For Tropical Montane Rainforests It Is Assumed That Elevation Range Shifts Are More Important Than Latitudinal Shifts, Due To The Shallow Latitudinal Temperature Gradient In Tropical Regions (Colwell Et Al. 2008). Given The Large Elevation Differences In The San Francisco Catchment It Therefore Can Be Concluded That Climate Changes Will Drastically Impact Diversity Patterns. Nevertheless, To Better Understand The Impact Of Land Use And Climate Changes On Hydro-Biogeochemical Fluxes And Ecological Conditions We Suggest Follow A Combined Experimental And Modeling. Based On These Results We Promote The Investigation Of Land Use And Climate Changes Scenarios To Project The Likely Impacts Of Water And Water Related Ecosystem Services Such As Water And Nutrient Cycling As Well As Diversity