That island of vegetation arose from a communal “latrine” used by vicuñas, wild relatives of domesti
That island of vegetation arose from a communal “latrine” used by vicuñas, wild relatives of domesticated llamas and alpacas.Where glaciers are receding In the Peruvian Andes, vicuñas are refurbishing barren landscapes with their nutrient-rich excrement:As glacial retreat has increased, vicuñas have taken on an importance beyond their fine wool: their dung is speeding up soil and vegetation development on high alpine rocky substrate, a normally very slow phenomenon called primary succession. Kelsey Reider, a biologist studying Andean ecosystems at Florida International University, explained this phenomenon to GlacierHub. “In recently de-glaciated areas, one of the most striking features of the landscape is vicuña latrines. This landscape is made up of a jumble of rocks with few plants because succession is so slow there,” she said. “Dispersed in this landscape of rocks and ice there are these patches of vegetation that are really diverse, complex, and soft. You can’t miss them.” -- source link
#keystone species#ecology#climate change#vicuña#alpine ecology#glacier#glacial retreat#cryosphere