Influencia de los cambios de uso del suelo sobre la disponibilidad de agua: el caso de la cuenca alta del Río Guayllabamba : análisis del cambio del uso del suelo en la cuenca alta del Río Guayllabamba.

Abstract

Land use is a main source for resource supply, its conservation and study is of worldwide importance due to the different economic, social, political and ecosystemic services it provides. For this reason, different studies have been developed to manage the resource. However, in Ecuador there is a lack of these studies. This research project aims to analyze land use change in the Upper Guayllabamba River Basin located between the provinces of Pichincha, Imbabura and Cotopaxi with an area of 6427.3 km2.To perform this analysis, the areas and percentages (%) of each land use present in the period 1982-2014 were quantified, the percentage of loss of each land use for each period was determined. Using factors such as altitude, we analyzed the influence of altitude on the change in land use and the alterations that fragile ecosystems (páramo) have suffered during the study period. It was found that the páramo and native forest are the most affected land uses with losses of 31.94% and 46% respectively between 1998 and 2014, with transactions in short-cycle crops, natural vegetation mosaic and pastures. The influence of altitude was reflected in 2300-2800 m.a.s.l., which was the altitudinal band that had the greatest impact. Fragile ecosystems (páramo) were affected, progressively losing their area, causing a loss of the ecosystem services they provide.