- The Peruvian government has formally granted conservation status to the 6,449-hectare (16,000-acre) desert oasis site Lomas y Tillandsiales de Amara y Ullujalla on the coast of Peru.
- Lomas are unique ecosystems relying on marine fog that host rare and endemic plants and animal species. But they have become threatened by driving, land trafficking, urban development and mining.
- The site, the first of its kind to become protected after more than 15 years of scientific and advocacy efforts, will help scientists understand climatic and marine cycles in the area.
Peru has granted formal conservation status to Lomas y Tillandsiales de Amara y Ullujaya, a unique fog oasis ecosystem on the arid Peruvian coastline. The state-owned land, which spans 6,449 hectares (15,936 acres) in the Ica region of Southwest Peru and hosts hundreds of rare and threatened native species, will be protected for future research and exploration for at least three decades.
Lomas are fog oasis ecosystems in Peru and Chile that have evolved over tens of millions of years and occur like hilltop “islands” in the desert. Located alongside the Pacific Ocean, the ecosystem depends entirely on sea-generated fog to sustain it. This kind of maritime climate is globally unique for a terrestrial habitat and occurs due to its proximity to converging warm tropical and cold Antarctic Ocean currents.
“This is the first concession for conservation on the desert coast of Peru, and also the first concession for lomas fog ecosystems,” said Oliver Whaley, a scientist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who has worked in Peru for more than 25 years.
Lomas host endemic vascular plants, as well as wild tomato and papaya relatives, which act as important genetic resources for future proofing crops. The Amara y Ullujaya Lomas hosts around 95 from all 675 lomas species of vascular plants. Of these around 40% are endemic to the lomas, around 30% are threatened and at least 6 species are critically endangered (such as Nolana willeana on Peru red list). One lichen species, the Peruvian orange-bush lichen (Teloschistes peruensis) is known only within a few hundred square meters and is classified as critically endangered.
The ecosystem is also a vital last refuge for the highly threatened Peruvian subspecies of guanaco (Lama guanicoe cacsilensis), one of four species of South American camelid, and the wild relative of the domesticated Llama (Lama glama). These rare camelids are a keystone species and key seed dispersers for lomas plant species and are vital for their survival.
Other mammals include two desert fox species, the Andean fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) and South American grey fox (Lycalopex griseus). Most of the gecko and lizard species are also endemic and threatened, such as the lizard locally known as cabezona (Ctenoblepharys adspersa). Lomas also provide multiple ecosystem services, including clean water, carbon storage, clean air and food for the 58% of the Peruvian population that lives in the coastal zones nearby.
The conservation concession follows more than 15 years of research and advocacy and four intense years of negotiation with local and national authorities, said Justin Moat, scientist at RBG Kew and lead author of a scientific paper that revealed the true extent of the lomas fog ecosystems and their unique biodiversity.
“After so many years of work, it is incredibly exciting to see this area finally protected,” Moat said.
“With the recent advent of mass satellite imagery, we have been able to map these remote and often ephemeral ecosystems in extraordinary detail. Presently only 4% of the lomas are protected in Peru and Chile,” he told Mongabay.
The Lomas Amara y Ullujaya had remained largely intact due to its remote location away from the coastal Pan-American Highway. But, in recent years, new roads and an increase in off-road driving, land trafficking, urban development and mining have severely threatened the ecosystem, making it an urgent priority for local and international scientists for official protection.
“Lomas are perhaps the most highly sensitive and responsive ecosystems on the planet,” Whaley said. The plants that grow there are so highly evolved in this ancient arid environment that they respond to tiny changes of humidity and temperature.”
The unique ecosystem can help scientists understand climatic and marine cycles, Whaley said, which makes their protection even more crucial.
Scientists from Kew working with local NGO Huarango Nature have been studying the lomas for two decades, making herbarium collections and, more recently, using remote sensing and drones to map the ecosystem to understand better what species are present. These data were vital to getting the concession for conservation.
The newly conserved site, which will be managed by Huarango Nature, working in partnership with Kew, local organic farm Samaca and Peru’s National Forest and Wildlife Service (SERFOR), could help research into the biodiversity and how it is being impacted by climate change.
Alberto Yataco, a technical administrator with SERFOR in Ica, said that Kew’s “scientific and technical capacity would ensure the conservation and sustained management” of the biodiversity in Peruvian coastal lomas.
Whaley explained that collaboration with local biologists, communities, environmental law experts and SERFOR had been key to achieving the lomas’ conversation status.
“It has very much been a team effort, decades in the making,” Whaley added. “We are so proud of this work and celebrate with everyone involved.”
Citation:
Moat, J., Orellana-Garcia, A., Tovar, C., Arakaki, M., Arana, C., Cano, A., … Whaley, O. Q. (2021). Seeing through the clouds – Mapping desert fog oasis ecosystems using 20 years of MODIS imagery over Peru and Chile. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 103, 102468. doi:10.1016/j.jag.2021.102468
Banner image: Fog oasis flowering in response to fog. Image courtesy of Justin Moat, RBG Kew.
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