Evaluación de eventos extremos de emisión de dióxido de carbono del ecosistema de páramo de Zhurucay (Azuay) según condiciones biofísicas y climáticas

Abstract

Carbon dioxide, water and energy flux densities between land and the atmosphere are governed by biophysical and climatic factors. The main goal of this thesis is to determine the relationship between these factors and extreme events of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission in the Andean páramo of Zhurucay. For this purpose, data from an Eddy Covariance tower and micro meteorological sensors have been used. The Eddy Covariance system collected flux data continuously (day and night), enabling the study of gross primary production and ecosystem respiration processes. A multivariate statistical analysis of two years of data (2017 and 2018) shows that carbon dioxide emission is mainly controlled by air temperature, soil temperature and soil water content, with correlation coefficients of 0.59, 0.68 and -0.44 respectively. In extreme events of CO2 emission (respiration values greater than the P90 percentile (> 4.09 gC m-2 day-1 )), air temperature is inversely correlated with respiration, inhibiting its process; whereas there is no significant correlation of respiration with soil temperature or soil water content. This study is a step forward for improving the understanding of land-atmosphere exchange processes in the Andean páramo ecosystem, which remain underexplored.