Mapping the spatial distribution of wetlands in Argentina (South America) from a fusion of national databases

Abstract

Context There a large information gap on the spatial distribution and diversity of wetland types in South America. Aims We focus on mapping the spatial distribution of broad wetland types in Argentina, based on the integration of open spatial data sources developed by national government agencies. Methods We designed a two-tier process, as follows: we filtered broad wetland types described in the attributes of the spatial datasets and created a separate vector layer for each wetland class; we then ensembled the layers by populating a 25-m cell raster template. Key results Our WetCarto_AR layer indicates that wetlands cover 13.5% of mainland Argentina, being distributed throughout the country with a greater concentration towards the north-east, but patchy in the rest of the country. Palustrine is the dominant wetlands class followed by Riparian and Lacustrine. Global datasets underestimated wetland coverage, although the same large wetlands are recognised in all. Conclusions Our results make visible the known spatial extent of wetlands in Argentina and provide information to feed or validate global models. Implications Results stress the importance of existing local databases, which, even when generated for other purposes, can be a starting point for country or region wetland mapping.