Abstract
The Peruvian Altiplano is an important center of mining activity. As a key hotspot for endemic biodiversity in Peru, it also has conservation value. Thus, ecological restoration strategies need to be developed to ensure that mining impacts on these biodiversity values are minimized. As a step toward this larger objective, we measured the composition of the soil seed bank on the Peruvian Altiplano and compared it with the standing vegetation in different plant communities. We calculated evolved persistence traits to evaluate the suitability of topsoil removal, storage, and redeployment as an ecological restoration strategy for the Peruvian Altiplano. The comparison demonstrates low similarities (Sorensen Index for sites A: 0.15, B:0.27, C:0.11, and D:0.12) between the seed bank and the standing vegetation. The flora of the germinable soil seed bank is dominated by ephemeral species. Meanwhile, the standing flora contains a higher percentage of perennial species, many of which invest in the capacity to persist via resprouting from underground storage organs. It is clear that the well-established restoration technique of topsoil removal, storage, and redeployment needs to be tested and will probably need modification to be an effective strategy for the Peruvian Altiplano. The required modifications are relatively straightforward and would ensure that this low-cost and effective restoration technique could be applied to good effect on the Peruvian Altiplano.
Highlights
The Peruvian economy is growing at a rapid 3.9% per year (Global Economic Prospects 2016), and this growth rate has been maintained over the last 12 years
A total of 870 seeds germinated from the Yauyos seed bank, which emerged from 71 soil samples
Quite apart from issues related to seed viability the results demonstrate clearly that the standing flora and the soil seed bank differ because the standing flora is composed of a significant number of perennial species that invest in the ability to resprout from underground storage organs (Figure 1)
Summary
The Peruvian economy is growing at a rapid 3.9% per year (Global Economic Prospects 2016), and this growth rate has been maintained over the last 12 years. Between 2005 and 2012 the gross domestic product grew at a rate of 7%, while the national investment rate increased from 17% to 26%, mainly because of investment in mining activities (Charles and Zegarra 2014). Mining activities in the Peruvian Andes are mostly related to copper and gold mining/extraction (Wang and Miao 2016; Fraser 2018). Mining in Peru is important because it inflates the tax base, creating possibilities for the development of new infrastructure and for lifting some of the most disadvantaged segments of the population out of poverty. Peru has created new laws to safeguard against these potential impacts
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