Abstract

FRANCO VIDAL, Lorena; DELGADO, Juliana  and  ANDRADE, Germán I.. Vulnerability Factors to Global Climate Change in the High Andean Colombian Wetlands. Cuad. Geogr. Rev. Colomb. Geogr. [online]. 2013, vol.22, n.2, pp.69-85. ISSN 0121-215X.

Abstract Colombia's high Andean wetlands, which are particularly sensitive to climate change, are essential for the adaptation of many human communities to that phenomenon. An adaptive management of the wetlands, based on their nature and ecosystemic functionality, requires acknowledgement not only of the magnitude of climate threat, but also of the aspects that determine vulnerability. The existing scientific literature refers to attributes and processes that, under certain circumstances, could make those wetlands vulnerable to climate change. On the basis of those factors and from the perspective of climate change, the article discusses a set of ecological and social vulnerability factors that make it possible to orient the management of wetlands along lines that make them socially and ecologically resilient to the phenomenon.

Keywords : sustainable adaptation; global climate change; vulnerability assessment; High Andean wetlands; ecosystem services.

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