Change in the vegetation cover of wetlands in Pueblo Libre, Huancavelica, period 2016 - 2018

Abstract

Wetlands play an important role in mountain ecosystems, providing ecosystem services such as natural water and food for livestock, but due to human activities such as overgrazing and burning of pastures, there is degradation, soil compaction and decrease of vegetation cover, whose recovery takes a long time. The study aims to determine the variation in vegetation cover of the wetlands of the town of Pueblo Libre, Huancavelica, period 2016 - 2018, for which we worked with a sample of 15 wetlands, obtaining their areas with the help of Sentinel satellite images using QGIS software and the commercial program ArcGis. It is highlighted among the results that there are 15 wetlands in Pueblo Libre, with an area of 1 024 421.99 m2 in 2016 and a total area of 901,653.70 m2 in 2018, which are located between 4 315 to 4 862 m a.s.l.; being the highest point 9 with 4 862 m a.s.l. It is concluded that there are 15 wetlands in Pueblo Libre, with an area of 1'024,421.99 m2 in 2016 and a total area of 901,653.70 m2 in 2018. It is concluded that there is a significant percentage variation greater than 10% of vegetation cover of wetlands in terms of area in the town centre of Pueblo Libre between 2016 and 2018 with a confidence level of 0.99%, which generated the loss of 11.98% of wetlands.