The The hydrological hydrological y g regime regime g of of the the Iberá Iberá and and Pantanal Pantanal wetlands wetlands and and the the potential potential p impacts impacts p of of Climate Climate Change

MONTROULL, NATALIA; SAURRAL, RAMIRO; CAMILLONI, INÉS

Denver

Conferencia; WCRP Open Science Conference; 2011

World Climate Research Programme

The La Plata Basin (LPB) in southeastern South America hosts the Pantanal and Iberá wetlands, the largest continuous freshwater wetlands in South America. They host several flora and fauna species unique in the world, some of themvulnerable and threatened. Wetlands are ecosystems characterized for being covered or saturated by water for all or part of the year. Therefore, the hydrological regime is determinant for their presence and permanence. Both land use changes and climate variability and change modify the hydrological conditions of the systems and consequently could affect the wetlands biodiversity. A detailed knowledge of the hydrological variability in the region will be an important tool for the development of better management practices and adaptation strategies for the conservation of the region. The ability of the VIC model to simulate the basic features of the streamflow annual cycle of the Corriente and Upper Paraguay rivers and its use considering temperature and precipitation outputs from a GCM that represents adequately regional present climate allow us to make a first order assessment of the potential impacts of climate change on two of the largest world?s freshwater wetlands.