the lapwing in andean ethnoecology the lapwing in andean ethnoecology: proxy for landscape...

the lapwing in andean ethnoecology

The Geographical Review (): –, April Copyright © by the American Geographical Society of New York

* This study was presented at the panel on “Human Dimensions on Tropical Environments” during the annualmeeting of the Association of American Geographers and was also discussed at the International Union ofBiological Sciences’ workshop on “Traditional Knowledge and Global Change.” Portions of the work were funded byOffice of the Vice President for Research–Wilson Center for Humanities and Arts and by the Geography Departmentof the University of Georgia and the Exposition Foundation of Atlanta. I appreciate the feedback I received fromMichael Steinberg, Juan González, Victor Toledo, Betty Smith, Carol Harden, and Marteen Kappele. I am gratefulto several members of the Cotopaxi National Park Service, the Center for Mediation, Peace, and Resolution ofConflict–International, the Fundación de Rescate Apoyo Aeronáutico, and the Ecuadorian Museum of NaturalSciences for support during my field research; and I thank the communities of Sulfana, Mariano Acosta, Guamaní,Cangahua, Zumbahua, Mulaló, Aláo, and Guajaló Chico in Ecuador for sharing their knowledge with me.

� Dr. Sarmiento is an associate professor of geography at the University of Georgia, Athens,Georgia .

THE LAPWING IN ANDEAN ETHNOECOLOGY:PROXY FOR LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION*

FAUSTO O. SARMIENTO

abstract. The Andean lapwing (Vanellus resplendens Tschudi) prompts rethinking ofethnoecology in neotropical cloud forests and páramos and challenges notions about conser-vation in mountain protected areas. Using archaeological, historical, and current evidence,I argue that the role of humans in shaping viable high-mountain bird populations is an im-portant factor in the conservation priorities of tropandean landscapes, particularly in themountains. The presence of the Andean lapwing demonstrates the intricate linkages betweenculture and nature in the Andean region. I highlight a paradox of conservation, using theAndean lapwing as the avian indicator of global environmental change as an example of thecontest between landscape change, biodiversity, and ethnoecological insights. Landscape stew-ardship, conservation easements, and cultural landscapes are options for inclusion in therepertoire of scenarios for the survival of healthy avifaunal assemblages in high-mountainenvironments that have evolved in synchrony with humans, such as in páramos, culturallandscapes worth protecting in the tropical Andes. Keywords: Andes Mountains, Ecuador,ethnoecology, landscape transformation, páramo, tropics, Vanellus resplendens.

The mosaic of vegetation types in Ecuador reflects ecological gradients along alti-tudinal clines associated with the presence of bird species in a variety of equatoriallocales (Chapman ). Traditionally, meteorological conditions favoring a clusterof intensity/seasonality resource-use schemes for bird species were thought to cre-ate important biogeographical patterns in the four main natural regions of the coun-try: the Amazon basin in the east; the north–south-trending Andes Mountains inthe center (Figure ); the coastal lowlands in the west; and the Galápagos Islands inthe Pacific Ocean. The active backbone of the Andes, with its topographic and cli-matic extremes, receives fertility inputs of volcanic origin. The lowlands at each ofthe outer slopes receive intense and constant inputs of alluvial origin. In some casesfeedback occurs in the Andean piedmont, associated with new soil from laminarerosion, loess deposition, and other geological dynamics, including tremors andearthquakes. The feedback is considered a restorative mechanism for maintainingproductive, agrobiodiverse systems in the tropandean landscape. Thus soil condi-tions vary not only because of differential age, weathering, and parent material but

the geographical review

also because of anthropogenic disturbance, creating catenae of enhanced diversitydue to selective management since antiquity (Young ).

Landscape Heterogeneity and Bird Communities

Microclimates and anthropogenic agency explain the great variety of habitats thatbirds occupy in Ecuador (Sarmiento ). The abundant bird life in the equatorialAndes reflects the rich assemblage of flora and fauna in that fertile mountain set-ting. Isolation, parapatryuse of adjacent habitat types depending on the slope andaspect of mountainsand other vicarious effects allow east–west differentiation.North–south distributional patterns, such as the islandlike high Andean páramos,1

F. Distribution of the Andean lapwing in highland Ecuador. Observations of the Andeanlapwing in the Condor Bioreserve were informed by and analyzed using traditional ethnographicknowledge. Source: Modified from Sarmiento ; Spinuzza . (Cartography by the author andClifford Duplechin)


also affect equatorial biodiversity. So does the disjunctive distribution of certainplant species, such as the stem rosette “big friar,” or frailejón (Espeletia hartwegiana),a conspicuous element of El Ángel páramo in far northern Ecuador that disappearssouthward, only to reappear in the Llanganatis Mountains of central Ecuador (Balslev), or the remnants of quina roja (a papery, flaky bark rose tree) (Polylepis spp.)forests that are isolated amid a sea of grasses (Fjeldså ).

Other curious biogeographical patterns are obvious at the Nudo del Azuay (seeFigure ), where the age and structure of soil prompts different species to occupywoodlands not only on the upper montane belt but also in transandean coves thatbuffer wind and temperature, on the bottom of interandean valleys, and on theentire Andean piedmont. Wind dynamics also produce biodiversity loci on moun-tain passes, which reflect dispersal patterns for lowland-highland avian and plantdynamics (Grubb and Whitmore ). The highly varied physical geography, cli-mate, and elevation are often considered parameters against which to calibrate dis-tributional models of bird species (Butler ). Because hitherto the role of humansas drivers of landscape change has seldom been reported for tropical mountains,the research described in this article facilitates recognition of the need to consideranthropogenic impacts as causal factors in biogeographical distributional patternsin Andean páramos and other anthropogenic biomes (Ellis and Ramankutty ).

My research on avian habitats, including my previously published ecologicaldescriptions of Ecuador (Sarmiento , , a), helps readers become famil-iar with vegetation types and bird communities in Ecuadorian landscapes, informedby the rich cultural geography, ancestral land-use practices, and ancient humanagency. Furthermore, it uses habitat associations to explain unique features for birdendemicityor its rare presence in restricted, insular territoriesas well as the spa-tial relationships of birds in the wider cultural landscape and their role as a proxyfor the effects of global environmental change. Indeed, because of the ancient hu-man influence on the equatorial Andes, native forests in the Ecuadorian highlandsdwindled, and anthropogenic grasslands are now ubiquitous in the páramos (Knapp; Sarmiento b). Simon Laegaard claimed that a páramo is a fire-controlledecosystem and that transandean timberlines extended up to approximately ,

meters (). At present, recognition that arson is a major cause of fire in the high-lands and that certain fire regimes appear to enhance plant diversity in páramos isuniversal (Keating ). Although intentional fire as a driver of plant diversity hasnot yet been documented, evidence indicates that it is the tool of choice for main-taining páramos.

Ornithologists have documented avian diversity in Ecuador, a megadiversitycountry hosting several taxa with high endemicity (see, for example, Ridgely andGreenfield ); however, the catalog provided only hints at the drivers of diversityassociated with ancient human agency. Interandean valleys and hills are “anthro-pophilous” (Acosta-Solís ), emphasizing flora-habitat modification as a driverthat shapes old-growth forest patches amid the present-day matrix of tussock grasses;yet formal recognition that the fauna of these areas should also be considered


anthropophilous was lacking until my research findings were published. I use thedynamics of the Ecuadorian páramo treeline to demystify some Humboldtian para-digms of mountain studies, such as altitudinally migrating lines of vegetation belts,and provide a more parsimonious explanation for human-driven landscape trans-formation on tropical montane cloud-forest slopes (Sarmiento ; Sarmientoand Frolich ). Clearly, the cultural landscapes of Ecuadorian páramos are wherecomplex metacommunities of avifauna now strive to coevolve, in part due to re-source use policies and techniques of coupled human and natural practices and notjust due to biogeography.

Birds as Indicators of Landscape Quality

Birds are occasionally used to illustrate the fragility of critical ecosystems. For in-stance, miners would take canaries with them to assess the concentration of lethalgas in caves: If the birds died, the miners would retreat to areas with safe levels ofoxygen. Seabirds would help midocean sailors forecast incoming storms or knowthat land was nearby. Other indications include the circular flying pattern of buz-zards to pinpoint dead animals on the ground, the vigorous flight of swallows be-fore an afternoon rain, and green parrots’ loud announcements of upcoming sunsetsin the jungle.

For tropical mountain people, whether in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Bolivia, or Ar-gentina, birds are useful indicators of the quality of landscapes, especially farmscapes:Birds can move from one ecosystem to another and offer connectivity between iso-lated patches of natural vegetation in the matrix of cultural landscapes. Some birdsreveal the presence of insect fauna; others appear as a response to mastingepi-sodes of blossoming and massive fruitingin the forest. Still others feed only onmisty palm-tree fruits, thus becoming emblematic of tropical montane cloud for-ests and constituting icons for neotropical conservation campaigns (Poulsen andKrabbe b). By visiting various habitats suitable for seed establishment, seed-dispersing species enhance regeneration of abandoned, isolated patches of cloudforest in páramo grasslands and are commonly considered typical of secondary-growth areas. Some species, such as the banded ground cuckoo (Neomorphus radiol-osus), have not been recorded lately. Others, particularly hummingbirds such as theblack-breasted puffleg (Eriocnemis nigrivestis), have a narrow distribution and tem-poral concentration, making them either locally abundant or seasonally crowdedbut, regionally speaking, rare. On the other hand, other speciesincluding the greatthrush (Turdus fuscater) and golden-bellied grosbeak (Pheucticus chrysogaster)arequite common in human-dominated habitats. A few of themincluding the ru-fous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) and the vermilion flycatcher (Pyro-cephalus rubinus)may even be pests.

Mountain birds are conspicuous landscape features because of their coloration,sounds, and/or behavior. They attract beholders’ eyes and are icons for totemic con-servation: Flagship species, such as the plate-billed mountain toucan (Andigenalaminirostris), serve as logos for nongovernmental organizations researching and


working on the conservation of Ecuadorian avifauna. Several protected areas inhighland Ecuador have successfully attempted conservation campaigns by guidingthe relevance of avian systematics worth protecting (Fjeldså ). For instance, theAndean condor (Vultur gryphus) decorates the seal of Ecuador due to its wingspanand mistaken predatorial symbolismit is actually a scavenger in the páramo. Thenamesake Condor Bioreserve is the largest conservation territory in highland Ec-uador. Other birds are emblematic of specific areas; for example, the endemic tou-can barbet (Semnornis ramphastinus) identifies the Yumbo people who inhabitedthe montane forest in northwestern Ecuador. Totemic speciesfor instance, the scar-let macaw (Ara macao) for the Shuar people and the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja)for the Waorani peopleare also important descriptors for cultural landscapes be-cause mythologically driven tribes, as it were, still rest their beliefs on their wings.

The large-scale ecological approach is key to restoring biodiversity in degradedhabitats (Edwards, May, and Webb ). Only percent of the territory of Ecua-dor remains as originally forested area (Bennett ), yet the frontier for agricul-ture, cattle ranching, oil exploration, and gold mining is still active, posing a darkoutlook for mountain conservation in general (Wuethrich ). Ill-conceived in-centives for a subsidized dairy industry have historically changed the majority ofthe forested highlands into pasture. Even protected areas such as national parks andecological and biological reserves are facing stresses from economic constraints andhuman population pressure (Sarmiento ). This is particularly true in the high-lands, where the original land cover of upper montane and Andean cloud forestswas transformed by turning páramos into a mosaic of uses, often imprinted withgrassland species. Areas that are now officially protectedsuch as Cotopaxi Na-tional Park, the Condor Bioreserve, Sangay National Park, Las Cajas National Park,Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reservewere hunting grounds, fishing spots, ranchingranges, and agricultural frontiers until the s. Many species reflect this centu-ries-long, or perhaps even millennia-long, relationship with human land uses. Birdspecies introduced in postcolonial timesthe cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis), for ex-amplehave become naturalized. Other species, like the Andean lapwing, havemingled with introduced fauna, such as the feral cattle that roam within the ratherporous boundaries of mountain protected areas.

Birds as Hierarchical Elements in Landscape Networks

Although systematic, taxonomical classification as part of the natural history ofEcuadorian birds is well established, a dearth of information exists about the eco-logical role of most species. Thus conservation efforts have rested on a misnomerwith confusing consequences: Far too often natural history has no “history” what-soever, and conservation practitioners erroneously think that assigning binomialtaxonomy is what matters in biodiversity conservation.

Furthermore, considering historical frameworks, easily objectified elements of“nature” are understood as constructs, creations, or manipulations of culturesthrough time. To cope with this dilemma, researchers focus on guilds or “func-


tional groups” to better understand landscape dynamics in a historical vacuum. Forinstance, it is now agreed that the presence of birds of prey correlates with “ecosys-tem health” without considering, for decades, that feeding loci were placed pur-posely to attract them or were eliminated, or that migratory patterns changed withnew land uses.

The roles of avian functional groupsas drivers of forest-cover regeneration, aspredators on insect populations, as agglomerations associated with salt licks, as rest-ing migrants during their seasonal moves between the Northern and Southern Hemi-spheres, and as foragers on other taxagave avian conservationists high-caliberammunition in their mission to protect biodiversity’s critical habitats. However,they paid little attention to the link between management of mountain environ-ments and the presence or absence of avifauna.

The hierarchical array of avian functions vis-à-vis landscape that foreign scien-tists devisedfrom seed establishment due to fecal deposition, to controlling pestsin agricultural settings and snakes in watersheds, to migratory transcontinental con-nectionsovershadowed traditional ecological knowledge and ethnoecological in-sights shared by locals, even when the locals confirmed birds as key elements in thelives of tropical mountain peasants. Thus Andean birds are suitable indicators formonitoring landscape change at different spatial scales in many conservation terri-tories, including cultural landscapes like those in the páramos (Sarmiento ).

Landscapes, Ecotopes, and Avian Habitats

Large-scale ecoregions of Ecuador share similar landscapes. Here, landscape is theunit of ecological characterization due to discrete limits in well-defined environs ofknown scale. Usually, a landscape has several ecosystems, which are scale-free intel-lectual constructs (Naveh and others ). Within this tangible landscape, siteswith similar conditions are referred to as “ecotopes,” where specific habitat typescan easily be determined. Each habitat type consists of a matrix of spatial heteroge-neity but is readily identifiable by land cover (forested, nonforested), by location(wetland, riparian, or upland), or by a smaller uniqueness (bamboo thickets, treefalls,branchfalls, vine tangles, terrestrial bromeliads, rocky outcrops, caves, or some othermicrohabitat). Researchers of land-use–land-cover change refer to the dynamicboundary of changing units of similar uses (tessellas) as “frontier,” mainly becausethe mosaics are generated by farmers near the forest edge (Rindfuss and others).

In the páramo of Ecuador, the Andean treeline reveals the transformative pro-cess in these contested farmscapes. Despite having different strategies for specia-tion, plant and bird communities alike seem to be affected by niche partitions alongaltitudinal gradients (Terborgh ). Hence it is plausible to speculate that thephenotypic plasticity of most Andean treeline species allows for increased specia-tion of the entire faunal assemblage (Young and León ). Moreover, the ten-dency to find few individuals of rare species in isolated cloud-forest patches reinforcesthe notion of conservation based on biodiversity indicators such as rarity, endemic-


ity, or endangered status (Poulsen and Krabbe a). Locals know those rare spe-cies well and tend to assign categories that could be explained as mystic or reified, asexemplified by the inhabitants of the Nanegalito Mountains and their ethnoecologicalknowledge of montane forest avifauna in northwestern Ecuador (Sarmiento ).

As presented in the British Ecological Society’s survey of large-scale biology andconservation, most tropical communities are oligarchies of plant species (Caldwell); therefore, I use those to depict páramos. They are places forged by humanswith spatialities of pre-Columbian, colonial, and postcolonial hegemonies on thehighest mountains (Varela ). Páramos are generally found above , meters,due to the encroachment of native vegetation after deforestation by fire, iron, andteeth; that is, clearing, agriculture, and grazing.

Even today, forest transition is still under way (but see Farley ), as indeedreforestation occurs at this altitude; however, its influence on bird communities hasnot been fully demonstrated. At these elevations plant species are adapted not onlyto low temperatures and humidity in the air but also to waterlogged conditions onthe ground. The most visible páramo plant is the frailejón (Espeletia pycnophylla;cf. hartwegiana), which is abundant in the northern Ecuadorian páramo. A little tothe south, hard ferns, or helechos, (Blechnum spp.), and terrestrial bromeliads, orachupallas (Puya spp.) are reminders of the caulirosula life-form that can survive inextreme cold and wetness.2

Fire-controlled episodes have led to the establishment of tussock grasses, mainlybunch grasses, or pajas (Calamagostris spp., Festuca spp., and needle grass [Stipaechios]). Some shrubs (Senecio spp., plantago [Aragoa cupressina], Pernettia spp.,Hypericum spp., wild lupine [Lupinus rastreris], and romerillo [Baccharis trinervis])are scattered and persist because of serotony, the capacity of plants to resprout quicklyafter fire or seeds to germinate after scarification by extreme heat. On steep slopes,where neither agriculture nor grazing can succeed, the local “potential” forest veg-etation (Gynoxis spp., Buddleia spp., Polylepis spp., Colca spp., and so forth) oftenpersists as fragments, patches, or elongated stands of trees that follow the topogra-phy separated from the matrix of grasses by straight forest edges (Sarmiento andFrolich ), resulting in a collection of treelines, none of which occurs naturally.

In localized high plains with shallow phreatic tables, making them either water-logged or vadose, cushion plants from the genera Werneria, Hypochoeris, Lycopo-dium, Lepidophyllum, and, mainly, Azorella form characteristic fens with Distichia,Plantago, Gentiana, Isoetes, and Jamesonia. In these places, pure stands of mountainbamboo (Neurolepis acuminatissimun) can be found in the so-called macranales orsurales, monospecific thickets that provide a good habitat for many birds and smallanimals. Representative bird species of these highland areas include the Andeancondor, rufous-bellied seedsnipe (Attagis gayi), curve-billed tinamou (Nothoproctacurvirostris), carunculated caracara (Phalcoboenus carunculatus), and páramo groundtyrant (Muscisaxicola alpina).

Páramo landscape is always associated with images depicting the mountaineers’flower (Chuquiraga insignis) and its pollinator hummingbird, the Andean hillstar


(Oreotrochillus stella), beside a lake with Andean gulls (Larus serranus) soaring aboveit and snow-covered peaks in the background. But I picture it with the noisy senti-nel of the high Andean plateau, the Andean lapwing, which I studied for from

to in Cotopaxi National Park. Shorter studies and observations in other páramosof Ecuador and the high-elevation grasslands of Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and north-ern Argentina confirmed the revelation of this avian indicator as evidence of theanthropogenic impact of substituting highland forests for grasslands in what areknown as “coalescing geographic frontiers” (Young and Crews-Meyer ).

The Untold Story of the Andean Lapwing

Like most genera of the Charadriidae family, Vanellus is often found in wide-openspaces. Taxonomic literature addressing the nineteen species that belong to this ge-nus agree in describing lacustrine environments with shallow littoral flats wherethese birds flock. But even seasoned ornithologists have had difficulty identifyingthe Andean lapwing, for they listed Vanellus resplendens with three synonyms (Ptylo-scelys resplendens, Melanopterus resplendens, and Belanopterus resplendens), all ofthem referring to the same bird species, as protein analysis has now demonstrated.Local knowledge has also resorted to many names to refer to the Andean lapwing,for neither a place-related (toponymic) nor a sound-related (onomatopoetic) des-ignation has fully described it. Thus, throughout the Andean world, the lapwing islocally known by many vernacular names.3 Whether with one of those monikers, orthe French vanneau des Andes, or the German Anden Kiebitz, the Andean lapwing isa common sentinel bird of the cushion bogs and pampas of the altiplano of Chileand Bolivia (puna seca proper) and the western slopes of Argentina, Bolivia, andPeru (puna humeda and páramo), as well as of the waterlogged flats in the grass-lands of northern Peru and southern Ecuador (jalca, the transition between páramoand puna) and the highlands of northern Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela(páramo proper).

In Ecuador the five most commonly used names for the Andean lapwing are:ligle, a strident, onomatopoetic sound that is repeated in the birds’ vibrant, noisytakeoffs; veranero, a Spanish word that refers to the summer months; avisón, a Spanishaugmentative referring to the lapwings’ loud calls as soon as they discover some-thing new in their area; awaitapungos, a mixture of the English word await and theindigenous Kichwa word pungu,4 meaning “opening” or “flat terrain”; and chugchi-dor, a Castilianized version of the verbal form of the Kichwa word chugchi, meaning“to dig for food left in the ground just after it has been plowed or rocks have beenlifted from it, for scat, or for other materials.” Birders notice that the lapwing isbound to be the first to give notice about strangers, so hunters do not like to be seenby them (Figure ). Field observations and stomach analyses revealed that the Andeanlapwing feeds on dung beetles that grow on the dry cow pies of the feral cattle thatroam the páramo (Sarmiento ).5 As lapwing colonies look for fecal groupingsthey follow feral cattle from water hole to water hole or around the shores of shal-low Andean lakes.What seemingly is a matter of water-prone habitation is really a


F. Andean lapwings in the páramo surrounding Limpiopungu Lake in Ecuador’s CotopaxiNational Park. Note the aposematic tones of dorsal feathers and the detail of the caudal flag when thelapwings are in the path of alarm referred to as the “butterfly” mode. (Photograph by the author, June)

result of the dispersal patterns of feral rangeland animals; hence the human-pronecharacter of the Andean lapwing is a direct consequence of human agency in theAndean agrosystem.

An Indicator of Change and Ethnoecology

Andean people associate the Andean lapwing with nine functions: as a sentinel, as aweather forecaster, as a brave guardian, as a beautiful gift, as an example of a dedicatedparent, as animal protein, as medicine, in mysticism, and in magic. For the Aymarapeople of Bolivia, if a lapwing nests high, the year will be rainy; if it nests on the flatpampas, the year will be dry. So, by using such ethnometeorological evidence, plant-ing of the year’s crops depends in part on the nesting habits of Vanellus resplendens.

Noisy, alarmist, but striking with its iridescent colors, and red eyes and legs, theAndean lapwing stands out against the brownish dry grasses and is easily singledout by local inhabitants of many provinces of highland Ecuador (Figure ). Kichwafarmers in Cayambe, in the north-central province of Pichincha, applaud its ratherselective feeding in their croplands. The Salasaca near Píllaro, in the central prov-ince of Tungurahua, lament not seeing it too often at their potato harvest (Stadel). Because of the iridescent splash of color and noise, the original people of theCulebrillas area, in the southern province of Azuay, consider it a good omen: Re-portedly, mass suicides of Andean lapwings have been seen on Ozogoche Lake, inthe south-central province of Chimborazo, where Puruha mythology explains thatthe Urkusipay, or spirit of the mountain, associates the bird with paying homage to


Katekil, or spirit of the water, in Andean lakes by returning the sun’s rays to it withfulgent, iridescent feathers. It is thought of as a gift from the Apukuna, or the tellu-ric complex of mountains and hills culturally significant to the original people, tobring sunshine and warmer days ahead. The original people of Zumbahua andMulaló, in the north-central province of Cotopaxi, are accustomed to scouting thepáramos to catch a few birds and prepare a “Ligli soup” to warm the cold nights(Table I). Throughout the Andean countries, highlanders know the ecological func-tion of this bird and appropriate its seasonal availability as food, for ornamenta-tion, for recreation, as cultural affirmation, and for reifying mountain attributesinto a healthy livelihood.

The late Ecuadorian zoologist Gustavo Orcés Villagómez always wondered whyAndean lapwings could no longer be found in the southern limits of the capital cityof Quito; he had seen them often when he was growing up in the early s.Ornithologists captured specimens of the bird at sites facing grazing pressure bycows, even in the Amazonian lowlands in and in the coastal plain in (Sarmiento ). Recently, Diego Cisneros-Heredia wondered about the rangeof the Andean lapwing when he recorded an adult male at the side of a road onthe western slope of Mount Pichincha (). Thus evidence increasingly showsthat biogeographical distribution in fixed altitudinal belts and specific locales doesnot fit the new model of changing mosaics in the Andes (Zimmerer b). Thefollowing case study demonstrates not only this Andean mosaic but also that thepreeminence of human-related activities, such as herding or grazing, explainschanges observed in faunal assemblages in the so-called natural ecosystems of the

F. Cow pies and birds. If you are a birder, you see the bird. If you are ageographer, you see the evidence of scats and dung that provide beetles, theultimate reason for the Andean lapwing’s presence in the Ecuadorian flatlandsnear water holes, bogs, or lakes where feral cattle and horses often drink.(Photograph by Mark Harper, September )


Table IEthnobiology of the Andean Lapwing, as Shown in Use of Its Body Partsas Cultural Icons

body part use characteristic myth or reification

Leg Good luck charm Long and bright Summer spirit, good omenEye Facial gel Red, inquisitive Wisdom seeker, alert, sentinelFeather Ornamental Iridescence Water is God’s gift of beautyBody fat Medicinal cream Nutriment Quickly relieves cold and dampnessMuscle fat Medicinal food Diet complement Soup is a powerful invigoratorEgg (ground) Medicinal food Parenting Eating them makes one a good parentEgg (female) Medicinal food Fertility Extracting eggs captures fertilityBeak Ornamental Loud and noisy Dwellers see visitors first

high-elevation grasslands. Human geographers therefore need to bridge the dividebetween old ornithological dogmas and currently understood avian phenomena,particularly in reference to conservation of agrobiodiversity (Zimmerer a;Sarmiento a).

The Andean Lapwing in Cotopaxi National Park

The symmetrical cone of Mount Cotopaxi, at , meters one of the highest activevolcanoes in the world, is the iconic feature of the Ecuadorian Andes, consideredsince Alexander von Humboldt’s visit in “the most beautiful of all colossalpeaks of the Andes” (Helferich , ). The orogeny of the region goes as farback as approximately , years and registered a huge collapse some , yearsago. Being a young mountain, Cotopaxi continues to be active, with the oldest his-torical eruption recorded in , the year in which Spaniards conquered the indig-enous population. Cotopaxi National Park, created in , spans some , hectaresand contains several distinctive lacustrine features around Limpiopungu, Cajas, andSanto Domingo lakes where waterfowl, including the Andean lapwing, are found(Coello ; ecolap y mae ) (Figure ). Overall, the park’s avifauna are typi-cal of the central Ecuadorian highlands (Table II). On the leeward side, Limpiopungu(, meters), one of the many alluvial cones in Cotopaxi National Park, slopescovered with tussocks of reed grass (Calamagrostis spp.), meadow fescue (Festucaspp.), and needle grass (Stipa spp.) give the páramo the appearance of alpine tun-dra (Coloma-Santos ). The adjacent National Recreation Area of El Boliche,created in to accommodate citydwellers who use Cotopaxi and Rumiñahuivolcanoes as hunting grounds and weekend retreats, is a magnet for ecotourism; infact, it is the most visited mainland protected area in Ecuador.

Several archaeological sites, including an impressive complex of royal buildingsrecently uncovered in the foothills of Mount Cotopaxi (Hall and Mothes ),indicate the historic importance of the Limpiopungu area as a connector betweenInca outposts. Obsidian mines in the lava flow from Mount Antisana were used toconstruct Clovis arrowheads by people who roamed the area when megafauna flour-ished during the Pleistocene. Thus the argument that humans have had an impacton the area since prehistoric times is well founded. Yet biological inventories showthat some . percent of Cotopaxi National Park still contains “native vegeta-


F. Around Limpiopungu Lake, in north-central Ecuador, the foraging habits of Andeanlapwings hints at the connection between natural elements and the cultural landscape of the páramoat the base of Mount Cotopaxi. Note how exotic trees are colonizing this high-altitude environment,where rereading the anthropogenic biome of the páramo landscape is possible using both Kichwa(black type) and Spanish (white type). (Photograph by Rich Carbonara, December )

tion”: Upward of endemic plant species can be found in these páramos (Mal-donado ). Additional research and greater understanding of the tropical land-scape are needed to resolve this paradox (Sarmiento b; Mogollón, Guevara,and Remache ).

The Andean lapwing population I found at Limpiopungu Lake meanderedthrough the highland flats around the west-northwestern and the east-southeast-ern flanks of Mount Cotopaxi. The birds’ presence at Santo Domingo Lake fromOctober to December and from March to June, and its disappearance at Limpio-pungu Lake during the same periods, hinted at seasonal mobility associated withthe timing of scarabs and other entomofauna found in scat and cow pies. Con-versely, lapwings were numerous around Limpiopungu from June to Septemberand from December to February. The bimodal distribution of species abundancedemonstrated in different areas within Cotopaxi National Park obviously coincidedwith the movements of feral cattle in the park. The synchronous movement of feralcattle and horses followed by a flock of lapwings is a pulse that reflects rainy and dryseasons, which explained the name veranero (summery one). On many occasionsduring my field study a herd drinking at the edge of a lake provided excitement


while I was bird watchingand encounters with feral bulls made my fieldwork evenmore of a challenge. Other sightings in the area included horses, most of them inthe early morning. Tabulations of the presence or absence of birds yielded counts ofthe dynamic nature of vagrancy in the highland flats of the park. The critical habitatfor lapwings includes areas for nestingor, rather, laying eggs, for the Andean lap-wing does not build a nests per se. Each pair of lapwings usually produces three orfour eggs per mating season, twice a year. Males and females take turns tendingtheir eggs and become really showy and aggressive when the time of nest caring isending, especially when one parent is out and the chicks need to be fed and pro-tected. In those circumstances the flock becomes mobile and tends to occupy thelakeshore, where dry cow pies are available. Because of ignorance about this behav-

Table IIPartial List of Birds Spotted in Cotopaxi National Park and the SurroundingPáramos in the Central Ecuadorian Highlands, 1985–1988

scientific name

common name

English Spanish Kichwa

Anas cyanoptera Cinnamon teal Pato azulado Kulta ishpinguAnas flavirostris Speckled teal Pato frentiblanco KultaAsio flammeus Short-eared owl Buho ChusiqAttagis gayi Rufous-bellied seedsnipe Agachona blanca PukpukaBubo virginianus Great horned owl Lechuza Jatun chusiqButeo polyosoma Red-backed hawk Gavilán WamanikuCatamenia inornata Plain-colored seedeater Semillero MuyunaChalcostigma stanleyi Blue-mantled thornbill Colibrí KindiCinclodes fuscus Bar-winged cinclodes Cinclodes ChurritiCnemarchus erythropygius Red-rumped bush tyrant Comemoscas colorado Bichu pishkuEriocnemis vestitus Glowing puffleg Colibrí KindiFulica americana American coot Gallineta Jatun fuchaGallinago nobilis Noble snipe Becasina Sacha huallpaGeranoaetus melanoleucus Black-chested buzzard eagle Águila negra WarruLarus serranus Andean gull Gaviota andina KillwaLesbia victoriae Black-tailed trainbearer Colibrí Waylla kindiMetriopelia melanoptera Black-winged ground dove Tórtola UrpiMuscisaxicola alpina Páramo ground tyrant Dormilona gris Ruku pishkuNothoprocta curvirostris Curve-billed tinamou Tinamú ÑatachinaNotiochelidon cyanoleuca Blue-and-white swallow Golondrina azul Muyuna pishkuNotiochelidon murina Brown-bellied swallow Golondrina negra Yana kuyakOreomanes fraseri Giant conebill Pico cono Shimi pishkuOreotrochilus stella Andean hillstar Colibrí estrella Chuspi kindiPhalcoboenus carunculatus Carunculated caracara Curiquingue KurikingiStreptoprocne zonaris White-collared swift Golondrina cóndor Kundur kuyakSynallaxis azarae Azara’s spinetail Colaespina Chupa milchinaTheristicus caudatus Buff-necked ibis Bandurria Sacha waikakTurdus fuscater Great thrush Mirlo Jatun mirluUropsalis segmentata Swallow-tailed nightjar Chotacabra Ñausa piskuVanellus resplendens Andean lapwing Veranero LigliVultur gryphus Andean condor Cóndor Kundur


ior of the lapwing, many motorists visiting the park leave the tracks to roam theplain in their ×s, killing some chicks in the process.

According to recent surveys, eighty bird species live in Cotopaxi National Park,the majority of them around Limpiopungu Lake (Freile and Santander ). Butthis finding is an artifact of sampling, due to the easy access provided to the parkthrough a mountain pass, where a secondary road serves as a visitors’ venue, work-ers’ maintenance road, andyes, until recentlya route for deer poachers and forcattle ranchers who move their livestock through the park. Aside from naturalcausesthat is, volcanic eruptionsbiodiversity conservation is often depicted asthreatened by the burning of páramos to provide highland cattle with fresh pasture(Maldonado ), but, in fact, burning is the very reason why páramo instead ofmontane forest is the dominant plant formation in the area. Tourism is anotherrisk, mentioned in relation to fishermen and hunters who still go to the area fortrophy catches. In general, despite management efforts to protect the area from hu-man intervention, the park is not, and could not be, pristine wilderness; on thecontrary, ample evidence shows that Cotopaxi is a dynamic cultural landscape.

Changes in the landscape reflect the fact that Cotopaxi National Park was and isattractive to urban dwellers in search of weekend adventure, for the cityfolk whodrive their ×s around the lakeshore or trample the water’s edge have the greatestimpact on this shoreline bird community. Good conservation practice in the manage-ment of Cotopaxi National Park should include considerations for and against themaintenance of feral cattle in the area, as well as allow burning as an ancestral prac-tice for preserving the grasslands. Introduced trees that were planted to attract tour-ists have now achieved arboreal stature around Limpiopungu, reaffirming the notionthat mountain forests, even with tall canopy and wide trunks, may well develop.

Sentinel of the “Third Nature”

By watching the Andean lapwing, birders, often foreign to local communities and toAndean culture, can see the Andean landscape; but, to respect the spatialities of thepáramos as constructs of geopolitical and socioeconomic models of indigenouspeoples, they should look more deeply in order to understand the many dimen-sions of páramos and the contested hegemonic views of them. The Andean lapwinghelps us comprehend the “third nature” of the highland grasslands. The “first na-ture” involves imaginedor prehensiveconflicts in the transition from range toranch; the second, colonial-eraor apprehensivehusbandry and postcolonial ex-tensive agriculture and livestock, with the consequent abuse of grass resources; andthe third, neocolonialor comprehensiveintensive production and appropriationof conservation territories for environmental services, such as water supply andbioprospecting, in a globalized scene.

Biogeographical analyses should incorporate the true story of the Andean lap-wing into their determination of its natural history and allow for the challenginghypothesis that the ranging and ranching of cattle are the culprits for the presentdistribution of this bird speciesa clear indicator of environmental change in Andean


highland farmscapes (Sarmiento , b). Moreover, agricultural practicesshould be noted as drivers of the Andean lapwing’s potential home range. The spe-cies’ Kichwa name “chugchidor” refers to its presence during four distinct annualactivities in the Andean farmscape: hilling potatoes and removing bunches of grass,sod, and lumps of soil with plant cover attached; covering corn, bean, and squashplants; and taking livestock to fallow plots. Clearly, this iconic bird of Andean lacus-trine environs is an indicator of range economics at workor of a lack thereofanda clear reflection of human impacts, via cattle, horses, and other introduced species,on the so-called natural páramo ecosystem, even within national parks and eco-logical reserves. Further testing of the hypothesis of páramo management will showthe extent to which anthropogenic forces have changed the culture-prone nature oftropandean landscapes.

Notes

. I define “páramo” as one of the four types of highland grasslands in the neotropics: fromnorth to south: zacatonal, páramo, jalca, and puna. Páramo extends from the Guatemalan highlands,through the Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica and Panama, and through the northern Andes ofVenezuela, Colombia, and part of Ecuador; they reappear in southwestern Bolivia and northwesternArgentina until the Sierras de Córdoba. I consider páramo an exemplar of anthropogenic grasslandsdue to its highly modified composition affected by deforestation of the native Andean forests and theencroachment of serotonic and pyrophitic forbs and bunch grasses. The name “páramo” is a Castilianversion of the original Kichwa word paramuna (cold drizzle and fog), reflecting the rainy, misty, andwindy meteorological characteristics of this tropical Andean ecoregion.

. In caulirosa life-forms, leaves radiate outward from a tall central stem. The genus Espeletia is agood example of this growth pattern, which typifies many plants in the Andean páramo.

. The Kichwa and Spanish names for the Andean lapwing are leque leque, liqui liq, like lik, equeco,tero serrano, teru tero, terotero, avefría andina, queltehue de la puna, queltehue frío, quetelgüe puneño,ligle, veranero, avisón, awaitapungos, and chugchidor.

. The use of “Kichwa” for the language spoken in northern Ecuador is preferred over“Quechua” (used in Peru), “Quichua” (used in Southern Ecuador, Argentina, and Chile), “Q’çhoa”(used in Bolivia), and Runa Simi (used in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina) because of thelanguage hegemony that has reiterated the mistaken Castilian orthography to a language that wasnot written. The politics involved in translating a non-written language in a specific target area haveoften ignored linguistic precepts. The trivocalic language Kichwa lacks “e” and “o,” so it is the appro-priate descriptor to emphasize the correct verbal approach and appreciation of the local culture.

. Horse manure is also an abundant source of food for the Andean lapwing.

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