Mountain ecosystems are receiving increasing attention due to their role in the regulation and supply of water for a growing human population, a pattern that is especially important in high altitude ecosystems of the northern Andes (páramo). Although it is commonly accepted that the capacity of soils to retain and regulate water is mostly given by their structure and organic matter content, it could be also influenced by the differences in the depth and nature of plant ground cover in different vegetation types. By performing a series of water infiltration essays in soils under different vegetation or land-use categories in an Ecuadorian páramo, we evaluated the relative contribution of ground vegetation cover to water infiltration capacity. Water infiltration was extremely high under shrubland vegetation and Polylepis forest, and decreased markedly under grassland, Pine plantations, and cattle trails. In all cases, the layer of ground vegetation made a significant contribution to total infiltration capacity, as shown by the lower infiltration rates of the essays performed after this layer was removed. Management and restoration of mountain ecosystems should concentrate in the recovery of landscape-level heterogeneity and the protection of the ground vegetation layer that regulates soil micro-climate, and provides additional water storage capacity.
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