Change detection of the effect of severe drought on subsistence agropastoral communities on the Bolivian Altiplano

The purpose of this study was to identify the ecological effects of drought on the vegetation resources of subsistence agropastoral communities on the Bolivian Altiplano. The objectives of the study were to (1) characterize vegetation cover response during a typical year, and (2) identify vegetation cover type's response to drought using an image differencing change detection technique. A geographical information system (GIS), which included multi-temporal (from 1972-1987) Landsat satellite imagery, was used as the assessment tool. Vegetation index difference images showed that (1) all vegetation types were impacted by drought, but the wet meadow vegetation cover type had the least response, and (2) approximately 90 per cent of vegetation cover had not changed between 1972 and 1987. Crop and animal production in agropastoral systems are dependant on the availability of vegetation resources. The wet meadow vegetation type was the most resistant to drought, which suggests that during drought periods it is a key resource upon which the livestock of the community would depend. Little change in vegetation cover over the 15-year span of the study, and the rapid recovery of this parameter following the drought of 1983-84, suggest that agricultural practices (especially livestock grazing) are not contributing to resource degradation when measured only in terms of change in vegetation cover.