Measurement of actual evapotranspiration in a páramo ecosystem using portable closed chambers: Comparison between giant rosettes, tussock grasses and shrubs

Abstract

The páramos are Neotropical alpine tundra-like ecosystems that play a crucial role as biodiversity hotspots and also act as water sources for the inter-Andean regions and cities. Improving our understanding of hydrological processes, here evapotranspiration, is crucial, especially in the context of global changes. In páramos, most research have focused on estimating potential evapotranspiration (ETo) using the Penman-Monteith method. Only a few studies have quantified actual evapotranspiration using