During the past decades, the Argentine Puna (a subtropical high elevation desert of c. 14 million hectares) has been going through a process of “rewilding” of large herbivore communities. In response to rural population outmigration and resulting livestock reduction accompanied by protection measures, large wild herbivores such as vicuñas increased. To explore the ecological consequences of this transition, we analysed the spatial patterns of wild herbivores and livestock in relation to human settlements, and we estimated the changes in vegetation productivity of peatlands, using NDVI derived from MODIS satellite images between 2001 and 2012. Peatlands are key ecosystems in high elevation deserts; they regulate water and carbon fluxes and provide most forage for livestock and wildlife. A field survey of 50 peatlands revealed that travel time from human settlements was positively correlated with the wild herbivore abundance, and negatively correlated with livestock abundance (especially sheep and goats). Thus, it is a good indicator of livestock use. At the regional scale, after controlling for the physical and climatic variables of the 8134 peatlands, accessibility from human settlements explained less than 0.1% of mean and interannual NDVI variability. These results provide no evidence of livestock-induced degradation. Furthermore, likely due to rainfall increase, peatlands showed an overall positive NDVI trend between 2001 and 2012, but isolated peatlands showed comparatively more negative NDVI trends during the same period, possibly associated with increased wildlife herbivory. Similar rewilding processes could occur in many mountain regions undergoing decreasing human population and marginal land uses. Our study suggests that traditional management could contribute to the productivity, stability, and resilience of peatlands.

中文翻译：

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高海拔Puna上大型草食动物群落的野化：地理隔离，没有证据对泥炭地生产力产生积极影响

在过去的几十年中，阿根廷的Puna（大约1400万公顷的亚热带高海拔沙漠）经历了大型食草动物群落“荒野”的过程。为了应对农村人口的外流和随之而来的牲畜减少以及保护措施，诸如野豌豆等大型野生食草动物增加了。为了探索这一转变的生态后果，我们分析了与人类住区相关的野生食草动物和牲畜的空间格局，并使用2001年至2012年间利用MODIS卫星图像得出的NDVI估算了泥炭地植被生产力的变化。高海拔沙漠中的关键生态系统；它们调节水和碳通量，并为牲畜和野生生物提供最多的饲料。对50个泥炭地的野外调查显示，人类住区的旅行时间与野生草食动物的数量呈正相关，与牲畜的数量（尤其是绵羊和山羊）呈负相关。因此，它是牲畜使用的良好指标。在区域尺度上，在控制了8134个泥炭地的物理和气候变量之后，人类住区的可及性解释了平均NDVI和年际NDVI变异性的不到0.1％。这些结果没有提供牲畜引起的退化的证据。此外，可能由于降雨增加，泥炭地在2001年至2012年期间总体呈NDVI呈正趋势，而同期孤立的泥炭地NDVI呈相对较负的趋势，这可能与野生动物的食草性增加有关。在人口减少和土地边缘化的许多山区，类似的野蛮过程也可能发生。我们的研究表明，传统管理可以促进泥炭地的生产力，稳定性和复原力。