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Karina Yager

Assistant Professor

Education:

Ph.D.2009

- Yale University

Research Topics:

Climate change impacts, Remote Sensing, Land-cover and Land-Use Change, Alpine Ecosystems, Andes, Mountain Societies, and Sustainability Studies

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  • Bio/Research

    Bio/Research

    Dr. Yager’s research is focused on the social and ecological impacts of climate change in the Andes of South America. Her transdisciplinary research examines coupled social ecological systems (SES) and land cover land use change (LCLUC) in mountain environments, combining remote sensing analysis, alpine vegetation studies, peatland research, and ethnographic fieldwork with indigenous pastoralists. Yager’s current projects are focused on the impact of disappearing tropical glaciers on pastoral agriculture and water resources, as well as deciphering the climate and societal drivers of peatland dynamics and land cover change in the Andes.

     

    Recent research is funded by the NASA LCLUC ROSES program, CONICYT (La Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Chile), and the National Geographic Society. She has been part of the GLORIA (Global Observation and Research Initiative in Alpine Environments) network in South America since 2002.

  • Publications

    Publications

    Cuesta, F., Carilla, J., Llambí, L. D., Muriel, P., Lencinas, M. V., Meneses, R. I., Feeley, K. J., Pauli, H., Aguirre, N., Beck, S., Bernardi, A., Cuello, S., Duchicela, S. A., Eguiguren, P., Gamez, L. E., Halloy, S., Hudson, L., Jaramillo, R., Peri, P. L., Ramírez, L. A., Rosero‐Añazco, P., Thompson, N., Yager, K. and Tovar, C. (2023) Compositional shifts of alpine plant communities across the high Andes. Global Ecology and Biogeography,32(9), pp. 1591-1606. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/geb.13721

    Tovar, C., Hudson, L., Cuesta, F., Meneses, R. I., Muriel, P., Hidalgo, O., Palazzesi, L., Suarez Ballesteros, C., Hammond Hunt, E., Diazgranados, M., Hind, D. J. N., Forest, F., Halloy, S., Aguirre, N., Baker, W. J., Beck, S., Carilla, J., Eguiguren, P., Françoso, E., Gámez, L. E., Jaramillo, R., Llambí, L. D., Maurin, O., Melcher, I., Muller, G., Roy, S., Viñas, P., Yager, K. and Viruel, J. (2023) Strategies of diaspore dispersal investment in Compositae: the case of the Andean highlands. Annals of Botany. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcad099

    Chávez, R. O., Meseguer-Ruiz, O., Olea, M., Calderón-Seguel, M., Yager, K., Isela Meneses, R., Lastra, J. A., Núñez-Hidalgo, I., Sarricolea, P., Serrano-Notivoli, R., & Prieto, M. (2023). Andean peatlands at risk? Spatiotemporal patterns of extreme NDVI anomalies, water extraction and drought severity in a large-scale mining area of Atacama, northern Chile. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 116, 103138. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2022.103138

    Yager, K., Prieto, M., & Meneses, R. I. (2021). Reframing Pastoral Practices of Bofedal Management to Increase the Resilience of Andean Water Towers. Mountain Research and Development, 41(4). https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00011.1

    White-Nockleby, C., Prieto, M., Yager, K., & Meneses, R. I. (2021). Understanding Bofedales as Cultural Landscapes in the Central Andes. Wetlands, 41(8), 102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-021-01500-y

    Cuesta, F., Tovar, C., Llambí, L. D., Gosling, W. D., Halloy, S., Carilla, J., Muriel, P., Meneses, R. I., Beck, S., Ulloa Ulloa, C., Yager, K., Aguirre, N., Viñas, P., Jácome, J., Suárez-Duque, D., Buytaert, W., & Pauli, H. (2020). Thermal niche traits of high alpine plant species and communities across the tropical Andes and their vulnerability to global warming. Journal of Biogeography, 47(2), 408-420. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13759

    Yager, K., Valdivia, C., Slayback, D., Jimenez, E., Meneses, R. I., Palabral, A., Bracho, M., Romero, D., Hubbard, A., Pacheco, P., Calle, A., Alberto, H., Yana, O., Ulloa, D., Zeballos, G., & Romero, A. (2019). Socio-ecological dimensions of Andean pastoral landscape change: bridging traditional ecological knowledge and satellite image analysis in Sajama National Park, Bolivia. Regional Environmental Change, 19(5), 1353-1369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-019-01466-y

    Babidge, S., Kalazich, F., Prieto, M., & Yager, K. (2019). 'That's the problem with that lake; it changes sides': mapping extraction and ecological exhaustion in the Atacama. Journal of Political Ecology, 26(1), 738-760. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2458/v26i1.23169

    Cooper, D. J., Sueltenfuss, J., Oyague, E., Yager, K., Slayback, D., Caballero, E. M. C., Argollo, J., & Mark, B. G. (2019). Drivers of peatland water table dynamics in the central Andes, Bolivia and Peru. Hydrological Processes, 33(13), 1913-1925. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13446

    Klein, J. A., Tucker, C. M., Steger, C. E., Nolin, A., Reid, R., Hopping, K. A., Yeh, E. T., Pradhan, M. S., Taber, A., Molden, D., Ghate, R., Choudhury, D., Alcántara-Ayala, I., Lavorel, S., Müller, B., Grêt-Regamey, A., Boone, R. B., Bourgeron, P., Castellanos, E., Chen, X., Dong, S., Keiler, M., Seidl, R., Thorn, J., & Yager, K. (2019). An integrated community and ecosystem-based approach to disaster risk reduction in mountain systems. Environmental Science & Policy, 94, 143-152. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2018.12.034

    Klein, J. A., Tucker, C. M., Nolin, A. W., Hopping, K. A., Reid, R. S., Steger, C., Grêt-Regamey, A., Lavorel, S., Müller, B., Yeh, E. T., Boone, R. B., Bourgeron, P., Butsic, V., Castellanos, E., Chen, X., Dong, S. K., Greenwood, G., Keiler, M., Marchant, R., Seidl, R., Spies, T., Thorn, J., Yager, K. & Network, t. M. S. (2019). Catalyzing Transformations to Sustainability in the World's Mountains. Earth's Future, 7(5), 547-557. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EF001024

    Meneses, R. I., Domic, A., Beck, S., & Yager, K. (Eds.). (2019). Bofedales: Oasis in the Puna. The Nature Conservancy and The National Herbarium of Bolivia. 

    Valdivia, C., & Yager, K. (2018). Adapting to Climate Change in the Andes: Changing landscapes and livelihood strategies in the Altiplano. In J. Cupples, M. Prieto, & M. Palomino-Schalscha (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Latin American Development. Routledge.

    Cuesta, F., Muriel, P., Llambí, L. D., Halloy, S., Aguirre, N., Beck, S., Carilla, J., Meneses, R. I., Cuello, S., Grau, A., Gámez, L. E., Irazábal, J., Jácome, J., Jaramillo, R., Ramírez, L., Samaniego, N., Suárez-Duque, D., Thompson, N., Tupayachi, A., Viñas, P., Yager, K., Becerra, M.T., Pauli, H. & Gosling, W. D. (2017). Latitudinal and altitudinal patterns of plant community diversity on mountain summits across the tropical Andes. Ecography, 40(12), 1381-1394. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.02567

    Schmidt, S. K., Darcy, J. L., Sommers, P., Gunawan, E., Knelman, J. E., & Yager, K. (2017). Freeze–thaw revival of rotifers and algae in a desiccated, high-elevation (5500 meters) microbial mat, high Andes, Perú. Extremophiles, 21(3), 573-580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-017-0926-2

    Seimon, T. A., Seimon, A., Yager, K., Reider, K., Delgado, A., Sowell, P., Tupayachi, A., Konecky, B., McAloose, D., & Halloy, S. (2017). Long-term monitoring of tropical alpine habitat change, Andean anurans, and chytrid fungus in the Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru: Results from a decade of study. Ecology and Evolution, 7(5), 1527-1540. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2779

    Cooper, D. J., Kaczynski, K., Slayback, D., & Yager, K. (2015). Growth and Organic Carbon Production in Peatlands Dominated by Distichia muscoides, Bolivia, South America. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 47(3), 505-510. https://doi.org/10.1657/AAAR0014-060

    Lahsen, M., Mathews, A., Dove, M. R., Orlove, B., Puri, R., Barnes, J., McElwee, P., Moore, F., O'Reilly, J., & Yager, K. (2015). Strategies for changing the intellectual climate. Nature Climate Change, 5(5), 391-392. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2596

    Mohr, K. I., Slayback, D., & Yager, K. (2014). Characteristics of Precipitation Features and Annual Rainfall during the TRMM Era in the Central Andes. Journal of Climate, 27(11), 3982-4001. https://doi.org/10.1175/jcli-d-13-00592.1

    Barnes, J., Dove, M., Lahsen, M., Mathews, A., McElwee, P., McIntosh, R., Moore, F., O'Reilly, J., Orlove, B., Puri, R., Weiss, H., & Yager, K. (2013). Contribution of anthropology to the study of climate change. Nature Climate Change, 3(6), 541-544. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1775

    Tucker, C., & Yager, K. (2011). Ten years of MODIS in space: lessons learned and future perspectives. Italian Journal of Remote Sensing-Rivista Italiana Di Telerilevamento, 43(3), 7-18. https://doi.org/10.5721/ItJRS20114331

    Halloy, S., Ibanez, M., & Yager, K. (2011). Puntos y areas flexibles (PAF) para inventarios rapidos de estado de biodiversidad. Ecologia en Bolivia, 46(1), 46-56.

    Seimon, A., Yager, K., Seimon, T. A., Schmidt, S. K., Grau, A., Beck, S., Garcia, C., Tupayachi, A., Sowell, P., Touval, J., & Halloy, S. (2010). Changes in Biodiversity Patterns in the High Andes: Understanding the Consequences and Seeking Adaptation to Global Change. Mountain Forum Bulletin, 9, 25-27.

    Beck, S., Domic, A., Garcia, C., Meneses, R. I., & Yager, K. (Eds.) (2010). El Parque Nacional y sus Plantas. Harbario Nacional de Bolvia- Fundacion PUMA. 

    Yager, K., Resnikowski, H., & Halloy, S. (2008). Grazing and Climate Variability in Sajama National Park, Bolivia. Pirineos: The Journal of Mountain Ecology, 163, 97-109.

    Halloy, S., Ortega, R., Yager, K., & Seimon, A. (2005). Traditional Andean cultivation and implications for sustainable land use. Acta Horticulturae, 670, 31-55.

    Sherbinin, A., Balk, D., Yager, K., Jaiteh, M., Pozzi, F., & Giri, C. (Eds.) (2002). Social Science Applications of Remote Sensing: A CEISIN Thematic Guide. CIEISIN (Center for International Earth Science Information Networks): New York

     

    Educational Resources & ArcGIS StoryMaps:

    Andean Water Towers: https://andean-water-towers-stonybrook.hub.arcgis.com/

    NGS Peru Summer Expedition 2022: Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru 

    Andean Glacier Change Analysis: Multi-Decadal Glacier Change - Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru

    Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru, Glacier Change Interactive Dashboard:

    https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/762047338f3d4d8c8f5402dc5bbbf2c7

    LCLUC (Land Cover and Land Use Change) of Andean Alpine Peatlands, Bolivia:

    https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=5014762cbe71482590dff6346b6c817c

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