Quenta E. auteur aut IRD Molina-Rodriguez J. auteur aut IRD Gonzales K. auteur aut IRD Rebaudo François auteur aut IRD Casas J. auteur aut IRD Jacobsen D. auteur aut IRD Dangles Olivier auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access The rapid melting of glacier cover is one of the most obvious impacts of climate change on alpine ecosystems and biodiversity. Our understanding of the impact of a decrease in glacier runoff on aquatic biodiversity is currently based on the glacier-heterogeneity-diversity' paradigm, according to which there is high -diversity at intermediate levels of glacial influence due to the high degree of environmental heterogeneity caused by glacier water. This -diversity pattern generates high levels of between-site aquatic community variation (high diversity) and increases regional diversity (-diversity). There is a rich conceptual background in favor of this paradigm, but empirical data supporting it are scarce. We investigated this paradigm by analyzing the different diversity patterns (, and -diversity) of four aquatic groups (zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, algae and macrophytes) living in high-elevation peatlands (>4500m above sea level). We sampled 200 pools from 20 peatlands along a glacier gradient in the Cordillera Real of Bolivia. We performed structural equationmodeling (SEM) to analyze the potential mechanisms underlying the observed diversity patterns. Intermediate levels of glacial influence (15-20% cover) resulted in high heterogeneity, but -diversity responded to glacial influence only for the zooplankton group (Cladocera). Our SEM analysis did not identify environmental heterogeneity as a significant variable explaining the relationship between glacier and -diversity. Peatland area had a strong positive effect on heterogeneity and diversity. -diversity was significantly associated with glacier gradient, and 12.9% of the total regional diversity (-diversity) was restricted to peatlands with a high degree of glacial influence. These species might be lost in a context of glacial retreat. These findings provide new insight into the potential effects of glacial retreat on the aquatic environment and biodiversity in the peatlands of the tropical Andes. specialized aquatic biodiversity environmental heterogeneity glacial influence high Andean peatlands peatland area tropical Andes BOLIVIE ANDES ZONE TROPICALE 036 082 22 9 3196-3205 2016 1354-1013 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010067764 10.1111/gcb.13310 1354-1013 [F B010067764] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010067764 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2016/09/010067764.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2016-09-30 2026-02-16 fdi:010067764 fre