Large peat accumulating wetlands, termed bofedales in the Andes, are a characteristic feature of the high mountains. They are heavily used by indigenous peoples for llama, alpaca, and sheep grazing, and form the forage basis for livestock use of the landscape. Many of these peatlands occur below glaciers which are melting rapidly and there is considerable controversy about the water sources supporting the bofedales. Some feel that the glacier meltwater is the ultimate source of water, and once the glaciers melt, the bofedales will disappear and negatively affect native peoples. I work with a multidisciplinary research project funded by NASA to investigate the water sources, hydrologic processes, vegetation, biomass production, and peat body characteristics to determine the sensitivity of these wetlands to glacier loss. I am collaborating with Dr. Dan Slayback and Dr. Karina Yager of SSAI, and Rosa Menendez (blue jacket in photos) of UMSA (Universidad Mayor de San Andres, National Herbarium of Bolivia in La Paz (www.umsa.bo) on this project. In the bottom right photo are Evan Wolf (middle) and Jeremy Sueltenfuss (right) who worked on data collection for this project.