In the Andean region grasslands are known as paramos and they have been widely recognized for sustaining biodiversity, carbon sequestration and water storage. The paramos have become vulnerable not only to climate change but also to land use change due to e.g. agriculture, grazing and burning. Usually these changes are associated with socio-economic factors driving communities to aspire higher income generation. Unfortunately, most of recent studies are limited to individual concepts of specific research areas without including a comprehensive ecosystem analysis that includes...