Streamflow variations across the Andes (18°-55°S) during the instrumental era.

The rivers originating in the southern Andes (18°-55°S) support numerous ecosystems and a large number of human populations and socio-economic activities in the adjacent lowlands of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. Here we show that ca. 75% of the total variance in the streamflow records from this extensive region can be explained by only eight spatially coherent patterns of variability.