Abstract
Road construction and paving bring socio-economic benefits to receiving regions but can also be drivers of deforestation and land cover change. Road infrastructure often increases migration and illegal economic activities, which in turn affect local hydrology, wildlife, vegetation structure and dynamics, and biodiversity. To evaluate the full breadth of impacts from a coupled natural-human systems perspective, information is needed over a sufficient timespan to include pre- and post-road paving conditions. In addition, the spatial scale should be appropriate to link local human activities and biophysical system components, while also allowing for upscaling to the regional scale. A database was developed for the tri-national frontier in the Southwestern Amazon, where the Inter-Oceanic Highway was constructed through an area of high biological value and cultural diversity. Extensive socio-economic surveys and botanical field work are combined with remote sensing and reanalysis data to provide a rich and unique database, suitable for coupled natural-human systems research.
Highlights
Background & SummaryRoad infrastructure development is on the rise, and is predicted to increase 60% in total length by 2050, compared to 20101
Recommendations further on, in the Usage Notes, highlight other data that could be combined with this dataset. Various components of this database have been used in studies that assessed the human sub-system[11,35], the biophysical sub-system[36,37], or the interactions between the two[26,28,34,38]. We anticipate that these data can be of broader interest for a wide range of future studies, for the evaluation of coupled human and natural systems theories, simulation and dynamic models, as well as research focusing on improving environmental impact assessments conducted for road development projects
This database is a combination of information obtained from field work in communities in the study area, reanalysis data from larger, often global, datasets, and information derived from remote sensing
Summary
Road infrastructure development is on the rise, and is predicted to increase 60% in total length by 2050, compared to 20101. In tropical forest areas where livelihoods often depend on natural resource management, and where ecosystem services have global importance, the integration of data across scales in social and ecological sub-systems becomes vitally important. Various components of this database have been used in studies that assessed the human sub-system[11,35], the biophysical sub-system[36,37], or the interactions between the two[26,28,34,38] We anticipate that these data can be of broader interest for a wide range of future studies, for the evaluation of coupled human and natural systems theories, simulation and dynamic models, as well as research focusing on improving environmental impact assessments conducted for road development projects
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
