Loss Of Environmental Services Research Articles

IMPACT OF FOREST CONVERSION TO PASTURE ON SOIL ENZYMATIC ACTIVITY IN THE NORTHERN AMAZON

The conversion of forests to pastures in the Amazon results in deforestation and the loss of environmental services. This practice affects biogeochemical cycles and impairs soil enzyme activity, which is essential for maintaining soil quality. This study aimed to investigate the impact of converting part of the Amazon forest into pastures, focusing on soil enzyme activity. The study was conducted at Fazenda Canto Verde, Roraima, comparing native forest areas and pastures of Brachiaria brizantha and Brachiaria humidicola, established on Haplic acrisol, without fertilization or tillage, under a management regime of 30 days of grazing and 60 days of rest. Sampling involved 12 mini trenches per hectare at two depths, with analysis of enzyme activity post-incubation. Higher activity of carbon cycle enzymes (Cellulase, Invertase, β-Glucosidase) was observed in the forest compared to pastures, especially with B. humidicola. Nitrogen cycle enzymes (Urease, BAA-Protease) were more active in the forest, while B. humidicola showed the highest Casein-Protease activity. In the phosphorus and sulfur cycles, the forest led in Phosphomonoesterase and Phosphodiesterase, while B. humidicola excelled in Arylsulfatase. This study demonstrates that replacing forest with pastures significantly alters soil functionality, impacting biogeochemical cycles and their ecological functions.

The role of institutional entrepreneurs and informal land transactions in Mexico City’s urban expansion

• Examines transactions shaping four informal urban land institutions in Mexico City. • Identifies actors and the distribution of payoffs shaping urban land outcomes. • Developers, intermediaries, and politicians incentivize informal urbanization. • Powerful actors constrain conservation and stagnate property formalization. • Regulating actors instead of land-use could improve socio-environmental outcomes. Informal urban expansion, or conversion of land to urban land uses, outpaces formal urbanization in the developing world. Understanding why this informality exists and persists is essential to counteract characterizations that it is chaotic and ungovernable. This research examines who shapes the informal arrangements developed to meet unmet housing needs that expand the urban footprint, from social housing projects to concentrated squatting in Mexico City metropolis from 2000 to 2016. Institutional analysis elucidates the distribution of payoffs in the “action situation” where decisions about urban land are made, and among “institutional entrepreneurs”, actors that repeatedly evade or alter formal rules or create new rules of urban land regulation. We use interview data regarding the distribution of costs and benefits among 54 actors involved in recent informal urban expansion to provide low- and middle-income housing (2000–2016) to identify potential leverage points for institutional change. We describe four types of informal urban land transactions: i) urbanizing individual plots of land, ii) flipping or subdividing land into multiple parcels, iii) invading land, and iv) manipulating social and public housing developments. We find institutional entrepreneurs—intermediaries, developers, and politicians—disproportionately benefit from and reinforce unplanned urban expansion. These entrepreneurs provide housing for the urban poor, but with social and environmental costs, including exploitation of informal settlers and urbanization of conservation land and loss of environmental services. Disaggregating informality into its component pervasive institutions and analyzing the distribution of payoffs in and beyond Mexico City provides insights about governance for urban sustainability.

Analysis of the Land Use and Cover Changes in the Metropolitan Area of Tepic-Xalisco (1973–2015) through Landsat Images

Land use and cover changes (LUCC) have been identified as one of the main causes of biodiversity loss and deforestation in the world. Fundamentally, the urban land use has replaced agricultural and forest cover causing loss of environmental services. Monitoring and quantifying LUCC are essential to achieve a proper land management. The objective of this study was to analyze the LUCC in the metropolitan area of Tepic-Xalisco during the period 1973–2015. To find the best fit and obtain the different land use classes, supervised classification techniques were applied using Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC), Support Vector Machines (SVMs) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). The results were validated with control points (ground truth) through cross tabulation. The best results were obtained from the SVMs method with kappa indices above 85%. The transition analysis infers that urban land has grown significantly during 42 years, increasing 62 km2 and replacing agricultural areas at a rate of 1.48 km2/year. Forest loss of 5.78 km2 annually was also identified. The results show the different land uses distribution and the dynamics developed in the past. This information may be used to simulate future LUCC and modeling different scenarios.

A Qualitative Hydro-Geomorphic Prediction of the Destiny of the Mojana Region (Magdalena-Cauca Basin, Colombia), to Inform Large Scale Decision Making

Colombia is undergoing a period of rapid development. In particular, the Magdalena-Cauca Rivers basin, and the Mojana region within it, is going to experience rapid expansion in infrastructure growth, entailing hydropower development, road and navigability works along hundreds of kilometers of channels, as well as standard flood control measures. This paper argues that unexpected and undesired outcomes are very likely to occur as a consequence of the hydraulic and geomorphological reaction of river systems to such development schemes; namely, we foresee heightened hydro-morphological risks, along with the loss of environmental services and strong increases in maintenance costs. River behavior has been the subject of extensive study by diverse disciplines. As a result, key principles of fluvial dynamics have been elucidated and specific quantitative prediction tools developed. In this paper we do rely on this wealth of knowledge. However, since specific local information and interpretative tools in Colombia are either lacking or unreliable, it is inevitable that, at the moment, any basin scale analysis has to remain qualitative and must incorporate several assumptions, leaving it open to questioning and further refinement. Nonetheless, we argue that advancing such type of speculative conjectures is the “right thing to do”. The undeniably desirable but hard to achieve alternative of waiting for sufficient datasets and tools would entail excessive delay in obtaining relevant answers while large-scale development would continue to occur with potentially damaging results. Therefore, our analysis is conceived along the precautionary principle. This paper is primarily aimed at technical advisors of policy makers as it offers scientifically-based arguments for informing the political debate, hopefully guiding decision makers towards better choices. Rather than advocating specific solutions, the focus is on pointing out the likely adverse consequences of the currently planned course of action.

Intensificación agrícola y pérdida de servicios ambientales en el partido de Azul (Provincia de Buenos Aires) entre 2002-2011

En las últimas décadas, la agricultura Argentina, especialmente en la ecorregión de las Pampas, ha experimentado una notable expansión basada en el desarrollo tecnológico. Este proceso permite aumentar la productividad pero incrementa los costos en términos de pérdida de servicios ambientales. El presente trabajo propone analizar la pérdida de algunos servicios de soporte y regulación en el período 2002-2011, en un área representativa de la ecorregión: el partido de Azul. Para ello, se utilizaron dos indicadores de sustentabilidad: conservación de la calidad de suelos y agua (CCSA) y conservación de la biodiversidad (CB). Previamente, se analizaron los cambios de uso del suelo mediante el procesamiento y clasificación de imágenes satelitales, entrevistas y campañas de campo. Los resultados obtenidos indican una intensificación y expansión agrícola (13,79%), a expensas de la ganadería (-5,24%) y de la superficie cubierta con agua en 2002. Dichos cambios se reflejan en la pérdida de servicios ambientales y se traducen en la estimación de los indicadores: el indicador de CCSA disminuyó 33,8% y el de CB 16,03%. Ante lo enunciado, se considera prioritario generar estrategias agroproductivas contemplando que los servicios que prestan los ecosistemas son indispensables para el sostenimiento del Partido y la región.

Determinants for successful reforestation of abandoned pastures in the Andes: Soil conditions and vegetation cover

The Andes of Ecuador are known for their outstanding biodiversity but also as the region with the highest deforestation rate in South America. This process is accompanied by accelerating degradation and loss of environmental services. Despite an extraordinary richness in native tree diversity, more than 90% of all forest plantations established in Ecuador consist of exotic species, primarily Eucalyptus spp. and Pinus spp. This is mainly due to the lack of information about the autecological and synecological requirements of the native species. The present study aims at providing basic knowledge on the early height development of native species in comparison to exotics. 12,000 seedlings of exotic and native species were planted in experimental trials at three sites of different successional stages: recently abandoned pastures ( Setaria sphacelata), bracken ( Pteridium arachnoideum) and shrubs. The results presented in this study refer to the status of the seedlings 3 years after planting. Soil data were revealed from soil core analysis from a total of 1008 soil samples distributed systematically over all plots. Soil chemical data were derived from a subsample of 125 randomly selected soil core sites. Soil properties in the study area emerged to be extremely heterogeneous. More than 60% of all plots presented two or more soil clusters. Soils in general were very poor in plant available N. Soil heterogeneity affected extractable Mn and Mg, dominating vegetation cover in turn affected Mn and P. Differences in soil properties had a strong effect for Eucalyptus saligna and Alnus acuminata. Manual above ground weeding showed species-specific effects: Tabebuia chrysantha and Heliocarpus americanus showed improved height growth, while that of Cedrela montana was reduced. There is evidence that A. acuminata can compete in growth with exotic species. Early successional species and exotics performed best on pasture dominated sites. Height growth of the mid-successional species C. montana was facilitated by bracken fern under certain soil conditions, and shrubs facilitated growth of T. chrysantha. The results indicate that reforestation with native species in Ecuador is possible but requires intensive consideration of interactions with soil properties and accompanying vegetation. Macroscopic soil core analysis can be a suitable instrument for detecting small-scale variation of soil properties. Nevertheless, a characterisation of both small-scale variation as well as variation on higher spatial scales, for instance by aerial photographs, is essential for effective planning of reforestation measures in the Andes.

Facilitating complementary inputs and scoping economies in the joint supply of health and environmental services in Aboriginal central Australia

Two concerns of national relevance in central Australia are the continuing decline in Aboriginal health status relative to the rest of the Australian population, and the loss of environmental services. We draw on literature from a number of disciplines to show that not only are these two concerns interrelated but that dealing with them is inextricably connected through consideration of the psychosocial determinants of health. Involvement by Aboriginal people in land management can promote the joint supply of environmental and health services. We show that Aboriginal control of land management can result in economies through the joint supply of environmental and health services. However, because Aboriginal people derive little benefit from the provision of public goods generated through land management, they have little incentive to provide a socially optimal supply of these goods. The policy issue for government is the selection of the appropriate policy tools to facilitate the involvement of Aboriginal people in land management and the optimal supply of health and environmental services. The cost-effectiveness plane is used to provide a simple framework to guide the selection of an appropriate policy tool.

Novas perspectivas para a gestão sustentável da Floresta Amazônica: explorando novos caminhos

Com foco na indústria madeireira na região Amazônica do Brasil e com base numa comparação de resultados de uma pesquisa sobre o setor florestal realizada no início dos anos 90 e estudos realizados dez anos depois, este artigo explora várias tendências atuais com potência de mudar a gestão de florestas tropicais na região amazônica. Essas mudanças são relacionadas à a) mudanças no suprimento de matéria prima, b) globalização e abertura de mercados externos para madeira e outros produtos como a soja, c) crescente escassez da madeira, d) novos mercados e incentivos para o manejo florestal sustentável e manejo florestal comunitário, e e) mudanças nos padrões de posse da terra, incluindo a descentralização da governança florestal e devolução de terras florestais. Concluímos que as mudanças apontam em direções diferentes. Enquanto a expansão dos mercados externos provoca o aumento do desmatamento, a descentralização e democratização da governança florestal e a preocupação global com a perda de serviços ambientais da floresta e de meios de vida para as populações locais criam novos incentivos para a gestão florestal sustentável. O maior desafio é encontrar meios para que a exploração florestal de base familiar e comunitária e as operações das serrarias nas áreas de assentamento sejam mais sustentáveis, por exemplo através de parcerias inovadoras do tipo empresa-comunidade.