Ecosystems degradation, and consequently biodiversity loss, has severe impacts on people around the world. The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is one of the international initiatives that have emerged to inform policy makers and aid decisions to prevent further global biodiversity loss, focusing on the interdependence between natural systems and human culture. IPBES promotes the use of scenarios and modelling approaches as a fundamental tool to advance the understanding of the relationships between drivers of change, Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP), and social systems. Local-scale case studies with a system approach demonstrating how current knowledge can be used to inform decision-making are still scarce. Here, we present a comprehensive conceptual model and a series of four scenarios under different policies for shea tree species management, as a case-study of applying systems thinking and the NCP concept to a local-scale socio-ecological system. We first characterized the central processes, NCP, drivers and pressures affecting the shea tree system, to investigate the impacts of the multiple uses of the shea tree species on the system as a whole. We then described potential policy options, developed four scenarios, and evaluated them by a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN). We predicted qualitative outcomes of the proposed scenarios: Business-as-usual (BAU), “Conservation and fair trade”, “Agroforestry and fair trade” and “Industrial development”. We found that the scenarios focussing on conservation, fair trade and agroforestry, can improve the conservation status of shea trees, and enhance wellbeing in the local communities. In this case study, we demonstrate that the development of a comprehensive conceptual model at a local scale can be a useful exercise to identify opportunities for effective policy strategies and social innovation. The shea tree case study can provide an example for modelling non-timber forest products in other regions around the world that face similar drivers and pressures. Species for which this model could be adapted include Central and South American species such as the Brazilian nut (Bertholletia excelsa), cocoa (Theobroma cacao), andiroba (Carapa guianensis), açai (Euterpe oleracea) and the wax palm (Ceroxylon quindiuense). The model and workflow applied here may thus be used to understand similar socio-ecological systems with local and international economic value across the Neotropical region.
Introducción: Los disturbios antrópicos como los desazolves afectan los componentes estructurales y funcionales de los bosques riparios, comprometiendo su capacidad de proveer servicios ecosistémicos.Objetivos: Cuantificar la pérdida de cobertura vegetal de un bosque ripario por acciones de desazolve en el río Pitillal (Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco).Materiales y métodos: Se utilizó el índice multiespectral NDVI en conjunto con matrices de cambio de uso de suelo y vegetación para determinar la extensión, pérdida de cobertura vegetal e impacto al momento del desazolve y un año después del suceso.Resultados y discusión: La superficie de desazolve fue 6.93 ha, de las cuales 2.82 ha (40.7 %) fueron áreas severamente afectadas con pérdida total de cobertura vegetal; el suelo desnudo incrementó superficialmente en 736 %. Un año después del desazolve, se identificó el inicio de un proceso de sucesión, siendo el suelo desnudo reemplazado por herbáceas y arbustos.Conclusión: El bosque presentó daño severo a causa del desazolve, pero mostró posible recuperación después del impacto.
Diversidad taxonómica alfa y beta del ensamblaje de peces continentales de la cuenca del río Ameca, MéxicoAlfa and beta taxonomic diversity of the freshwater fish assemblage of the Ameca River Basin, Mexico
Los pescadores artesanales reciben de la naturaleza servicios ecosistémicos culturales (SC) que son esenciales para su bienestar y que pueden afectarse por intervenciones de desarrollo que ignoran su importancia y ubicación. En este estudio cuantificamos la relevancia de estos SC, analizando las relaciones espaciales de su flujo e identificando las amenazas que los comprometen, a través de encuestas, entrevistas semiestructuradas, mapeo participativo y valoración social a pescadores de la subcuenca del río Mascota, estado de Jalisco, México. Los análisis revelaron que los SC integran la identidad colectiva e individual de los pescadores y ocurren en los ríos y cuerpos de agua próximos a las localidades principales. Las amenazas fueron disminución de la abundancia de peces y captura debido a malas prácticas, alteraciones de los ríos y pérdida del bosque de ribera. Esta investigación visibiliza el valor de los SC y propone acciones para su inclusión en los planes regionales de desarrollo.
The geographic landscape is a recurrent unit of analysis in vulnerability studies. Single descriptions are often used to show the elements exposed in these landscapes. However, the concept requires specifying the components of the landscape and its functioning as a unit. Thus, the purpose of this research was to use the analysis of Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) to describe the global contribution of landscape elements to human activities, prioritizing the units in which the effects of climate change may imply greater impacts on the human population. For this, we analyzed six categories of nature’s contributions applied to the landscape units in a fragment of the Mexican Pacific coast. The units with mangrove cover had the highest nature contributions. It is expected that the application of this approach in the exposure component of vulnerability studies will allow a better understanding of the non-return relationship and the search for adaptive nature-based solutions.
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