Towards Sustainable Urban Planning for Puyo (Ecuador): Amazon Forest Landscape as Potential Green Infrastructure

Abstract

The peri-urban area of Puyo, where agricultural, urban and conservation logics are mixed, is a contested area in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Rapid urban growth and agricultural activities are the main threats to the conservation of its biodiversity. To promote the conservation of natural spaces in urban planning instruments, it is necessary to first demonstrate their environmental and ecological value. In this paper, such value was analyzed by quantifying biodiversity value and carbon storage capacity in situ. The results show that Puyo’s periphery (a 4 km radius) is an opportunity space, where the conservation of its biodiversity is a key factor in strategies to promote sustainable urban development. Firstly, there are natural areas of high environmental value (secondary forest, gramalote pastures with trees and gramalote pastures) that all together fix 1,664,683 Mg CO2 and control hydrological risks (with 80% of the green areas linked to flood areas)—valuable ecosystem services. Secondly, the conservation of biodiversity brings associated economic activities that can promote local sustainable development. Despite this, the results reveal that the conservation of peri-urban natural ecosystems is not a goal in Puyo’s urban planning strategy. Therefore, future research should be focused on urban planning tools that promote environmentally, economically and socially sustainable urban development.

A soil quality index for seven productive landscapes in the Andean‐Amazonian foothills of Ecuador

“…SOM is considered as one of the most important factors among SQIs and have a positive effect on soil properties and beside is the central indicator of soil quality and health, which is strongly affected by agricultural management (Kiakojouri & Gorgi, 2014). For future studies on soil quality in the Ecuadorian Amazon region, it is essential to include other biological indicators, which help to detect the early effects of agricultural or livestock management, such as enzymatic activity, structure, microbial biomass, and basal respiration, the latter two in the composition of microbial communities (Huera‐Lucero, Salas‐Ruiz, Changoluisa, & Bravo‐Medina, 2020; Vallejo Quintero, 2013). These indicators would provide information on the metabolic activity that exists in the soil and maintain a greater sensitivity and rapid response to physical, chemical, or biological degradation processes associated with inadequate management as compared to other soil properties.…”

Urban Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Development: A Review

“…So, quantitative documents are mostly devoted to environmental and economic aspects of UGI and SD. A relatively high number, 26 of the 89 quantitative articles, directly target ES, ranging from regulating urban heat (e.g., Wu et al [45]) and flooding (e.g., Huera Lucero et al [46]) to citizens' recreation (e.g., Sun et al [47]).…”

Biodiversity and Carbon Sequestration in Chakra-Type Agroforestry Systems and Humid Tropical Forests of the Ecuadorian Amazon

“…where LC: litter carbon in Mg C ha −1 , DM: dry matter in Mg, and CF: IPCC carbon fraction, which is 0.5. The soil organic carbon (SOC) is obtained from the following equation [3,24,[39][40][41]. SOC = BD × (TOC/100) × D × 10000 (14) where SOC: in Mg C ha −1 ; BD: bulk density in Mg m −3 ; TOC: total organic carbon of soil %; and D corresponds to the depth in meters.…”

“…However, in recent times there has been a significant decrease, due to the deforestation and degradation of tropical forests due to the constant change in land use [1,2]. In this sense, the implementation of agroforestry systems and the conservation of the remaining tropical forests emerge as an alternative to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and therefore global warming [3][4][5][6], for their ability to regulate carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and store carbon, as well as influence agreements and decision making on global climate change [7][8][9].…”