Changes in institutional and social–ecological system robustness due to the adoption of large-scale irrigation technology in Navarre (Spain)

Many regional and national organisations promote the modernisation of agriculture by supporting new technologies to increase their territory's competitiveness in a free-market context. Such technologies and their associated intensive land management practices are geared towards obtaining higher yields. However, their application also entails changes in water and land management institutions, which could alter interactions among multiple components of the agrarian social ecological system and potentially weaken the system. Here, we assess how these components and their relations change in a village situated in Navarre (Spain) after the uptake of large-scale irrigation infrastructure. Specifically, we analyse such changes by comparing how the design principles for robust social ecological systems manifest before and after the adoption of large-scale irrigation. Our findings indicate that an unequal distribution of water and land induces some farmers to abandon their agrarian activities. Our case study also shows how irrigation communities have partially lost their autonomy to self-organise and make agrarian management-related decisions. We suggest that the adoption of large-scale irrigation in this region contributes to a decrease in cooperation among resource users, and between users and infrastructure providers. This is due to a decline in the capacity to achieve collective-choice arrangements and higher external control and monitoring of water use. We argue that the current agrarian management changes may damage social ecological system robustness and affect the sustainable use of common-pool resources, leading farmers to maladaptation to climate and market variability. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP EnvironmentThis work is the outcome of a research collaboration between the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) and the Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). It has received funds from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007‐2013) under Grant Agreement 264465 (EcoFINDERS), and BC3 has also cofunded different parts of the fieldwork. We also want to thank the grant for contracts of Postdoctoral Training of the Education Department of the Eusko Jaurlaritza. Thanks to Jean Francois Bissonnette for proofreading previous versions of this manuscript, as well as Professor Frances Cleaver and Dr. Robert Hardie for the final reviews in the last stage of publication. Finally, thanks to Julen Ugalde for transcribing the focus group discussions and his support during all the research. This work is the outcome of a research collaboration between the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) and the Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). It has received funds from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement 264465 (EcoFINDERS), and BC3 has also cofunded different parts of the fieldwork. We also want to thank the grant for contracts of Postdoctoral Training of the Education Department of the Eusko Jaurlaritza. Thanks to Jean Francois Bissonnette for proofreading previous versions of this manuscript, as well as Professor Frances Cleaver and Dr. Robert Hardie for the final reviews in the last stage of publication. Finally, thanks to Julen Ugalde for transcribing the focus group discussions and his support during all the research

Seguimiento de la consolidación del desarrollo urbano en la comunidad de Madrid mediante técnicas de telederección

El proyecto “Seguimiento de la consolidación del desarrollo urbano en la Comunidad de Madrid mediante técnicas de Teledetección” se enmarca dentro de las actuales líneas de investigación sobre Aseguramiento del equilibrio disponibilidades/demandas de agua del Plan I+D+i del Canal Isabel II, empresa pública responsable de la gestión del ciclo integral del agua en la Comunidad de Madrid. El trabajo ha consistido en la puesta a punto de una metodología operativa para la definición y elaboración de una base de datos cartográfica para la Comunidad de Madrid y la realización de actualizaciones periódicas, a partir de imágenes del satélite SPOT5. En esta base de datos queda reflejada la evolución temporal de las zonas urbanizadas como consecuencia de la consolidación de los Planes de Desarrollo Urbano de los municipios, así como el estado y evolución de zonas verdes urbanas. La información resultante se ha incorporado en el Sistema de Información Geográfica de Canal de Isabel II y servirá de base para la elaboración y actualización de los Planes de desarrollo de infraestructuras estratégicas de abastecimiento, que deben dar respuesta anticipada a las futuras demandas de agua ocasionadas por el proceso de expansión urbana en la Comunidad de Madrid.The present project “Monitoring urban development consolidation in the community of Madrid using remote sensing techniques” is within the current research lines for the Assurement of the water balance of availability/ demands, in the frame of Canal Isabel II I+D+i Plan. Canal Isabel II is a public sector company responsible for the water management supply in the Community of Madrid. The aim of this project is to develop an operative methodology, in order to define and develop a cartographic database in the Community of Madrid, which involves periodical updates, based on SPOT5 satellite imagery. This database should reflect the evolution of the urbanized areas as a result of the Urban Development Plannings’ consolidation in all municipalities, as well as the evolution and state of the green urban areas. Resulting information has been integrated on the Canal de Isabel II’s Geographical Information System and is intended to be the basis for the development and updating of the strategical supply infrastructure development plan that should anticipate to future water demands caused by urban expanding in the Community of Madrid

Mercury movement from Hg-enriched wetland soils to arboreal food webs: a weak role for folivory

Mercury (Hg) is a toxicant of concern, particularly in aquatic food webs. Mercury can move to terrestrial systems through consumption of aquatic prey or emergence of insects with aquatic larval phases. The possible movement of Hg from sediments to wetland plants and into terrestrial food webs though primary consumers has received less attention. We investigated differences and correlations in Hg in soil, wood and leaves of willows (Salix caroliniana) and folivorous beetles from a wetland with enhanced levels of Hg. Further, we compared samples from tree islands that had enriched Hg in soil through bird guano with control islands. Hg in any sample type did not correlate with Hg in any other sample type from the same island. We found higher [Hg] in soils and significantly higher [Hg] in leaves from colony islands, while [Hg] in beetles appeared to be higher in control islands. In any case, despite comparatively high [Hg] in soil and leaves, Hg in folivorous beetles was below detection levels and lower than that reported from other studies. We conclude that movement of Hg from wetland trees to terrestrial food webs through wetland vegetation is negligible in this ecosystem.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature

Farmers' vulnerability to global change in Navarre, Spain : large-scale irrigation as maladaptation

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Agricultural landscapes are dynamic environments which change in response to cropping and trade opportunities, available technologies and climatic conditions. In this article, we investigate farmers' vulnerability to climate-related stressors and crop price volatility in rural Navarre, Spain. Specifically, we analyse the extent to which livelihood differences and vulnerability can be partly explained by the development of a large-scale irrigation project promoted by the Spanish and regional governments. Grounded on qualitative and quantitative data gathered across 22 villages, we demonstrate that small-scale diversified farmers appear the most vulnerable and least able to adapt to climate-related stressors and crop price volatility. In contrast, more market-driven, large-scale intensive farmers, who participate in the irrigation project, are the least vulnerable to these stressors. We argue that the irrigation project has increased the short-term adaptive capacity of irrigation adopters while establishing the institutional conditions for the displacement of small-scale farming. Therefore, we suggest that farmers' vulnerability in Navarre can be explained by maladaptive irrigation policies designed to favour large-scale and market-driven agriculture

Large-scale Irrigation Impacts Socio-cultural Values : An Example from Rural Navarre, Spain

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Large-scale irrigation is a form of agricultural intensification aimed at increasing productivity and adapting to climate change. However, we know little about how large-scale irrigation affects socio-cultural values over nature's contributions to people (NCP) in agrarian systems. In this article, we fill this gap by investigating how a large-scale irrigation project in Navarre, Spain, has affected farmers' values in relation to their farming systems and the local environment. We find that large-scale farmers who participate in the irrigation project value more highly regulating NCP than small-scale farmers who have not adopted such technology, while the latter hold higher values for non-material NCP related to cultural identity and traditional knowledge and experience. These findings suggest that the adoption of large-scale irrigation technology is associated with a set of values that underestimate the long-term ecological effects of agricultural intensification and neglect the relevance of traditional farming in sustaining more ecologically and culturally diverse landscapes

The role of the social network structure on the spread of intensive agriculture: an example from Navarre, Spain

Social networks influence decision-making in agricultural landscapes by affecting how farmers access knowledge and resources. However, researchers ignore the disparate structures built to access different kinds of knowledge and resources and the social mechanisms that take place on such farmers advice networks. We explored the role of social networks in decision-making among farmers in Navarre (Spain) to understand how and why some practices spread among farming communities. Social network analysis allows us to understand how farmers in this region share both knowledge and resources, and the potential implications of this sharing for the landscape. We find that large-scale farmers undertaking intensive land management are at the core of the network in this region, controlling the flow of knowledge and resources related to farm management, policy, technology, and finance. The central position of these farmers in the social network, and their reputation, is key to the spread of intensive farming practices in the region, which ultimately may lead to homogenization of local agricultural landscapes. Understanding farmer network structures in a context of agricultural intensification can help tease out the social mechanisms, such as farmers joining each other in cooperatives, behind the spread of agricultural practices. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.Many thanks to all the participants, especially to the lead author?s host Patxi Sueskun, and the people from the local cooperative: Rogelio Rodriguez, Andrea Ayestaran, and Leire Elorz. Without their help, this work would have not been possible. The lead author would also like to mention Julen Ugalde for his support in Canada during the data analysis and Jesse Rieb, Jesse Sayles, Jacopo Baggio, Karina Benessaiah, Carrie Dai, and Yevgen Nazarenko for their help at different stages of this research. Likewise, we are grateful for the insightful comments of the four reviewers that have made this paper stronger and sharper

Euskararen biziberritzea hedabideetan eta enpresetan: hurbilketa bat EITBren kasura

30 p. : il. -- Bibliogr.: p. 26-30[EUS] Euskararen biziberritzea 1980ko hamarkadan abiatutako prozesu soziala da, euskarak hizkuntza gutxitu gisa galdu zituen esparruak berreskuratzeko. Prozesu horretan balio sinboliko handia izan zuen Euskal Irrati Telebistaren sorrerak, 1982an. Hain zuzen ere, sorrerako helburuetan euskara sustatzeko zeregina ezarri zitzaion. Lan honek EITBk euskararen biziberritzean egindako ekarpenei helduko die, hizkuntza-plangintzaren hiru arlotan (corpus-plangintza, estatus-plangintza eta jabekuntza-plangintza) bultzatutako ekimen nagusiak bilduz. Halaber, enpresak euskalduntzeko plangintza ere izango du aztergai, eta plangintza horren nondik norakoak azaldu ondoren EITBren euskara planean jarriko da fokua. EITBk euskararen biziberritzean paper garrantzitsua jokatu duela ondorioztatuko da, baita euskara planak enpresaren euskalduntzeari bultzada eman diola ere.[EN] Basque is a minority language that had lost much of its public sphere in favour of Spanish and French. By the 1980s, this situation prompted a social process known as the Basque Language Revitalization. The creation of EITB (Basque Radio-Television, the public broadcasting company of the Basque Country) in 1982 happened within this process, given that the founding charter of the newly formed broadcaster stablished the promotion of Basque as one of its aims. This work addresses the main contributions of EITB to language revitalization, by analysing three areas of language planning, namely: corpus planning, status planning and acquisition planning. Moreover, schemes to incorporate the Basque language into companies’ workplaces and work practices (Basque Language Plans) are also analysed, paying special attention to EITB’s Basque Language Plan. We conclude that EITB played a pivotal role in the Basque Language Revitalization, and that EITB’s Basque Language Plan made progress regarding the presence of Basque in the company’s workplace

Centro de energía renovable Córdoba

Trabajo final de ArquitecturaEste proyecto muestra una posibilidad de intervención patrimonial, refuncionalizando un espacio en desuso y estado crítico, el cual por su valor histórico, social, económico y cultural, se intentó preservar la imagen original, permitiendo la reinserción tanto visual como espacial en un contexto urbano que ha sufrido una serie de variaciones a través del tiempo. La importancia de preservar un sitio que es patrimonio industrial, es su valor como elemento que provocó cambios en la sociedad siendo un polo de emplazamiento urbano que generó hitos sociales, laborales y comerciales, creando la identidad de barrio. A nivel de proyecto, se propone un edificio híbrido de múltiples actividades donde el eje principal es el espacio público como protagonista siendo herramienta de concientización y transformación social sobre el impacto favorable que producen sobre el medio ambiente la utilización de energías renovables combinando distintas actividades dentro de un mismo lugar

A framework for using autonomous adaptation as a leverage point in sustainable climate adaptation

Planned adaptations are commonly adopted by governments considering large-scale socio-economic and political interventions, while local communities innovate their adaptive responses using locally available resources â also known as autonomous adaptation. Congruence between planned and autonomous adaptation is needed to develop a concerted and effective effort to minimize the negative impacts of context-specific vulnerability. This paper offers a systematic framework for building congruence between planned and autonomous adaptation using a six-step approach to guide their integration while maintaining an environment for future autonomous innovations. We applied this framework to previously conducted case studies in Spain, Bangladesh and Canada, revealing key lessons for using autonomous adaptation as leverage points for sustainable climate adaptation. © 2021The authors would like to acknowledge funding from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Funding 201989 (Rahman PI). The authors would also like to thank Professor Kate Sherren, School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada for her comments on the earlier draft of the paper

Timing and magnitude of net methylmercury effects on waterbird reproductive output are dependent on food availability.

Mercury (Hg) is a globally distributed pollutant. Its sub-lethal effects on reproduction of birds have been used as indicators of contamination and of potential demographic effects. However, studies typically used single endpoints that might not be representative of entire reproductive cycle. To estimate timing and net cumulative effects of Hg exposure under field conditions, we used observational data over 11 years from >1200 nests of great egrets breeding under temporally and spatially varying food availability and Hg exposures in the Florida Everglades. We collected measures of fish biomass and availability (>100 locations annually) and used four avian reproductive endpoints that represented the entire breeding cycle. We calculated net reproductive loss by adding estimated Hg effects on failures prior to egg laying, clutch size, hatching success and nestling survival in response to food availability and Hg exposure. To validate and assess results of the observational egret study, we ran the same analyses with data of captive breeding white ibises experimentally exposed to Hg with ad libitum food over 3 years. We found large (>50 %) reductions in great egret offspring with high Hg exposure (18 mug/g dw THg nestling feather, ~0.7 mug/g ww whole egg THg) and high food availability, and even larger reductions (up to 100 %) with high Hg exposure and low food. Timing and the relative contribution of different endpoints to overall reproductive failure varied with food availability. Failures prior to egg laying were relevant at all food availabilities and proportionally most important during high food availability (~70 % of total losses). Under high food, post-hatching failures increased moderately with increasing exposure (~10 % of total losses), and under low food, hatching failures became dominant (~50 % of total losses). Patterns of failure of captive white ibis fed ad libitum resembled those of great egrets under high food availability but differed in total magnitude. We suggest that, a) net reproductive effects of Hg in free-ranging animals are probably much higher than generally reported in studies using single endpoints, b) Hg effect sizes vary considerably among different endpoints and c) food availability is a strong driver of timing and net effects of Hg exposure.This work was supported by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (W912HZ-12-02-0007) and by grants of equipment from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Egret monitoring was performed under University of Florida IACUC permit 201708650. Fish sampling was supported by Cooperative Agreements W912HZ-11-2-0048 and W912HZ-16-2-0008 between Florida International University (FIU) and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and Contract 4600001083 between FIU and the South Florida Water Management District. Fish monitoring was performed under FIU IACUC permits including IACUC-08-004, -09-029, -10-026, 12-020, -13-060, and -16-033. Nestling ibises were collected from the field under Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission permit WX03527, which also allowed for their maintenance in captivity, and with a modification, re-release into the wild. Ibises were held in captivity under Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee permit D424-2006. Great egret picture in Fig. 1 was taken by J. A. Gonzalez-Oreja and used with his permission while the White Ibis image in the same figure was extracted from a picture downloaded from www.all-free-photos.com licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers whose comments greatly improved the ms