Natural and land-use drivers of primary production in a highly vulnerable region of livestock production (Sierras del Este – Uruguay)

Sierras del Este is one of the two regions in Uruguay that are most vulnerable to climate change. A relevant vulnerability factor is the variability of the natural grasslands’ productivity. The objective of this study was to analyse the role of natural and land use drivers on grassland productivity as an essential factor for increasing the adaptive capacity of livestock production and reducing their vulnerability to extreme climatic events. The period 2000–2015 was analysed using the aboveground net primary production (ANPP), rainfall patterns, soil maps and surface slopes, livestock stocking density (LSD) information, and interviews with livestock producers. The results showed a decreasing trend in ANPP between 2000 and 2009, and an increase between 2010 and 2015. These trends are associated with rainfall fluctuations: greater ANPP variability is explained by the rainfall accumulation of the 4 previous months. In addition, ANPP is affected by soil type (deeper and more clayey, higher ANPP), surface slope (steeper surface slope, lower ANPP) and LSD (higher LSD, higher ANPP). In drought periods, these relations are reversed. The main results suggested that changes in ANPP between drought and wet periods are not linearly related to the drivers analysed, and an important spatially structured pattern was detected. The evidence provides information to anticipate extreme events, allowing to define and explore strategies to reduce the impacts of drought. The reduction of vulnerability implies challenges at the individual level to increase efficiency in livestock management and at a collective level to integrate and complement favourably the various land use activities in the area. In this sense, public policy should have a leading role to promote these transformations

Effects of pulp industry effluents : certainties and doubts

El patrón de crecimiento de la industria de la pulpa y del papel, así como del modelo forestal asociado, revela una tendencia creciente a expandirse en países de Asia, África y América del Sur. En este escenario es necesario incorporar la perspectiva ambiental en la conciencia social para que las decisiones de uso y manejo de los recursos naturales no sean tomadas siguiendo sólo la lógica del mercado, por lo cual el concepto de servicios ecosistémicos es una ayuda valiosa para el análisis de los conflictos ambientales. Este artículo analiza las evidencias de los impactos puntuales que producen los efluentes industriales derivados del funcionamiento de las plantas de celulosa. Estos efluentes presentan una considerable complejidad por la cantidad de compuestos químicos que contienen, algunos no identificados al día de hoy. Sus efectos dependen del sitio en el que ocurren, de las características físico-químicas del cuerpo receptor, de su caudal, del tipo de madera, del proceso industrial y del tratamiento de efluentes empleado y de la sensibilidad de las especies presentes en el ecosistema. Sin embargo, existen numerosos estudios ecotoxicológicos y sobre la eutrofización de cuerpos de agua que demuestran que algunos de los potenciales efectos ocurren en regiones diferentes y distantes e independientemente del tipo específico de proceso industrial empleado. Los efectos derivados de la exposición a disruptores endócrinos cuentan con abundantes evidencias de laboratorio y de campo que han permitido establecer sus mecanismos de acción. Además, si bien la incorporación de nuevas fases (e.g., la fase secundaria) a los sistemas de tratamiento de efluentes industriales mitiga los efectos agudos, no mitiga las respuestas crónicas registradas. En función de los efectos conocidos se consideran las posibles consecuencias sobre las funciones ecosistémicas, y cuáles son los principales desafíos de América Latina para planificar esta actividad productiva. Los grados elevados de incertidumbre asociados, el carácter complejo de las respuestas de los sistemas frente a las perturbaciones o al estrés, y los vacíos de información limitan nuestra capacidad para enfrentar los problemas ambientales. El análisis y el aporte académico libre de conflictos de intereses deben contribuir a la toma de decisiones y a que la sociedad construya una opinión fundamentada.The growth pattern of the pulp and paper industry, as well as the associated forestry model, reveals a growing tendency to expand in Asia, Africa and South America. We believe that it is necessary to incorporate the environmental perspective on social consciousness so that decisions regarding the use and management of natural resources are not taken just by following the logic of the market. The concept of ecosystem services is a valuable aid in the analysis of environmental conflicts. The identification and quantification of ecosystem services is important because many times these services are not apparent to the average person or decision maker. In this article we focus on the analysis of the evidence of the direct impacts produced by the industrial effluents arising from the operation of pulp mills. These effluents have a considerable complexity due to the number of chemical compounds that they contain, some of them unidentified until now. Their effects are site-dependent where the physico-chemical characteristics of the receiver corp, its flow, the type of wood used in the industrial process, the effluent treatment adopted, as well as the sensitivity of the species in the ecosystem are some of the factors that determine the possible responses of the environment. Nevertheless, many ecotoxicological and eutrophication studies of water bodies have shown that some of the potential effects occur in different and distant biogeographic regions of the planet and regardless of the specific type of industrial process used. This work describe these effects, that are widely documented in the scientific literature, presented from the simplest levels of biological organization (molecular) to the most complex (ecosystems). In particular, the effects of the exposure to the endocrine disruptors have abundant laboratory and field evidence that have allowed to determine their mechanisms of action. The incorporation of new phases (e.g., secondary) in the treating systems of the industrial effluents mitigates the acute effects but not the chronic responses recorded. Based on the known effects we consider the potential impacts on the ecosystem functions and the main challenges for Latin America in the planning of this productive activity. Finally, we mention the existing difficulties in addressing environmental problems such as the high levels of associated uncertainty, the complex nature of the responses of the systems to shock or stress and the information gaps. In this scenario, we believe that the independent academic input and analysis should contribute to the decision making and help the society to build a grounded opinion

Land use planning in the Amazon basin : challenges from resilience thinking

Ruiz Agudelo, César Augusto. Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano. Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Ambientales y Sostenibilidad. Bogota, Colombia.Mazzeo, Nestor. South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies (SARAS). Maldonado, Uruguay.Díaz, Ismael. Universidad de la República. Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental (CURE). Maldonado, Uruguay.Barral, María P. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce (EEA Balcarce). Balcarce, Argentina.Piñeiro, Gervasio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina.Gadino, Isabel. Universidad de la República. Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental (CURE). Maldonado, Uruguay.Roche, Ingid. Universidad de la República. Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental (CURE). Maldonado, Uruguay.Acuña Posada, Rocio Juliana. Conservation International Foundation - Colombia.8Amazonia is under threat. Biodiversity and redundancy loss in the Amazon biome severely limits the long-term provision of key ecosystem services in diverse spatial scales (local, regional, and global). Resilience thinking attempts to understand the mechanisms that ensure a system’s capacity to recover in the face of external pressures, trauma, or disturbances, as well as changes in its internal dynamics. Resilience thinking also promotes relevant transformations of system configurations considered adverse or nonsustainable, and therefore proposes the simultaneous analysis of the adaptive capacity and the transformation of a system. In this context, seven principles have been proposed, which are considered crucial for social ecological systems to become resilient. These seven principles of resilience thinking are analyzed in terms of the land use planning and land management of the Amazonian biome. To comprehend its main conflicts, challenges, and opportunities, we reveal the key aspects of the historical process of Latin America’s land management and the Amazon basin’s past and current land use changes. Based on this review, the Amazon region shows two concrete challenges for resilience: (1) the natural system’s fragmentation, as a consequence of land use limiting key ecological processes, and (2) the cultural and institutional fragmentation of land use projects designed and partially implemented in the region. In addition, the region presents challenges related to institutional design, the expansion and strengthening of real participation spaces, and the promotion of social learning. Finally, polycentric and adaptive governance is itself a major, urgent need for this region and its socialecological complexity

Land use planning in the Amazon basin: Challenges from resilience thinking

Amazonia is under threat. Biodiversity and redundancy loss in the Amazon biome severely limits the long-term provision of key ecosystem services in diverse spatial scales (local, regional, and global). Resilience thinking attempts to understand the mechanisms that ensure a system’s capacity to recover in the face of external pressures, trauma, or disturbances, as well as changes in its internal dynamics. Resilience thinking also promotes relevant transformations of system configurations considered adverse or nonsustainable, and therefore proposes the simultaneous analysis of the adaptive capacity and the transformation of a system. In this context, seven principles have been proposed, which are considered crucial for social-ecological systems to become resilient. These seven principles of resilience thinking are analyzed in terms of the land use planning and land management of the Amazonian biome. To comprehend its main conflicts, challenges, and opportunities, we reveal the key aspects of the historical process of Latin America’s land management and the Amazon basin’s past and current land use changes. Based on this review, the Amazon region shows two concrete challenges for resilience: (1) the natural system’s fragmentation, as a consequence of land use limiting key ecological processes, and (2) the cultural and institutional fragmentation of land use projects designed and partially implemented in the region. In addition, the region presents challenges related to institutional design, the expansion and strengthening of real participation spaces, and the promotion of social learning. Finally, polycentric and adaptive governance is itself a major, urgent need for this region and its social-ecological complexity.Fil: Ruiz Agudelo, Cesar A.. Universidad de Bogota Jorge Tadeo Lozano (utadeo);Fil: Mazzeo, Nestor. Universidad de la Republica; Uruguay. South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies; UruguayFil: Díaz, Ismael. Universidad de la Republica; UruguayFil: Barral, María Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Piñeiro, Gervasio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Gadino, Isabel. Universidad de la Republica; UruguayFil: Roche, Ingid. Universidad de la Republica; UruguayFil: Acuña Posada, Rocio Juliana. Conservation International Foundation; Colombi

Allied attack: climate change and eutrophication

Global warming and eutrophication in fresh and coastal waters may mutually reinforce the symptoms they express and thus the problems they cause.&nbsp

Toma de decisiones y cambio climático : acercando la ciencia y la política en América Latina y el Caribe

Busca ser una reflexión sobre cómo concebir puentes necesarios para generar una interacción efectiva entre ciencia y política en el contexto del cambio climático y la toma de decisiones en América Latina y el Caribe. Presenta distintos ensayos que demuestran que la interacción entre ciencia y política, si bien difícil de conseguir, es necesaria a la hora de modificar enfoques de política a nivel nacional, regional e internacional

Revision of family Lemnaceae in Chile

Volume: 50Start Page: 29End Page: 4

Manuscripts how to build a cross-disciplinary institute: the curious case of the south american institute for resilience and sustainability studies

There is no recipe for setting up a new institute, especially if it is meant to be different from anything that currently exists. Here, we give a look behind the scenes at how we dreamt up the transdisciplinary South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Science (SARAS), located in Uruguay, and how, with help from a network of renowned freethinkers and dedicated doers, we made it happen. Trying to shape the institute over the first decade, we learned 10 important lessons that may be helpful for others in similar situations. (1) Securing a stable budget is essential, but a permanent challenge. (2) Structural international funding for a place-based institute is unlikely. (3) Having the institute outside the formal structure of a university gives liberty, but it is important to nurture good relationships. (4) An informal setting with ample scheduled time for walks, camp fires, and other leisure interactions helps participants build the trust and take the time needed to connect across disciplines and worldviews but can be seen as decadent by outsiders. (5) It is important to build resilience to the occasional reshuffling of cards inherent with government change. (6) It remains difficult for remote international board members to fathom the local dynamics and challenges inherent to running the institute on the ground. (7) Keeping the big idea alive while solving the continuous stream of everyday issues requires a combination of personalities with complementary skills in the dreamer-doer continuum. (8) There is a trade-off in selecting board members because the famous persons needed for credibility and for their extensive networks often have little time to contribute actively. (9) Truly linking science and arts requires long-term interaction between artists and scientists that are personally interested in this enterprise to allow for the necessary building of trust and mutual understanding. (10) A local sense of ownership is essential for long-term resilience.</p

Experimentation in the Design of Public Policies : The Uruguayan Soils Conservation Plans

Agricultural intensification in Latin America has led to accelerated soil erosion, water pollution and food with pesticide residues, which are all signs of unsustainable development. In Uruguay, agricultural intensification with continuous cropping has threatened the country’s primary natural resource: its soil. At the same time, incentives for further intensification and specialization are high, since particularly soybeans have offered the highest (short-term) economic margins. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion about governance for sustainable development through an in-depth critical examination of the main flagship public policy response in Uruguay to soil degradation: the Soils Use and Management Plans (SUMP). SUMP indeed has managed to change cultivation practices in a more sustainable direction. The analysis shows that the relative success of SUMP is partly due to its experimental policy design which has allowed for collective knowledge construction and reflexive learning. It also shows that Uruguay’s long history of accumulated domestic soil expertise and state intervention rendered trust in the regulative process among producers and ultimately a high degree of acceptance. Nevertheless, while this policy is found innovative and promising, there is still a need for improvement of governance designs, if genuinely sustainable development is to be achieved