Assessing the current state and restoration needs of the beaches and coastal dunes of Marismas Nacionales, Nayarit, Mexico

Around the world, population growth, land use changes and coastal infrastructure have modified coastlines. In many cases these actions have induced intense degradation and loss of the ecosystems there. Sandy beaches and coastal dunes are amongst the most threatened features. In Mexico, coastal dunes in the state of Nayarit, on the Pacific, have been affected by small scale tourism, the construction of artificial inlets and an increase in agricultural activities, even though they are part of a Biosphere Reserve. While there is a growing need for restoration or rehabilitation programs to protect these coastal dunes, such actions are almost non-existent because of financial limitations, difficulties in deciding which locations most urgently need these strategies, and the uncertainty of the results. Our goal was to evaluate the coastline of the Marismas Nacionales Biosphere Reserve, in the state of Nayarit, Mexico, examining geomorphological, ecological, and socioeconomic variables. Ninety sites were assessed, using the Re-Dune index, 41 beaches were found to be in a good state of conservation, while 43 are degraded but with the potential for success when subjected to restoration measures. Six sites were seen as highly degraded, with rehabilitation being the most viable option. By recovering the coastal dunes of Marismas Nacionales, the hurricane protection provided by them will be enhanced and sustainable social and economic development will be more likely.CEMIE-Océano 24979

A Novel Approach for the Assessment of Cities through Ecosystem Integrity

To tackle urban heterogeneity and complexity, several indices have been proposed, commonly aiming to provide information for decision-makers. In this study, we propose a novel and customizable procedure for quantifying urban ecosystem integrity. Based on a citywide approach, we developed an easy-to-use index that contrasts physical and biological variables of urban ecosystems with a given reference system. The Urban Ecosystem Integrity Index (UEII) is the sum of the averages from the variables that make up its intensity of urbanization and biological components. We applied the UEII in a Mexican tropical city using land surface temperature, built cover, and the richness of native plants and birds. The overall ecosystem integrity of the city, having montane cloud, tropical dry, and temperate forests as reference systems, was low (−0.34 ± SD 0.32), showing that, beyond its biodiverse greenspace network, the built-up structure highly differs from the ecosystems of reference. The UEII showed to be a flexible and easy-to-calculate tool to evaluate ecosystem integrity for cities, allowing for comparisons between or among cities, as well as the sectors/regions within cities. If used properly, the index could become a useful tool for decision making and resource allocation at a city level

A Novel Approach for the Assessment of Cities through Ecosystem Integrity

To tackle urban heterogeneity and complexity, several indices have been proposed, commonly aiming to provide information for decision-makers. In this study, we propose a novel and customizable procedure for quantifying urban ecosystem integrity. Based on a citywide approach, we developed an easy-to-use index that contrasts physical and biological variables of urban ecosystems with a given reference system. The Urban Ecosystem Integrity Index (UEII) is the sum of the averages from the variables that make up its intensity of urbanization and biological components. We applied the UEII in a Mexican tropical city using land surface temperature, built cover, and the richness of native plants and birds. The overall ecosystem integrity of the city, having montane cloud, tropical dry, and temperate forests as reference systems, was low (−0.34 ± SD 0.32), showing that, beyond its biodiverse greenspace network, the built-up structure highly differs from the ecosystems of reference. The UEII showed to be a flexible and easy-to-calculate tool to evaluate ecosystem integrity for cities, allowing for comparisons between or among cities, as well as the sectors/regions within cities. If used properly, the index could become a useful tool for decision making and resource allocation at a city level

The global value of coastal wetlands for storm protection

Coastal wetlands provide a range of valuable ecosystem services, including protecting coastal communities from storms. We estimated for the first time the global value of these storm protection services for all coastal wetlands for both damages avoided and lives saved. We used the historical tracks of 1,014 tropical cyclones since 1902 that recorded property damage and/or human casualties in 71 countries/regions. We used Bayesian and OLS statistical techniques to relate storm damages and lives lost to: wind speed, storm forward speed, the year of the storm, the volume of ocean water proximal to landfall, and GDP, population, and coastal wetlands in the swath of the storm. Based on current storm probabilities, we estimate the median annual global value of coastal wetlands for storm protection at $447 billion/yr (2015$US) ($213 -$837 billion/yr, 90% CI) and 4,620 lives saved per year (3,320 – 6,550, 90% CI). The 40 million hectares of coastal wetlands in storm prone areas provided an average of $11,000/ha/yr in avoided storm damages. The frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones has been increasing in recent decades and is projected to further increase with climate change. Consequently, the already significant benefits from protecting and restoring coastal wetlands will become increasingly important and valuable in the future. These results justify much larger investments in conservation and restoration of coastal wetlands

Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: Mapping the Milky Way, Nearby Galaxies, and the Distant Universe

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median $z\sim 0.03$). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between $z\sim 0.6$ and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGNs and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in 2016 July

Influencia de la complejidad estructural del dosel en la reflectancia de datos Landsat TM

Despite its importance in ecology, forestry and resource management the relationship between remote sensing data and forest inventory data are still poorly understood, in particular regarding the structural complexity of woody canopy elements. In this paper we evaluate by multivariate techniques and Generalized Linear Models (GLM), the influence of 4 woody canopy structure variables by strata (height, DBH, crown diameter and density) on the Landsat TM reflectance data. We analyzed three forest types in the Cofre de Perote National Park. Biplots suggest differences related to the type of forest and the metric expression of structural attributes. GLM indicate that the total reflectance shows differential response that can be associated to canopy structural complexity and the type of forest with some limitations related to the sensitivity of the sensors. Landsat bands 1-3, 5-7 showed a better association with forest complexity variables, in particular for Pinus hartwegii forest and mixed forest. Apparently forest structural attributes and limitations of Landsat sensor sensitivity itself prevents the identification of reliable association between reflectance and complexity variables in Abies religiosa forest.La relación entre datos de instrumentos de percepción remota y datos de inventario de bosque, en particular de la complejidad estructural de los elementos leñosos del dosel es un asunto pobremente entendido no obstante su importancia en ecología, silvicultura y manejo de recursos. En el presente trabajo se evaluó por medio de técnicas multivariadas (biplot) y Modelos Lineales Generalizados (MLG), la influencia de los diferentes estratos leñosos del dosel de cuatro variables de estructura (altura, DAP, diámetro de copa y densidad de individuos) sobre la reflectancia de datos Landsat TM en tres tipos de bosque en el Parque Nacional Cofre de Perote. Los resultados biplot indican diferencias relacionadas con el tipo de bosque y la expresión métrica de los atributos estructurales. MLG indican que la reflectancia total es dependiente de la complejidad estructural del dosel, del tipo de bosque con ciertas limitaciones derivadas de la sensitividad de los sensores. Las bandas Landsat 1-3, 5-7 mostraron una más clara relación con atributos de la complejidad forestal, en particular para bosque de Pinus hartwegii y bosque mixto, al parecer las dimensiones estructurales del bosque y limitaciones en la sensitividad de los sensores Landsat impiden explicar la reflectancia a partir de la complejidad en el bosque de A. religiosa

Assessing Nature-Based Coastal Protection against Disasters Derived from Extreme Hydrometeorological Events in Mexico

Natural ecosystems are expected to reduce the damaging effects of extreme hydrometeorological effects. We tested this prediction for Mexico by performing regression models, with two dependent variables: the occurrence of deaths and economic damages, at a state and municipality levels. For each location, the explanatory variables were the Mexican social vulnerability index (which includes socioeconomic aspects, local capacity to prevent and respond to an emergency, and the perception of risk) and land use cover considering different vegetation types. We used the hydrometeorological events that have affected Mexico from 1970 to 2011. Our findings reveal that: (a) hydrometeorological events affect both coastal and inland states, although damages are greater on the coast; (b) the protective role of natural ecosystems only was clear at a municipality level: the presence of mangroves, tropical dry forest and tropical rainforest was related to a significant reduction in the occurrence of casualties. Social vulnerability was positively correlated with the occurrence of deaths. Natural ecosystems, both typically coastal (mangroves) and terrestrial (tropical forests, which are located on the mountain ranges close to the coast) function for storm protection. Thus, their conservation and restoration are effective and sustainable strategies that will help protect and develop the increasingly urbanized coasts

Socio–Ecosystemic Sustainability

In its most recent report, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) announced an unprecedented dangerous decline in biodiversity, one of the planetary limits that are currently being surpassed. The results and trends of socio–ecosystemic problems oblige us to attempt to understand and address the global crisis. Socio–ecosystemic problems are not only ethical and moral challenges but also ones of interest and security, since the financial resources available will be insufficient for people immersed in a sick and dysfunctional society. In this sense, science plays a central role in offering alternatives. This work is a theoretical construction, based on complexity and transdiscipline, that aims to offer these alternatives. It is enriched by several areas of knowledge, with the objective of broadening the interpretation of sustainability and overcoming some of the limitations of existing approaches through the recognition of the objective and subjective relationships between humans and ecosystems. Socio–ecosystemic sustainability is an adaptative process, taking the principles of strong sustainability and autopoiesis as an explanation of living and the processes that maintain and reproduce it. It is argued that goals centered on a vision of economic growth are not coherent with the natural processes of the biosphere—as shown by thermodynamics and complex systems—nor, indeed, with a functional society. The health and life on planet is a compelling reason for seeking dialogue between individuals and coherence in the three dimensions of socio–ecosystem sustainability

Complexity and transdiscipline: epistemologies for sustainability

Abstract This work constitutes a theoretical revision of contributions of several areas of knowledge throughout the last century to date, among others: natural sciences, social sciences, philosophy, economic critique and international politics, to make evident coincidences between people trying to solve the socio-environmental problems that afflict humanity, closely related to quality of life and well-being. The paper analyzes the academic debate of sustainability concept, which is explained as the way that each social group has built a cultural system around the relation with nature, and argues in favor of recognizing that human life, society and, therefore, its economy as a human subsystem, are completely dependent on maintaining cycles and balances on planet Earth. Human social systems fit the profile of a living system, an autopoietic system as a structural and functional coupling of autopoietic units, dynamic and unstable, going to an unpredictable future. Considerations are offered from the complexity and transdisciplinarity to overcome apparent contradictions in fundamental dogmas and epistemology. Dialogue of knowledge brings out new qualities and possibility to include other areas of culture, such as art, religion, politics, economics and business. It seeks to harmonize criteria for cultural transformation needed to confront the global crisis that human kind are currently facing. We conclude that the dynamic human knowledge system offers opportunities to overcome the current limitations we face in designing and implementing a new vision on sustainable socio-ecological cultural system through space and time, within Earth life support and with culture as an interface between ecosystems and human beings.Resumen Este trabajo constituye una revisión teórica de aportes de diversas áreas del conocimiento a lo largo del último siglo hasta la fecha, entre otros: ciencias naturales, ciencias sociales, filosofía, crítica económica y política internacional, para evidenciar coincidencias entre personas que intentan resolver los problemas socio-ambientales que afligen a la humanidad, estrechamente relacionados con la calidad de vida y el bienestar. El documento analiza el debate académico del concepto de sostenibilidad, que se explica como la forma en que cada grupo social construyó un sistema cultural en torno a la relación con la naturaleza; y argumenta a favor de reconocer que la vida humana, la sociedad y, por lo tanto, su economía como un subsistema humano, son completamente dependientes del mantenimiento de ciclos y equilibrios en el planeta Tierra. Los sistemas sociales humanos se ajustan al perfil de un sistema vivo, un sistema autopoiético, un acoplamiento estructural y funcional de unidades autopoiéticas, dinámicas e inestables, que se dirigen a un futuro impredecible. Se ofrecen consideraciones desde la complejidad y la transdisciplinariedad para superar contradicciones aparentes en dogmas fundamentales y epistemológicos. El diálogo de saberes brinda nuevas cualidades y la posibilidad de incluir otras áreas de la cultura, como el arte, la religión, la política, la economía y los negocios. Busca armonizar los criterios de transformación cultural necesarios para enfrentar la crisis mundial que el ser humano enfrenta actualmente. Concluimos que la dinámica del conocimiento humano ofrece oportunidades para superar las limitaciones actuales que enfrentamos al diseñar e implementar una nueva visión del sistema socio-ecológico sostenible a través del espacio y el tiempo, dentro del soporte vital de la Tierra y con la cultura como interfaz entre ecosistemas y seres humanos