Using functional classifications from remote sensing data for assessing ecosystem spatial heterogeneity

El uso de la teledetección para la clasificación de ecosistemas sigue fundamentándose mayoritariamente en atributos puramente estructurales, obviando a menudo propiedades funcionales clave relacionadas con los flujos de materia y energía. Aquí mostramos la utilidad de clasificaciones basadas en variables funcionales para la caracterización de ecosistemas mediante el análisis del Índice diferencial de Vegetación Normalizado, el albedo y la temperatura superficial estimados a partir de datos de teledetección. Como ejemplo mostramos clasificaciones funcionales en Cabo de Gata y Doñana, dos regiones mediterráneas de gran interés para la conservación sometidas a condiciones ambientales bien distintas. Ambas regiones mostraron una distribución espacial de clases funcionales compleja y sólo en parte asociada a propiedades morfogenéticas y fisonómicas del paisaje. Diferenciamos 10 clases funcionales en Cabo de Gata de las cuales sólo dos mostraron una alta correspondencia con unidades específicas de vegetación, mientras que las distintas unidades de litorrelieve analizadas incluyeron varias clases funcionales. En Doñana, de ocho clases funcionales dos estuvieron fuertemente asociadas a unidades morfogenéticas del Parque Nacional, mientras que la interacción entre geomorfología e intensidad de uso explicó la distribución de otras cuatro clases funcionales. Sugerimos que las clasificaciones funcionales mediante teledetección son un elemento clave para el análisis y gestión de los ecosistemas y un complemento único al reconocimiento de unidades estructurales.Most remote sensing approaches to ecosystem classification continue to rely on structural attributes like vegetation physiognomy and landform, failing to incorporate key functional properties of energy and matter exchange. Here we show an application of functional classifications for ecosystem characterization using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), albedo and surface temperature as estimated from remote sensing data. We illustrate the development of ecosystem functional classifications in Cabo de Gata and Doñana, two Mediterranean regions of high conservation concern under different environmental conditions. Both regions displayed a complex spatial pattern in functional class distributions only partly related to vegetation structure and landform. We identified 10 ecosystem functional classes in Cabo de Gata, with only two closely associated to specific vegetation units. In addition, seven different landform units present in the region included a variety of ecosystem classes. Out of eight different functional classes recognized in Doñana, only two were closely associated to particular landform units within the highest protected area, whereas a combination of landform and land use intensity explained the distribution of other four functional classes. We propose that ecosystem functional classifications based on remote sensing data are of key importance for ecosystem characterization and management, therefore complementing more traditional approaches solely based on structural attributes.Programa Doñana 2005 (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Agencia del Agua de la Junta de Andalucía), Proyecto “Desarrollo rural y sostenibilidad ambiental: diseño y ejecución de programas de seguimiento” (Junta de Andalucía) y Proyecto de Excelencia de la Junta de Andalucía #01288

Nitrous oxide emissions decrease with plant diversity but increase with grassland primary productivity

Nitrous oxide (N2O), a main greenhouse gas that contributes to ozone layer depletion, is released from soils. Even when it has been argued that agriculture is the main cause of its increase in the atmosphere, natural ecosystems are also an important source of N2O. However, the impacts of human activities on N2O emissions through biodiversity loss or primary productivity changes in natural ecosystems have rarely been assessed. Here, we analyzed the effects of vegetation attributes such as plant diversity and production, as drivers of N2O emission rates, in addition to environmental factors. We measured N2O emissions monthly during 1 year in 12 sites covering a large portion of the Rio de la Plata grasslands, Argentina, and related these emissions with climate, soil and vegetation attributes. We performed spatial and temporal models of N2O emissions separately, to evaluate which drivers control N2O in space and over time independently. Our results showed that in the spatial model, N2O emissions decreased with increments in plant species richness, with concomitant reductions in soil NO3-, whereas N2O emissions increased with primary productivity. By contrast, in the temporal model, monthly precipitation and monthly temperature were the main drivers of N2O emissions, with positive correlations, showing important differences with the spatial model. Overall, our results show that biological drivers may exert substantial control of N2O emissions at large spatial scales, together with climate and soil variables. Our results suggest that biodiversity conservation of natural grasslands may reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions, besides maintaining other important ecosystem services.Fil: Piñeiro Guerra, Juan Manuel. 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: Yahdjian, María Laura. 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: Della Chiesa, Tomás. 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: 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; Argentin

Identifying the factors that determine ecosystem services provision in Pampean agroecosystems (Argentina) using a data-mining approach

Ecosystem services (ES) have become a key concept in the assessment of natural resources, as a way to connect human well-being and ecosystems degradation. However, ES quantification is considered a basic problem because provision varies considerably as a result of land use change and site-specific characteristics (i.e. climate, soil, topography, and time). Thus, more detailed studies are needed to assess whether these changes affect ecological variables. We explored the use of environmental and crop management variables in predicting the provision of four ES (soil C balance, soil N balance, N2O emission control and groundwater contamination control) in three agroecosystems located in the Pampa region (Argentina). Data-mining, represented by k-means cluster and classification trees, was used to identify the dependence of ES provision on the variation of both environmental and crop management factors. We used plot level crop management and environmental field information stored in a large database during a 10-year period. The k-means method selected five different clusters. The final configuration showed two contrasting clusters: one with the lowest ES provision, and another one with the highest ES provision. The five clusters were represented in the terminal nodes of the final classification tree. Regarding the predictive power of the variables, crop and year were the most important predictors. Then, differences observed in ES provision resulted from changes in land use (variable “crop”) and crop season (variable “year”). These results are meant to enlighten stakeholders in terms of how to manage Pampean agroecosystems in order to positively influence ES provision.Fil: Rositano, Florencia. 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; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Cerealicultura; ArgentinaFil: Bert, Federico Esteban. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Cerealicultura; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; 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; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Ecología; ArgentinaFil: Ferraro, Diego Omar. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Cerealicultura; Argentina. 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; Argentin

Land cover and precipitation controls over long-term trends in carbon gains in the grassland biome of South America

Carbon gains are a key aspect of ecosystem functioning since they represent the energy available for upper trophic levels. Carbon gains (or primary production) are strongly correlated with other ecosystem attributes such as secondary production and they are also the support for the provision of many ecosystem services. Given the documented dependency of primary production on precipitation, we expect that altered precipitation regimes, such as those projected by climate models, will have a significant impact on carbon gains. Land use and land cover changes are also expected to have a significant impact on the dynamics of carbon gains. We generated a spectral database of the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation intercepted by vegetation (fPAR), in order to study long-term trends (i.e., decades) in carbon gains and its spatial and temporal relationships with precipitation and land cover patterns in Uruguay, which is part of the Rio de la Plata Grasslands, one of the largest temperate grasslands biome of the world. We found that carbon gains of native forests and grassland afforestation exhibited the strongest positive spatial response to precipitation, whereas crops and rangelands the weakest. In addition, we found that the temporal response of carbon gains to precipitation was strong and positive for all land uses. Although there were not clear trends in precipitation, we found strong negative trends in carbon gains through time, particularly in rangelands of the "Northern Campos" of Uruguay, where these trends represent a decrease between 10% and 25% of the annual aboveground net primary production. On the other hand, positive trends in carbon gains through time were associated to grassland afforestation and native forests. Therefore, during the period analyzed, land cover had a stronger influence on the observed trends in carbon gains than precipitation. These patterns emerged as a consequence of the interaction among precipitation, temperature, edaphic factors and management. Present trends in the controlling factors of C gains would exacerbate the observed patterns with serious consequences for the provision of ecosystems services.Fil: Texeira González, Marcos Alexis. 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: Oyarzabal, Mariano. 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: 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: Baeza, Santiago. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Paruelo, José. 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; Argentina. Universidad de la República; Urugua

Agroecology in large scale farming:A research agenda

Agroecology promises a third way between common global agriculture tradeoffs such as food production and nature conservation, environmental sustainability and ecosystem services. However, most successful examples of mainstreaming agroecology come from smallholder, family agriculture, that represents only about 30% of the world agricultural area. Mainstreaming agroecology among large scale farmers is urgently needed, but it requires addressing specific questions in research, technology and policy development to support sustainable transitions. Here we take stock of the existing knowledge on some key aspects necessary to support agroecological transitions in large scale farming, considering two contrasting starting points: highly subsidized and heavily taxed agricultural contexts, represented here by the examples of Western Europe and temperate South America. We summarize existing knowledge and gaps around service crops, arthropod-mediated functions, landscape and watershed regulation, graze-based livestock, nature-inclusive landscapes, and policy mechanisms to support transitions. We propose a research agenda for agroecology in large scale farming organized in five domains: (i) Breeding for diversity, (ii) Scalable complexity, (iii) Managing cycles beyond fields and farms, (iv) Sharing the cultivated landscape, and (v) Co-innovation with farmers, value chains and policy makers. Agroecology may result in a renewed impetus in large scale farming, to attract the youth, foster clean technological innovation, and to promote a new generation of large-scale farmers that take pride in contributing to feeding the world while serving the planet and its people

Agroecology in Large Scale Farming—A Research Agenda

Agroecology promises a third way between common global agriculture tradeoffs such as food production and nature conservation, environmental sustainability and ecosystem services. However, most successful examples of mainstreaming agroecology come from smallholder, family agriculture, that represents only about 30% of the world agricultural area. Mainstreaming agroecology among large scale farmers is urgently needed, but it requires addressing specific questions in research, technology and policy development to support sustainable transitions. Here we take stock of the existing knowledge on some key aspects necessary to support agroecological transitions in large scale farming, considering two contrasting starting points: highly subsidized and heavily taxed agricultural contexts, represented here by the examples of Western Europe and temperate South America. We summarize existing knowledge and gaps around service crops, arthropod-mediated functions, landscape and watershed regulation, graze-based livestock, nature-inclusive landscapes, and policy mechanisms to support transitions. We propose a research agenda for agroecology in large scale farming organized in five domains: (i) Breeding for diversity, (ii) Scalable complexity, (iii) Managing cycles beyond fields and farms, (iv) Sharing the cultivated landscape, and (v) Co-innovation with farmers, value chains and policy makers. Agroecology may result in a renewed impetus in large scale farming, to attract the youth, foster clean technological innovation, and to promote a new generation of large-scale farmers that take pride in contributing to feeding the world while serving the planet and its people.Fil: Tittonell, Pablo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Patagonia Norte. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Carlos de Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; Argentina. University of Groningen; Países Bajos. Université Montpellier II; FranciaFil: 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; Argentina. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Garibaldi, Lucas Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural. - Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Sede Andina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural; ArgentinaFil: Dogliotti, Santiago. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Olff, Han. University of Groningen; Países BajosFil: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies; Uruguay. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; Argentin

Impronta ambiental de la agricultura de granos en Argentina: revisando desafíos propios y ajenos

Impactos ambientales de la agricultura de granos en la ArgentinaFil: Jobbágy, Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; ArgentinaFil: Aguiar, Sebastián. 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: 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: Garibaldi, Lucas Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Rio Negro. Sede Viedma del Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Rio Negro | Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Rio Negro. Sede Viedma del Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Rio Negro.; Argentin

Carbon stocks and potential sequestration of Uruguayan soils: a road map to a comprehensive characterization of temporal and spatial changes to assess carbon footprint

Carbon net emission is a critical aspect of the environmental footprint in agricultural systems. However, the alternatives to describe soil organic carbon (SOC) changes associated with different agricultural management practices/land uses are limited. Here we provide an overview of carbon (C) stocks of non-forested areas of Uruguay to estimate SOC changes for different soil units affected by accumulated effects of crop and livestock production systems in the last decades. For this, we defined levels based on SOC losses relative to the original (reference) SOC stocks: 25% or less, between 25% and 50%, and 50% or more. We characterized the reference SOC stocks using three approaches: (1) an equation to derive the potential SOC capacity based on the clay and fine silt soil content, (2) the DayCent model to estimate the SOC stocks based on climate, soil texture and C inputs from the natural grasslands of the area, (3) an estimate of SOC using a proxy derived from remote sensing data (i.e., the Ecosystem Services Supply Index) that accounts for differences in C inputs. Depending on the used reference SOC, the soil units had different distributions of SOC losses within the zones defined by the thresholds. As expected, the magnitude of SOC changes observed for the different soil units was related to the relative frequency of annual crops, however, the high variability observed along the gradient of land uses suggests a wide space for increasing SOC with agricultural management practices. The assessment of the C stock preserved (CSP) belowground and the potential for increasing C accumulation or sequestration (CAP) are critical components of the C footprint of a given system. Thus, we propose a methodological road map to derive indicators of CSP and CAP at the farm level combining both, biogeochemical simulation models and conceptual models based on remote sensing data. We recognize at least three critical issues that require scientific and political consensus to implement the use of this propose: (1) how to define reference C stocks, (2) how to estimate current C stocks over large areas and in heterogeneous agricultural landscapes, and (3) what is a reasonable/acceptable threshold of C stocks reduction

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