Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research in the Biosphere Reserve in Mapimi, Mexico: A Multidimensional Participatory Observatory of Rangeland/Pastoral Systems

Since the creation of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Mapimi (BRM) in Mexico 45 years ago, pastoralism has undergone a series of transformations. Upon the arrival of the Spaniards, horse breeding flourished until 1900; thereafter extensive cattle production lasted for six decades. Only recently, farmers have adopted alternative management types for organic meat production. National and international efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require basic, applied, and participatory research efforts. In the socio-ecological pastoral system BRM, first halophytic ecosystems were examined for their ecohydrological role in rangeland productivity. In 1996, a long-term ecological research site was installed to monitor the effects of herbivores on the composition and biodiversity of desert communities. Shortly thereafter, the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas began a rigorous monitoring and conservation program to guarantee both the sustainable management of natural resources and the sustainable development of reserve dwellers. Soon international multisectoral institutions joined Mexican efforts to protect the natural, cultural, and social diversity of the BRM and to strengthen its socio-ecological resilience to climate change and land degradation. Hence, the BRM is currently a space of participatory monitoring and research, with emphasis on the health of this important socio-ecological pastoralist system. It is examined whether institutional programs promoting organic livestock farming are compatible with this desert system and how biological soil crust is developing as a fundamental indicator of soil functioning and the provision of ecosystem services and human wellbeing. The formation of multisectoral partnerships to foster dryland sustainability have led to the foundation of the International Network for Dryland Sustainability; it is currently coordinating a national network of participatory socio-ecological observatories (PSEOs) to promote the SDGs. Mapimi is one of the first PSEOs to promote local governance and social and ecological sustainable development in the drylands of Mexico and world-wide

Participatory Observatories to Connect Multifunctional Landscapes, Link Smallholder Farmers, and Collectively Diversify Income

Cattle ranching was introduced to Baja California, Mexico (semiarid and arid climates) by the Spaniards, who brought the animals and the techniques. One important activity was moving livestock from the mountains (forests and few kinds of grass) to the coast crossing poor shrublands known as chaparrals. Fire was a common practice to promote grass growth and pastoralists could move through the land freely. Pastoralism became a common practice when English workers built the Ensenada port and became ranching landowners. They followed the practice of livestock movement through the exorreic watersheds. Native Indians, as well as other Mexicans known as ejidatarios, who had access to communal land, and wealthy livestock managers learned the same transhumance practices. They followed them until recently when privatizing the land began fragmenting the rangeland by installing fences; besides insecure places emerged due to illegal crop production. The Guadalupe watershed in Baja California is an interesting place to study rangelands as dynamic socio-ecological systems driven by institutional changes. Its land-use history has provoked interesting questions oriented to enlighten the future of livestock and rangeland management. This talk deals with the project of a citizen\u27s observatory where results from good local land and water management practices are being compiled and presented in a portal for its out-reach. The internet site will also make available scientific papers translated into infographics to make high-quality information accessible. Before and after special techniques like keyline design, holistic management, and other locally adapted techniques are being measured by ranchers and students as a citizen science program. We think that co-monitoring and improving data availability will facilitate local decision-making and deal with the multifunctionality of future rangelands in a better way

Soil fungal abundance and plant functional traits drive fertile island formation in global drylands

Dryland vegetation is characterized by discrete plant patches that accumulate and capture soil resources under their canopies. These “fertile islands” are major drivers of dryland ecosystem structure and functioning, yet we lack an integrated understanding of the factors controlling their magnitude and variability at the global scale.EEA BarilocheFil: Ochoa-Hueso, Raúl. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Department of Ecology; EspañaFil: Eldridge, David J. University of New South Wales. School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences; AustraliaFil: Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel. University of Colorado. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences; Estados Unidos. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología. Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica; EspañaFil: Soliveres, Santiago. University of Bern. Institute of Plant Sciences; SuizaFil: Bowker, Matthew A. Northern Arizona University. School of Forestry; Estados UnidosFil: Gross, Nicolás. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología. Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica; España. Institut Nationale de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia. Université La Rochelle. Centre d’étude biologique de Chizé; FranciaFil: Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Yoann. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología. Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica; EspañaFil: Quero, José L. Universidad de Córdoba. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y de Montes. Departamento de Ingeniería Forestal: EspañaFil: García-Gómez, Miguel. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología. Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica; EspañaFil: Valencia, Enrique. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología. Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica; EspañaFil: Arredondo, Tulio. Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica. División de Ciencias Ambientales; MéxicoFil: Beinticinco, Laura. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Bran, Donaldo Eduardo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Cea, Alex. Universidad de La Serena. Departamento de Biología; ChileFil: Coaguila, Daniel. Instituto de Ensino Superior de Rio Verde; BrasilFil: Dougill, Andrew J. University of Leeds. School of Earth and Environment; Gran BretañaFil: Espinosa, Carlos I. Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales; EcuadorFil: Gaitan, Juan Jose. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Suelos; ArgentinaFil: Guuroh, Reginald T. University of Cologne. Botanical Institute. Range Ecology and Range Management Group; Alemania. CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana; GhanaFil: Guzmán, Elizabeth. Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales; EcuadorFil: Gutiérrez, Julio R.. Universidad de La Serena. Departamento de Biología; Chile. Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA); Chile. Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad; ChileFil: Hernández, Rosa M. Universidad Experimental Simón Rodríguez. Centro de Agroecología Tropical. Laboratorio de Biogeoquímica; VenezuelaFil: Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth. Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica. División de Ciencias Ambientales; MéxicoFil: Jeffries, Thomas. Western Sydney University. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment; AustraliaFil: Linstädter, Anja. University of Cologne. Botanical Institute. Range Ecology and Range Management Group; AlemaniaFil: Mau, Rebecca L. Northern Arizona University. Center for Ecosystem Science and Society: Estados UnidosFil: Monerris, Jorge. Université du Québec à Montréal. Pavillon des Sciences Biologiques. Département des Sciences Biologiques; CanadáFil: Prina, Anibal. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Pucheta, Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; ArgentinaFil: Stavi, Ilan. Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, IsraelFil: Thomas, Andrew. Aberystwyth University. Department of Geography and Earth Sciences; Gran BretañaFil: Zaady, Eli. Agricultural Research Organization. Gilat Research Center. Natural Resources; IsraelFil: Singh, Brajesh K. Western Sydney University. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment; Australia. Western Sydney University. Global Centre for Land-Based Innovation; AustraliaFil: Maestre, Fernando T. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología. Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica; Españ

Soil fungal abundance and plant functional traits drive fertile island formation in global drylands

International audience1.Dryland vegetation is characterised by discrete plant patches that accumulate and capture soil resources under their canopies. These “fertile islands” are major drivers of dryland ecosystem structure and functioning, yet we lack an integrated understanding of the factors controlling their magnitude and variability at the global scale.2.We conducted a standardized field survey across two hundred and thirty-six drylands from five continents. At each site, we measured the composition, diversity and cover of perennial plants. Fertile island effects were estimated at each site by comparing composite soil samples obtained under the canopy of the dominant plants and in open areas devoid of perennial vegetation. For each sample, we measured fifteen soil variables (functions) associated with carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling and used the Relative Interaction Index to quantify the magnitude of the fertile island effect for each function. In eighty sites, we also measured fungal and bacterial abundance (quantitative PCR) and diversity (Illumina MiSeq).3.The most fertile islands, i.e. those where a higher number of functions were simultaneously enhanced, were found at lower-elevation sites with greater soil pH values and sand content under semiarid climates, particularly at locations where the presence of tall woody species with a low specific leaf area increased fungal abundance beneath plant canopies, the main direct biotic controller of the fertile island effect in the drylands studied. Positive effects of fungal abundance were particularly associated with greater nutrient contents and microbial activity (soil extracellular enzymes) under plant canopies.4.Synthesis. Our results show that the formation of fertile islands in global drylands largely depends on: (i) local climatic, topographic and edaphic characteristics, (ii) the structure and traits of local plant communities and (iii) soil microbial communities. Our study also has broad implications for the management and restoration of dryland ecosystems worldwide, where woody plants are commonly used as nurse plants to enhance the establishment and survival of beneficiary species. Finally, our results suggest that forecasted increases in aridity may enhance the formation of fertile islands in drylands worldwide

Decoupling of soil nutrient cycles as a function of aridity in global drylands

18 páginas.- 10 figuras.- 72 referencias.- Online Content Any additional Methods, Extended Data display items and Source Data are available in the online version of the paper; references unique to these sections appear only in the online paper..- Puede conseguir el texto completo en el Portal de la producción científica de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid https://produccioncientifica.ucm.es/documentos/5ec78dc52999520a1d557660 .- o en lel respositorio institucional CONICET digital https://ri.conicet.gov.ar/bitstream/handle/11336/29204/CONICET_Digital_Nro.ead4e2ed-0da6-4041-814b-259e8f27bbf6_D.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=yThe biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are interlinked by primary production, respiration and decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems1. It has been suggested that the C, N and P cycles could become uncoupled under rapid climate change because of the different degrees of control exerted on the supply of these elements by biological and geochemical processes1,2,3,4,5. Climatic controls on biogeochemical cycles are particularly relevant in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid ecosystems (drylands) because their biological activity is mainly driven by water availability6,7,8. The increase in aridity predicted for the twenty-first century in many drylands worldwide9,10,11 may therefore threaten the balance between these cycles, differentially affecting the availability of essential nutrients12,13,14. Here we evaluate how aridity affects the balance between C, N and P in soils collected from 224 dryland sites from all continents except Antarctica. We find a negative effect of aridity on the concentration of soil organic C and total N, but a positive effect on the concentration of inorganic P. Aridity is negatively related to plant cover, which may favour the dominance of physical processes such as rock weathering, a major source of P to ecosystems, over biological processes that provide more C and N, such as litter decomposition12,13,14. Our findings suggest that any predicted increase in aridity with climate change will probably reduce the concentrations of N and C in global drylands, but increase that of P. These changes would uncouple the C, N and P cycles in drylands and could negatively affect the provision of key services provided by these ecosystems.This research is supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grant agreement no. 242658 (BIOCOM), and by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Spanish Government, grant no. CGL2010-21381. CYTED funded networking activities (EPES, Acción 407AC0323). M.D.-B. was supported by a PhD fellowship from the Pablo de Olavide University.Peer reviewe

The Agadir platform : a transatlantic cooperation to achieve sustainable drylands

For the purpose of achieving sustainable development in the context of a changing climate, the development and implementation of tripartite cooperation tools, into a transatlantic cooperation framework, is the crux of a project to bring about a transdisciplinary platform focused on research, technology, and innovation in drylands. It finds its roots in the Agadir Declaration of May 2016. The objective of the platform is to set up a 'hub or rear base' at the University of Ibn Zohr in Agadir to develop transdisciplinary research and training mechanisms on climate change and its impacts on the functioning of ecosystems and their goods and ser-vices in arid and semiarid regions. Currently, the main challenge to achieve sus-tainable development resides in ensuring that decision-making processes are supported by science. How to translate scientific knowledge on complex long-term issues at the national, cross-regional, and transatlantic scale into better informed public policy remains an open question for multi-sectoral partnerships. The main thread underlying this chapter relates to the establishment of interface models between science and policy: what challenges will the Agadir Platform assume to bridge various forms of interdisciplinary science and policy expertise to inform decision- makers on long-term wicked problems related to drylands socio-ecological systems

Stewardship of future drylands and climate change in the global South : challenges and opportunities for the Agenda 2030

For the purpose of achieving sustainable development in the context of a changing climate, the development and implementation of tripartite cooperation tools, into a transatlantic cooperation framework, is the crux of a project to bring about a transdisciplinary platform focused on research, technology, and innovation in drylands. It finds its roots in the Agadir Declaration of May 2016. The objective of the platform is to set up a 'hub or rear base' at the University of Ibn Zohr in Agadir to develop transdisciplinary research and training mechanisms on climate change and its impacts on the functioning of ecosystems and their goods and ser-vices in arid and semiarid regions. Currently, the main challenge to achieve sus-tainable development resides in ensuring that decision-making processes are supported by science. How to translate scientific knowledge on complex long-term issues at the national, cross-regional, and transatlantic scale into better informed public policy remains an open question for multi-sectoral partnerships. The main thread underlying this chapter relates to the establishment of interface models between science and policy: what challenges will the Agadir Platform assume to bridge various forms of interdisciplinary science and policy expertise to inform decision- makers on long-term wicked problems related to drylands socio-ecological systems