Envíos recientes

Biodiversidad y Sostenibilidad Ambiental : Semilleros de Investigación 2021-I

| 2021

Biodiversidad y Sostenibilidad Ambiental: Informe de actividades 2021-I

Romero Duque, Luz Piedad | 2021-06-23

Se continuó con la dirección de tres trabajos de grado de estudiantes dos del programa Profesional en Ciencias Ambientales y otro de la Universidad de Granada, España. Se retomó la dirección de un proyecto de estudiante de Ciencias ambientales y se dio inicio a un cuarto proyecto de otra estudiante de Ciencias Ambientales

Contribución al conocimiento de la vegetación de las sabanas de Casanare (Colombia)

Romero Duque, Luz Piedad | 2018-01

Se estudió la diversidad vegetal en parcelas de bosques de galería, bosques de vega, morichales, matas de monte, bancos de sabana, bajos de sabana y esteros, así como de inventarios ad libitum . En total, se registraron 318 especies y 206 géneros de 80 familias, siendo la más diversa la familia Poaceae, con 29 especies, seguida de Euphorbiaceae, con 17 especies. Los géneros más diversos fueron Phyllantus y Panicum, con siete especies. Los tipos de vegetación con mayor riqueza fueron los bosques de galería, los bajos de sabana y los morichales . La composición, a nivel de familias en los bosques, es similar a la reportada en otros estudios, pero las especies son diferentes, sugiriendo dominancia local, debida a la heterogeneidad espacial . Con este estudio, se incrementó el número de especies registradas para el de- partamento de Casanare, de 1 .479 a 1 .562.

Cultural significance of the flora of a tropical dry forest in the Doche vereda (Villavieja, Huila, Colombia

Rosero Toro, Jeison Herley | 2018

Background: In Colombia, ethnobotanical studies regarding plant cultural significance (CS) in tropical dry forests are scarce and mainly focused on the Caribbean region. Different authors have indicated that the plants with the most uses are those of greater cultural importance. Additionally, gender differences in knowledge and interest in natural resources has been widely recorded. This study evaluated the cultural significance of plants in the Doche community, in the Department of Huila. Furthermore, it evaluates the richness of plant knowledge among local inhabitants, looking for testing the hypothesis that the CS of plants positively correlates to the number of uses people inform about, and that there are significant differences on the richness of ethnobotanical knowledge between men and women in this community. Methods: The ethnobotanical categories: "food," "condiment," "economy," "fodder," "firewood," "timber", "medicine," and "others" were established to carry out semi-structured interviews, social cartography, and ethnobotanical walks. The frequency of mention was calculated as a measure of CS. The richness of knowledge of each collaborator was obtained. Non-parametric tests were performed to determine whether differences between the numbers of mentioned species existed between genders and ethnobotanical categories. Finally, Pearson correlation tests determined the relationship between CS and the number of ethnobotanical categories. Results: A hundred useful species were registered in crops and forests. The most abundant categories were medicinal (45 species), firewood (30), and fodder (28). The most culturally significant species according to frequency of mention were Pseudosamanea guachapele, Guazuma ulmifolia, Manihot esculenta, and Musa balbisiana. The species with the most registered uses (five) were Guazuma ulmifolia and Gliricidia sepium. We found a correlation between CS and the number of uses per ethnobotanical category, but no significant difference between genders regarding ethnobotanical knowledge. Conclusion: Frequency of mention provides relevant information about the CS of species. Furthermore, it aids to establish sustainable use of tropical dry forests without loss of resources parting from strategies designed from within the Doche community and based on their ethnobotanical knowledge. We found that the number of uses of a plant is correlated with its degree of cultural importance. On the other hand, no significant differences were found between genders regarding ethnobotanical knowledge; that is, both men and women have similar roles in the community, which allows them to recognize the same uses per species.

Ecosystem services in urban ecological infrastructure of Latin America and the Caribbean: How do they contribute to urban planning?

Romero Duque, Luz Piedad | 2020

We developed a conceptual framework that describes the key role of ecosystem services in urban ecological infrastructure. From this framework we analyze how research on ecosystem services has been addressed in cities of Latin America and the Caribbean, in order to discuss their incorporation into policies of urban planning, in the context of nature-based solutions and sustainable development goals. Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Argentina represent 90% of research in urban ecosystem services, all of them except Colombia had carried out studies considering green, blue and gray-hybrid infrastructures. However, green-hybrid infrastructure clustered most of the studies. Ecosystem service supply component and intermediate beneficiaries are the most studied. Our results show that most studies have not been developed from the perspective of the biophysical, sociocultural or economic assessment of ecosystem services, on the contrary we recognized or deduced them from proxy variables found within the studies. Our findings suggest that the study of urban ecosystem services in Latin America and the Caribbean is in development and has begun to increase in the last decade. However, we found that the incorporation of urban ecosystem services in urban planning is low, but at the same time, it is in a promising development related to the application of innovative actions such as nature-based solutions and in support of the new global urban agenda.

Linking biodiversity, ecosystem services, and beneficiaries of tropical dry forests of Latin America: Review and new perspectives

Quijas, Sandra | 2019

We conducted a systematic literature review to identify and analyze research linking biodiversity, ecosystem services and their beneficiaries in tropical dry forests of Latin America. By assessing 71 studies published in the last 20 years, we addressed two questions: i) when research on links between biodiversity, ecosystem services and beneficiaries began and which of these links have been addressed the most? ii) how these links were addressed? Research on links began in 1997. Studies have been carried out mostly on a local scale and lasted for one year or more. Links between biodiversity and ecosystem services were the most frequently addressed (24% of total studies) considering biodiversity as a regulator of ecosystem processes. Plants and mammals’ abundance and richness were mainly linked with regulating and provisioning services. While these links have started to be addressed, only five studies actually linked the three components. It is necessary to redirect efforts towards studies effectively linking ecosystem services and beneficiaries, a link that still remains scarcely addressed. The current challenge for research is to incorporate the beneficiaries into the study of ecosystem services in tropical dry forests of Latin America and fill the information gaps by promoting long-term studies at larger spatial scales.

Presente y futuro de la prestación de servicios ecosistémicos de regulación de la zona borde Norte de Bogotá Colombia

Romero Duque, Luz Piedad | 2020-09-15

La zona Borde Norte de Bogotá ha tenido mucha atención recientemente debido a la intención de la actual administración de promover la expansión urbana de la ciudad hacia esta zona, haciendo especial énfasis en el desarrollo de infraestructura para vivienda en la denominada Reserva Borde Norte Thomas van der Hammen. Esta situación de conflicto entre la conservación y restauración de un ecosistema vital para la ciudad y su imperiosa necesidad de expandirse, genera la necesidad de realizar estudios que permitan comprender la situación actual de prestación de servicios ecosistémicos importantes para mantener la sostenibilidad ambiental de la ciudad y los efectos que tendrían sobre los mismos los planes de desarrollo urbano. Hasta el momento se cuenta con muy buena información de la diversidad biológica de la zona y la importancia de conservarla, sin embargo, los datos sobre la prestación de servicios son más de carácter cualitativo. Los servicios ecosistémicos son una herramienta muy efectiva en la toma de decisiones que no ha sido usada en el país, especialmente en las zonas urbanas. Dado que la situación de conflicto se presenta en la Reserva y que los servicios ecosistémicos no obedecen a límites políticos, se propone este proyecto de investigación que buscó evaluar el presente y futuro de los servicios ecosistémicos de calidad de hábitat y regulación hídrica (retención hídrica y control de la erosión) de la cuenca de la quebrada Torca, donde se encuentra inmersa la Reserva. Para ello, se usó el software Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST 3.1.0) del Natural Capital Project (Sharp et al., 2014), se obtuvieron los mapas de prestación del servicio ecosistémico de calidad de hábitat. Los servicios de regulación hídrica y control de la erosión se desarrollaron mediante el desarrollo de la ecuación universal de pérdida de suelo USLE: la erosividad, la erodabilidad, la pendiente y la longitud de la pendiente y el factor de la inclinación (LS Factor), y la erodabilidad usando las mismas clases texturales de suelo y el contenido de materia orgánica de la USDA-NRSS-Soils (1999), asingnando los valores de erodabilidad de Kirkby y Morgan (1980). Luego y con base en los escenarios de cambio por la Alcaldía del Dr. Peñalosa, a cada escenario se le aplicaron los métodos de mapeo de servicios ecosistémicos de la misma forma que se hizo con los mapas de cobertura, encontrando los cambios en la prestación de los servicios analizados que sufriría la zona en cada escenario.

A regional PECS node built from place-based social-ecological sustainability research in Latin America and the Caribbean

Calderón-Contreras, Rafael | 2022

Sustainability requires a combination of meaningful co-production of locally relevant solutions, synthesis of insights gained across regions, and increased cooperation between science, policy and practice. The Programme for Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS) has been coordinating Place-Based Social-Ecological Sustainability Research (PBSESR) across the globe and emphasizes the need for regional scientific nodes from diverse biocultural regions to inform sustainability science and action. In this paper, we assess the strengths of the PBSESR communities in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). We provide an overview of PBSESR literature associated with this region and highlight the achievements of two prominent regional networks: The Social-Ecological Systems and Sustainability Research Network from Mexico (SocioEcoS) and the South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies from Uruguay (SARAS Institute). Finally, we identify the potential in these nodes to constitute a regional PECS node in Latin America and discuss the capacity needed to ensure such function. The results of the literature review show that while still loosely interconnected across the region, networks play key roles in connecting otherwise cloistered teams and we illustrate how the SocioEcoS network (focusing on transdisciplinary co-production of knowledge towards sustainability) and the SARAS Institute (focusing on innovative approaches for looking at complex social-ecological problems, rooted in slow science and arts) operate as key connectors in the region. We conclude that these organizations combined can embody a Latin American node for PECS, and would thereby not only contribute to regional but also global capacities to advance the sustainability agenda.

Semillero Biodiversidad y Sostenibilidad Ambiental 2022-1

Cordoba Cordoba, Sergio | 2022-06-14

En el semillero se desarrollan trabajos de investigación que permiten obtener información nueva en diversos campos, al igual que encontrar respuestas que permiten proponer cambios en la aproximación en diversas áreas de las ciencias ambientales, incluido la restauración de ecosistemas y el estudio de territorios, así como sobre la percepción de los servicios que nos brindan áreas verdes y los parques urbanos, como cuantificamos y disminuimos la huella de carbono, entre otros. Así mismo, abordar diversos temas actuales que permita tener una visión y perspectiva más amplia de cómo nos relacionamos con la naturaleza, y como es importante la generación de conocimiento y sus posibles aplicaciones.

Trees and shrubs of the tropical dry forest of the Magdalena river upper watershed (Colombia)

Romero Duque, Luz Piedad | 2019

Background We describe the database of trees and shrubs of tropical dry forest patches of the Magdalena upper river basin in Colombia, preserved in the Herbarium of Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales. The dataset includes 211 taxa, from which 156 were identified to species. We reported 48 families and 137 genera. The most species rich and abundant families were Fabaceae and Rubiaceae and the most abundant species was Talisia stricta (Sapindaceae). We found differences in diversity between north and south zones of the study area. New information The Magdalena river upper watershed region is an important tropical dry forest conservation area. Twenty nine species and 4 genera recorded in this study have not been reported in previous reviews of the region. Additionally, Oxandra espintana is reported in literature as critically endangered and Aspidosperma polyneuron is reported as endangered, but there are no studies about their conservation status in the region. Our results suggest the strong need to develop additional inventories of plants that contribute to the knowledge of the plant diversity of this ecosystem in the region and studies of their conservation status.