Suchergebnisse

Colombia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world that has historically and is currently experiencing extensive deforestation and habitat fragmentation. Here we show how the most extensive region acting as a natural corridor between the Colombian Andes and Amazon biogeographical regions, the Picachos-Tinigua-Sierra de la Macarena-Chiribiquete megacorridor, is being eroded by large-scale agricultural expansion endangering the maintenance and connection of gene flow and biodiversity exchange. Several phylogenetic studies indicate that the complex dynamics between the Andean highlands and the Amazonian lowlands have strongly influenced the origin and maintenance of Neotropical biodiversity. We appeal for the attention of international conservation and governmental organizations to direct resources and promote projects focused on the preservation and sustainable management of this strategic Andes-Amazon bridge in both protected and unprotected areas. In the current postconflict era, Colombia has a unique opportunity to create a new social and economic paradigm based on long-term sustainably developed landscapes and more equitable sharing of wealth. We believe improved management and conservation efforts for the Picachos-Tinigua-Macarena-Chiribiquete megacorridor would demonstrate a collective will in helping to achieve this goal. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In addition to sampling biophysical data in field plots, the Brazilian National Forest Inventory (NFI-BR) has a component dedicated to the study of Brazilian rural landscapes. The Landscape Sample Units (LSUs) are square areas of 100 km2, established in a regular grid of 40 × 40 km over the entire national territory, where habitat quality and spatial structure are characterized and evaluated. The LSUs' evaluation scheme measures the fragmentation and connectivity of remnant forest patches as well as the spatial configuration of riparian zones. As part of these analyses we propose the use of integrated indices based on the structural connectivity of the riparian environments as forest corridors, the degree of human pressure acting on them and the protection schemes defined by the new Brazilian forest legislation. These indices are then turned into scores to make a ranking allowing for the identification of riparian priority areas for conservation and landscape restoration. Basic processing steps included the application of Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) to the LULC map of a pilot sample from the LSU dataset in the State of Paraná in southern Brazil. The following indices have been calculated for 20 LSUs: Structural Corridors Index (SCc), which reveals the proportion of core and bridge MSPA categories within the riparian zone, the Structural Corridors under Pressure Index (CPc), that allows the identification of areas where structural corridors coexist with areas subject to anthropogenic influences and, finally, the Structural Corridors under Pressure Protection Index (UCPc), which identifies areas that function as corridors, being under anthropogenic pressure as well but with little or no legal protection, thus corresponding to priority areas for conservation. Among the 20 pilot LSUs studied, three of them are representative of a critical situation regarding conservation issues as they presented high values for indices CPc and UCPc, which denote areas with high anthropogenic influences and no environmental protection schemes. An important aspect of the proposed methodology is the possibility to identify and prioritize areas at different spatial scales, further aggregating the indices for LSU or larger political regions, such as micro and mesoregions of federal states. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

The post-conflict scenario in Colombia poses several environmental urgencies, making it necessary to identify and prioritize new challenges for biodiversity conservation and ecosystems management. It is critical to understand how government agencies, NGOs, and academics perceive these challenges, as they all contribute to fundamental decision-making on environmental issues. To achieve this objective we formulated fifty-two research questions that were edited, evaluated, and prioritized by members of each group in a dedicated workshop. Ten of these questions were identified as top priorities and shared with twenty additional members of each group. Perceptions and rankings of the ten priority questions were then compared among groups, but no statistical difference was found. These results highlight that broadly similar goals for biodiversity conservation are shared by all key decision makers in post-conflict Colombia. Namely, conservation through sustainable management practices and development of local economies previously affected by the conflict. The process of developing and prioritizing these research questions helped to identify key drivers of biodiversity loss and create a research agenda to mitigate environmental impacts in post-conflict Colombia.

Riparian zones represent ecotones between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and are of utmost importance to biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Modelling/mapping of these valuable and fragile areas is needed for improved ecosystem management, based on an accounting of changes and on monitoring of their functioning over time. In Europe, the main legislative driver behind this goal is the European Commission's Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, on the one hand aiming at halting biodiversity loss, on the other hand enhancing ecosystem services by 2020, and restoring them as far as is feasible. A model, based on Earth Observation data, including Digital Elevation Models, hydrological, soil, land cover/land use data, and vegetation indices is employed in a multi-modular and stratified approach, based on fuzzy logic and object based image analysis, to delineate potential, observed and actual riparian zones. The approach is designed in an open modular way, allowing future modifications and repeatability. The results represent a first step of a future monitoring and assessment campaign for European riparian zones and their implications on biodiversity and on ecosystem functions and services. Considering the complexity and the enormous extent of the area, covering 39 European countries, including Turkey, the level of detail is unprecedented. Depending on the accounting modus, 0.95%-1.19% of the study area can be attributed as actual riparian area (considering Strahler's stream orders 3-8, based on the Copernicus EU-Hydro dataset), corresponding to 55,558-69,128 km2. Similarly, depending on the accounting approach, the potential riparian zones cover an area about 3-5 times larger. Land cover/land use in detected riparian areas was mainly of semi-natural characteristics, while the potential riparian areas are predominately covered by agriculture, followed by semi-natural and urban areas. © 2016 by the authors.

In democracies around the world, societies have demonstrated that elections can have major consequences for the environment. In Colombia, the 2022 presidential elections will take place at a time when progress towards peace has stalled and socioeconomic, security, and environmental conditions have deteriorated. The recent declines in these conditions largely coincide with the change of government after the 2018 elections, and the associated rise to power of a party that boycotted the peace negotiations from the beginning. These indicators suggest that 2018 marked the end of a decade of improvements in safety, wealth, and equality-societal factors that can interact with the environment in multiple ways. A spike in assassinations of land and environmental defenders in 2019 and 2020 made Colombia one of the most dangerous places in the world for environmentalists. With the 2022 presidential election, Colombians will once again decide who will govern the country and what new social, economic, and environmental policies will be implemented. In preparation for elections like this, we believe that it is important for scientists with relevant backgrounds to highlight relationships between political events and the environment, to enrich the political debate, help prioritize public resources, and inform policymaking. Here, we provide a multidisciplinary analysis of different socioeconomic and environmental trends that can help inform the public and decision-makers. We intend for this analysis to be useful not only in Colombia, but also to other societies under similar situations, managing biodiversity-rich ecosystems in sociopolitical environments of increasing violence, poverty, and inequality.