Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez

Urban Forest and Rural Cities: Multi-sited Households, Consumption Patterns, and Forest Resources in Amazonia

In much of the Amazon Basin, approximately 70% of the population lives in urban areas and urbanward migration continues. Based on data collected over more than a decade in two long-settled regions of Amazonia, we find that rural-urban migration in the region is an extended and complex process. Like recent rural-urban migrants worldwide, Amazonian migrants, although they may be counted as urban residents, are often not absent from rural areas but remain members of multi-sited households and continue to participate in rural-urban networks and in rural land-use decisions. Our research indicates that, despite their general poverty, these migrants have affected urban markets for both food and construction materials. We present two cases: that of acai palm fruit in the estuary of the Amazon and of cheap construction timbers in the Peruvian Amazon. We find that many new Amazonian rural-urban migrants have maintained some important rural patterns of both consumption and knowledge. Through their consumer behavior, they are affecting the areal extent of forests; in the two floodplain regions discussed, tree cover is increasing. We also find changes in forest composition, reflecting the persistence of rural consumption patterns in cities resulting in increased demand for and production of acai and cheap timber species.

Post-Boom Logging in Amazonia

Recent analyses of timber exploitation in Amazonia conclude that a variety of socioeconomic and ecological factors in the region make a stable and profitable logging industry virtually impossible. Most of these studies focus on large-scale timber industries and their dependence on over-exploitation of a small number of high-value timbers. In this article we discuss the economic, ecological, and social aspects of Amazonian logging in a region where the timber industry appeared to have collapsed after stocks of high-value timber were exhausted. We show that forestry in a post-boom phase, currently found in many areas of Amazonia, differs from the better-described “boom” period in its scale of operations, in the range of timbers cut, in management practices employed, and in the costs and benefits of production. Results of a seven-year study show that when sawtimber, poles and firewood are produced in a management system that combines forestry and agriculture they can provide significant additional income for Amazonian smallholders.

High-yield oil palm expansion spares land at the expense of forests in the Peruvian Amazon.

High-yield agriculture potentially reduces pressure on forests by requiring less land to increase production. Using satellite and field data, we assessed the area deforested by industrial-scale high-yield oil palm expansion in the Peruvian Amazon from 2000 to 2010, finding that 72% of new plantations expanded into forested areas. In a focus area in the Ucayali region, we assessed deforestation for high- and smallholder low-yield oil palm plantations. Low-yield plantations accounted for most expansion overall (80%), but only 30% of their expansion involved forest conversion, contrasting with 75% for high-yield expansion. High-yield expansion minimized the total area required to achieve production but counter-intuitively at higher expense to forests than low-yield plantations. The results show that high-yield agriculture is an important but insufficient strategy to reduce pressure on forests. We suggest that high-yield agriculture can be effective in sparing forests only if coupled with incentives for agricultural expansion into already cleared lands.

A tradition of change: the dynamic relationship between biodiversity and society in sector Muyuy, Peru

The theme of biodiversity and society provides an opportunity to look beyond skewed environmental ideologies that impel biodiversity researchers to ignore land “tarnished” by humans in search of “pristine” ecosystems. Data reported and analyzed in this paper test and draw conclusions based on a non-partisan stance that recognizes biodiversity as a product of complex natural and anthropogenic interactions. The data in this paper describes this process in the Amazon floodplain of sector Muyuy, Peru. A smallholder tradition of adaptive change in this highly precarious and unstable landscape provides a dynamic foundation upon which biodiversity is produced, managed and conserved. To examine this tradition of appropriate response to change, data was collected on land-cover dynamics using Landsat images and biodiversity inventories and household surveys of resource use technologies and conservation practices were carried out. Through complex agricultural technologies, sector Muyuy smallholders, known as riberenos, use a highly differentiated and dynamic environment to produce a great diversity of crops while creating habitats for endangered and over-exploited species of fish and river turtles, plants, and other species. Riberenos are smallholder farmers, fishermen and forest managers. They are the descendents of several indigenous groups as well as migrants from Europe, Asia and Africa. Most of the rural inhabitants of Peruvian Amazonia are riberenos. In Muyuy, we found that riberenos manage an average of 76 tree species per ha, including tropical cedar and other over-exploited timber species. We conclude that meaningful attempts at biodiversity conservation must begin at the interface between ecological and social processes and incorporate locally developed knowledge and practice. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Decadal covariability of Atlantic SSTs and western Amazon dry-season hydroclimate in observations and CMIP5 simulations

The unusual severity and return time of the 2005 and 2010 dry-season droughts in western Amazon is attributed partly to decadal climate fluctuations and a modest drying trend. Decadal variability of western Amazon hydroclimate is highly correlated to the Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) north-south gradient (NSG). Shifts of dry and wet events frequencies are also related to the NSG phase, with a 66% chance of 3+ years of dry events per decade when NSG > 0 and 19% when NSG < 0. The western Amazon and NSG decadal covariability is well reproduced in general circulation models (GCMs) historical (HIST) and preindustrial control (PIC) experiments of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). The HIST and PIC also reproduce the shifts in dry and wet events probabilities, indicating potential for decadal predictability based on GCMs. Persistence of the current NSG positive phase favors above normal frequency of western Amazon dry events in coming decades.

Revision of Hemoproteid Genera and Description and Redescription of Two Species of Chelonian Hemoproteid Parasites

Abstract:  Pigmented hemosporidian parasites that do not exhibit erthyrocytic schizogony, and infect birds, chelonians, and squamates, have been classified in various genera over time. These classifications have reflected vertebrate hosts, insect vectors, and variations in morphology and life history observed in representative species. Side-necked turtles (Podocnemis spp.) from the Peruvian Amazon were screened for hemoparasites and 2 species of hemosporid parasites infecting these hosts were observed. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of these new isolates, along with parasites from lizards, a snake, and a variety of Haemoproteus species from birds from both the Haemoproteus and Parahaemoproteus subgenera, strongly support the separation of the non-avian parasites into a separate genus. The name with precedent for this group is Haemocystidium Castellani and Willey 1909, and we propose that subgeneric classification of Haemocystidium and Simondia be applied to parasites of squamates and chelonians, respectively. We offer a description of Haemocystidium (Simondia) pacayae n. sp. and a redescription of Haemocystidium (Simondia) peltocephali (Lainson and Naiff 1998, n. comb.) Morphologically, the parasites are quite similar, with H. pacayae slightly more elongated than H. peltocephali. The discovery and identification of parasite species is urgent, especially in endangered species and wildlife inhabiting rapidly declining ecosystems such as the Amazon.

Greening peace in Colombia

As peace consolidates in Colombia, can biodiversity survive development? We discuss challenges and opportunities for integrating forest biodiversity conservation into developing, war-dilapidated economies of post-conflict regions, paving the way for a green economy and climate resilient society.

Land cover change interacts with drought severity to change fire regimes in Western Amazonia.

Fire is becoming a pervasive driver of environmental change in Amazonia and is expected to intensify, given projected reductions in precipitation and forest cover. Understanding of the influence of post-deforestation land cover change on fires in Amazonia is limited, even though fires in cleared lands constitute a threat for ecosystems, agriculture, and human health. We used MODIS satellite data to map burned areas annually between 2001 and 2010. We then combined these maps with land cover and climate information to understand the influence of land cover change in cleared lands and dry-season severity on fire occurrence and spread in a focus area in the Peruvian Amazon. Fire occurrence, quantified as the probability of burning of individual 232-m spatial resolution MODIS pixels, was modeled as a function of the area of land cover types within each pixel, drought severity, and distance to roads. Fire spread, quantified as the number of pixels burned in 3 × 3 pixel windows around each focal burned pixel, was modeled as a function of land cover configuration and area, dry-season severity, and distance to roads. We found that vegetation regrowth and oil palm expansion are significantly correlated with fire occurrence, but that the magnitude and sign of the correlation depend on drought severity, successional stage of regrowing vegetation, and oil palm age. Burning probability increased with the area of nondegraded pastures, fallow, and young oil palm and decreased with larger extents of degraded pastures, secondary forests, and adult oil palm plantations. Drought severity had the strongest influence on fire occurrence, overriding the effectiveness of secondary forests, but not of adult plantations, to reduce fire occurrence in severely dry years. Overall, irregular and scattered land cover patches reduced fire spread but irregular and dispersed fallows and secondary forests increased fire spread during dry years. Results underscore the importance of land cover management for reducing fire proliferation in this landscape. Incentives for promoting natural regeneration and perennial crops in cleared lands might help to reduce fire risk if those areas are protected against burning in early stages of development and during severely dry years.

Participatory Conservation and Local Knowledge in the Amazon Várzea : The Pirarucu Management Scheme in Mamirauá

Participatory natural resource management has become the most used approach to the conservation of the Amazonian varzea. But poor understanding of the process of integration of local knowledge in such conservation schemes impedes further progress. We contribute to this subject by analyzing some of the challenges of one of the most significant schemes of participatory conservation based on local knowledge in the varzea. The scheme relies largely on the knowledge and skills of local fishers, and it has been shown to be very effective at promoting the recovery of previously overexploited populations of the fish pirarucu (Arapaima spp). Our analysis shows that the prevailing practice of simply including local communities in the management process is not sufficient to promote resource conservation. It also is necessary to (i) identify individuals of the communities that possess acute knowledge of natural resources, (ii) develop cost-effective approaches to assess local knowledge in a systematic fashion, and (iii) monitor the effectiveness of participatory schemes at promoting resource conservation. We suggest that conservation and development organizations need to develop further their current practices with the knowledge of local inhabitants, if that knowledge is to contribute further to the conservation of the varzea.

Várzea Forests: Multifunctionality as a Resource for Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity

In this paper we analyze and discuss the multifunctionality of varzea forests and their role in the conservation and sustainable use of varzea biodiversity. Based on data collected over the last 10 years in three varzea regions, we argue that the dynamic function of the varzea forest facilitates the application of spatially and temporally heterogeneous management systems, and the resulting use regime enhances rather than undermines ecosystems services and goods. Among a complex array of outcomes from managing varzea forests include a number of ecosystem services (i.e., seed dispersion as well as nesting grounds for fish, birds, and other varzea inhabitants) as well as products (i.e., timber, fruits, fish). Herein we present data on four major land use systems practiced by varzea residents that enhance the multifunctionality of forests for the production of ecosystems goods and services. These emerging forests are the result of four main transitional land use changes produced by the increase in the demand for forest fruit and fast-growing timber species in the local, regional, and international markets. These emerging smallholder-managed forests are diverse; they include everything from single species plantations to natural forests. Management regimes to restore vegetation in degraded pastures in the estuarine varzea have increased the population and diversity of fish species, particularly of the species classified by local people as peixes do mato (forest fish). Similarly, the conservation of riparian vegetation around oxbow lakes in Mamiraua is greatly increasing the nesting and resting grounds of caimans and turtles, as well as resident and migratory birds. A growing local and regional market for fast-growing timber species is increasing the commercial volume as well as facilitating the restoration of overexploited hardwood species in fallows and surrounding levee forests in the three varzea sites. Management practices that aim to maintain the multifunctionality of varzea forests are leading to variation in land cover and varying levels, types, and structures of varzea biodiversity. Our data on multifunctionality of varzea forests presents a considerable conceptual and practical alternative to conservation and sustainable use of varzea resources.