Tree diversity in a tropical agricultural-forest mosaic landscape in Honduras

Submitted by Marianela Arguello on
EfD Authors:

AbstractBiodiversity decline in the tropics requires the implementation of comprehensive landscape management where agricultural systems are necessarily an integral element of biodiversity conservation. This study evaluates the potential for taxonomic biodiversity conservation within an intensive livestock-agricultural-forest mosaic landscape in Catacamas, Honduras. Tree sampling was performed in 448 plots set up within different forest and agricultural land uses: secondary forests, agroforestry coffee plantations, agriculture, pastures, live fences and riparian forest.

Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Forestry

Does Green Infrastructure Work? Precipitation, Protected Areas, Floods and Landslides

Submitted by Marianela Arguello on

We use monthly municipality data for the period 2000-2015 in Guatemala and monthly district data for the period 1992-2019 in Costa Rica. We define relevant catchment areas using water flows to the population centers of the administrative units. Then, we calculate the precipitation inside and outside Pas within the relevant catchment areas, and test how the frequency of floods and landslides is affected by whether rain falls inside or outside PAs. We use a two-way fixed-effects panel data model. For Guatemala, we find no robust statistically significant effects on these types of disasters.

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Forestry, Land

Accounting for ecosystem services and asset value: pilot accounts for KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Submitted by Karl Kaddu on
EfD Authors:

Pilot monetary ecosystem accounts were compiled for KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, in order to highlight any data, methodological or process issues in their compilation and to contribute towards charting a strategy for ecosystem accounting. The Province is highly diverse, with eight biomes, large proportions under communal, private and state tenure, globally important biodiversity, variable landscape condition and encompassing catchment areas of nine river systems.

Biodiversity

Applying the SES Framework to coral reef restoration projects on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica

Submitted by Marianela Arguello on
EfD Authors:

Introduction: Global and local stressors have led to rapid declines in coral reef health. The high rates of coral degradation have motivated restoration initiatives worldwide. Evaluation of these initiatives has provided valuable information regarding coral restoration techniques and limitations faced by projects. However, most of the literature is focused on evaluating metrics related to fragment survival rate and growth, leaving a gap in understanding how social aspects such as governance structure affect project outcomes

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Water