Land systems’ asymmetries across transnational ecoregions in South America

Abstract

The landscape configuration of socio-ecological land systems results from the interaction between the environmental conditions (relatively homogeneous within ecoregions) and country-level management and land-use decisions. However, social, land-use and sustainability research disciplines often study each independently. We used Euclidean distance analyses of five indicators of land systems functioning to explore the geographical patterns of across-border human-induced asymmetries in transnational ecoregions of South America. The most asymmetric transnational ecoregions occurred in the tropical rainforest biome which also showed the widest range of asymmetry values compared to other biomes. In contrast, transnational ecoregions in montane grasslands showed comparatively little asymmetries, and tropical dry forests showed intermediate asymmetry values. This pattern indicates that major asymmetries occur in land systems located in productive biomes with a comparatively recent history of development, whereas mature socio-ecosystems with a long history of human land use are more homogeneous across borders. In some cases, asymmetries may stabilize as a consequence of reinforcing feedbacks that promote contrasting land-use decisions across borders, including, for example, the establishment of protected areas, or the promotion of agro-industrial activities. Transnational socio-ecological land systems can be used to evaluate alternatives for sustainable development because they highlight the influence of institutions under different governance regimes in defining the spatial configuration and ecological properties of regions. We invite land-use and sustainability scientists to consider political border interactions as valuable “natural experiments” to better understand the interrelations between biophysical and political systems in defining planetary geographical-ecology in the Anthropocene.

Risk of introduction and establishment of alien vertebrate species in transboundary neighboring areas

“…For example, the Mexico-U.S., China-Myanmar, Bangladesh-India, and some Asian borders experience high pressure to prevent illegal wildlife trade 17 , 43 which were also identified as transboundary invasion hotspots in our study. We need to pay close attention to areas undergoing rapid anthropogenic disturbances across the African, American and Asia-Pacific tropics, such as Brazil-Paraguay, Colombia-Venezuela, and Indonesian Borneo 44 , 45 , which were all identified as transboundary invasion hotspots (Figs. 1 – 3 ; Supplementary Table 1 , Supplementary Data 1 ).…”

Geographical trends of soil‐associated biodiversity changes due to tree plantations in South America: Biome and climate constraints revealed through meta‐analysis

“…Human intervention at large scales creates new scenarios with novel ecological systems (i.e. Anthromes) (Ellis, 2011; Piquer‐Rodríguez et al, 2021) that may present different biogeographic patterns to those observed in natural habitats.…”

Landscape divergence associated with international borders and economic asymmetries

“…For example, even though two countries share a similar ecosystem (e.g., tropical lowland forest), the values assigned to this ecosystem can vary greatly depending on a country's development priorities and its capacity to mobilize resources. Neighboring countries may favor different land use decisions, which can result in landscape discontinuities with major ecological consequences (Dallimer and Strange 2015;Piquer Rodríguez et al 2021). A major feature of the Anthropocene is that humans are a major driver of most ecological processes (e.g., nitrogen and carbon cycles, energy balance).…”

“…L��� ��� ����������� ������ ������������� ������� ₆₆₇ countries have more productive agriculture lands in other regions (Piquer-Rodríguez et al 2021).…”

“…But, in other cases, the discrepancy may be persistent due to positive feedbacks in one or both sides, as each country wants to secure its sovereignty through protected areas (Marinaro et al 2012) or specific land use policies to reinforce national control over the area (e.g., colonization plans, infrastructure development). For example, the lowland tropical Atlantic forest of Brazil and Paraguay has been transformed into agriculture, while in Argentina, with highly productive agricultural lands in other regions, the Atlantic forest is used for conservation-based tourism and timber production (Izquierdo et al 2008;Piquer-Rodríguez et al 2021). National Parks can also play an important role in stabilizing some of these borders: Iguazu in Brazil/ Argentina, Noel Kempf, Serra du Cutia, and Pacaas nuevos in Brazil/Bolivia, Gran Chaco in Bolivia/Paraguay, Niyik and Kasungu National Parks in Malawi/Zambia, Leina National Park (Myanmar/Thailand).…”