INVESTIGADORES
IRIBARNE Oscar Osvaldo
capítulos de libros
Título:
Human Impacts and Threats to theConservation of South American Salt Marshes
Autor/es:
COSTA, C; IRIBARNE, O; FARINA, J.M.
Libro:
Human impacts on salt marshes. A global perspective
Editorial:
University of California Press
Referencias:
Lugar: Los Angeles; Año: 2009; p. 317 - 359
Resumen:
Except for pre-Columbian civilizations established
in the Andes high plains, most indigenous
Indian tribes of South America were
hunter-gatherers, with rudimentary agriculture
that had little structural impact on coastal salt
marshes (e.g., construction of small ponds for
salt production). Since the beginning of the
European colonization of South America in the
fifteenth century, most of the main cities have
been established in bays, coastal lagoons, and
estuaries at the expense of coastal wetlands.
During the nineteenth century, after the long
struggle for independence from Spain and
Portugal, agriculture and ranching were the
main drivers of habitat modification in the
coastal regions of recently established countries.
In the twentieth century, the expansion of
agribusiness, forestry, and mining has supported
the economic development of many
South American countries. After World War II,
the population explosion, rapid industrialization,
and increased dumping of solid and liquid
waste in waterways have become the primary
drivers of human impacts on coastal marshes.
Although there is significant geographic variation
in the intensity and distribution of these
human influences across South America, our
activities have either directly (by habitat use)
and/or indirectly (by pollution, basin modification,
and changes of soil use and hydrology)