Nitrogen Cycling In Latin America and : Drivers, Impacts And Vulnerabilities

OMETTO, JEAN; BUSTAMANTE, MERCEDES ; FORTI, M. CRISTINA; PERES, TIBISAY; STEIN, ARIEL; JARAMILLO, VICTOR; PÉREZ, CECILIA; PINHO, P. FERNANDA; ASCARRUNZ, NATALY; AUSTIN, AMY T.; MARTINELLI, LUIZ A.

San Francisco

Congreso; American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting 2015; 2015

American Geophysical Union

Latin America is at a crossroads where a balance should be found between production of the major agricultural commodities, reasonable and planned urbanization and conservation of its natural ecosystems and associated goods and services. Most of the natural biological fixation of the globe occurs in forests of Latin America. On the other hand, Latin America has one of the highest rate of deforestation in the world, and one of the highest increases in the use of nitrogen fertilizers. A better understanding of the responses of the N cycle to human impacts will allow better conservation of biodiversity and natural resources, with an improvement in food security and more effective land use choices in biofuel development. Latin America is a unique region in multiple aspects, and particularly relevant for this proposal are the broad climatic gradient and economic patterns that include a diverse range of natural ecosystems and socio-economic development pathways. Additionally, the region is impaired by the lack of information on actual impacts of human activity on N cycling across this diverse range of ecosystems.