Restoration needs in Mesopotamia: Integrating ecosystems and wildlife species as conservation units

ESPINOZA-MENDOZA, VICTORIA; ZULETA, GUSTAVO A.; VARELA, DIEGO; CIRIGNOLI, SEBASTIÁN; OLMEDO, MATÍAS; AGUILAR ZURITA, ALEX; GUIDA JOHNSON, BÁRBARA; DE ANGELO, CARLOS; LORAN, DAMIAN

Foz do Iguaçú,

Conferencia; 7th World Conference on Ecological Restoration (SER); 2017

Society for Ecological Restoration

In Northeastern Argentina, the Mesopotamia region (20 Mha) harbours the country´ highest biodiversity due to the occurrence of several ecosystems from temperate grasslands (Pampas) to subtropical forests, including wetlands, open forests and riparian environments. The region has also political relevance: it shares boundaries with Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Major degradation drivers (proximate causes) are agro-industrial activities which increased the rate of biodiversity loss over the recent decades. The aim of this study was determined the restoration needs, focused on ecosystems and species, to provide scientific and technical results for decision makers. Based on GIS analyses and field validations, maps of land use/land cover (LULC) were estimated. Maps of current distribution of 302 terrestrial threatened vertebrates were determined by means of extensive database review (including circa 20.000 records from participatory monitoring), expert consultations, and habitat evaluation. Using multi-criteria models we established five categories of degradation and conservation values. Major results indicated that: (1) areas with high restoration needs at the ecosystem level have low overlapping (5,5% of the whole study area: 1,086,029 ha) with zones with high conservation values (wildlife level), (2) such overlapping zones occur all over Mesopotamia without a clear landscape pattern, however (3) land uses most associated with them are exotic tree plantations, shrub crops, and mix agricultural uses, likely because such activities provide more wildlife habitat than croplands and cattle raising. This particularly affects grassland birds. We discuss these results in the context of the ?better practices? guidelines recently developed for the agricultural sector.