Sustainable management of logged tropical forests in the Caribbean to ensure long-term productivity

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
The Caribbean

scholarly journals Effect of ecological and conventional managements on soil enzymatic activities in coffee agroecosystems

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 420-428
Author(s):  
Johana Juliet Caballero Vanegas ◽  
Karen Bibiana Mejía Zambrano ◽  
Lizeth Manuela Avellaneda-Torres
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Enzymatic Activities ◽  
Acid And Alkaline Phosphatase ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
Synthetic Fertilizers ◽  
Coffee Agroecosystems ◽  
Alkaline And Acid Phosphatase

ABSTRACT Understanding the impacts of agricultural practices on soil quality indicators, such as enzymatic activities, is of great importance, in order to advance in their diagnosis and sustainable management. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of ecological and conventional agricultural managements on enzymatic activities of a soil under coffee agroecosystems. The enzymatic activities were associated with the biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen (urease and protease), phosphorus (acid and alkaline phosphatase) and carbon (β-glucosidase), during the rainy and dry seasons. Physical-chemical soil proprieties were also assessed and related to resilience scores linked to the climatic variability reported for the areas under study. The activities of urease, alkaline and acid phosphatase and ß-glucosidase were statistically higher in ecological agroecosystems than in conventional ones. This may be attributed to the greater application of organic waste in the ecological environment, as well as to the absence of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, which allow better conditions for the microbial activity. The resilience scores to the climate variability that showed the highest correlations with the assessed enzymatic activities were: the farmers' knowledge on soil microorganisms, non-use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers and non-dependence on external supplies. It was concluded that the enzymatic activities are modified by the management systems, being specifically favored by the ecological management. This agroecosystem, in the long term, ensures an efficient use of the soil resources, with a lower degradation and contamination.

scholarly journals Long-Term Nitrogen Addition Decreases Soil Carbon Mineralization in an N-Rich Primary Tropical Forest

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 734
Author(s):  
Xiankai Lu ◽  
Qinggong Mao ◽  
Zhuohang Wang ◽  
Taiki Mori ◽  
Jiangming Mo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Carbon Mineralization ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
Soil Carbon Mineralization ◽  
N Additions

Anthropogenic elevated nitrogen (N) deposition has an accelerated terrestrial N cycle, shaping soil carbon dynamics and storage through altering soil organic carbon mineralization processes. However, it remains unclear how long-term high N deposition affects soil carbon mineralization in tropical forests. To address this question, we established a long-term N deposition experiment in an N-rich lowland tropical forest of Southern China with N additions such as NH4NO3 of 0 (Control), 50 (Low-N), 100 (Medium-N) and 150 (High-N) kg N ha−1 yr−1, and laboratory incubation experiment, used to explore the response of soil carbon mineralization to the N additions therein. The results showed that 15 years of N additions significantly decreased soil carbon mineralization rates. During the incubation period from the 14th day to 56th day, the average decreases in soil CO2 emission rates were 18%, 33% and 47% in the low-N, medium-N and high-N treatments, respectively, compared with the Control. These negative effects were primarily aroused by the reduced soil microbial biomass and modified microbial functions (e.g., a decrease in bacteria relative abundance), which could be attributed to N-addition-induced soil acidification and potential phosphorus limitation in this forest. We further found that N additions greatly increased soil-dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and there were significantly negative relationships between microbial biomass and soil DOC, indicating that microbial consumption on soil-soluble carbon pool may decrease. These results suggests that long-term N deposition can increase soil carbon stability and benefit carbon sequestration through decreased carbon mineralization in N-rich tropical forests. This study can help us understand how microbes control soil carbon cycling and carbon sink in the tropics under both elevated N deposition and carbon dioxide in the future.

scholarly journals COVID-19: Intensifying the Existential Threat to the Caribbean

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-172
Author(s):  
Michael Witter
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Oil Production ◽  
Neoliberal Globalization ◽  
Agricultural Exports ◽  
Existential Crisis ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
The Caribbean

The Caribbean has experienced an overlapping and interconnected series of challenges, including economic, social, and environmental, which pose an existential threat to the region. This article focuses on the nature of this threat as it evolved before and during the pandemic crisis. Under neoliberal globalization, Caribbean economies transformed themselves rapidly into service providers, most having resorted to developing a tourism sector, while some moved into oil production. In all cases, traditional agricultural exports declined with the loss of protected markets where they earned preferential prices. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the Caribbean’s existential crisis and revealed the inextricable links among the environment, economy, and public health. This article focuses on these links and suggests a way forward for public policy in the short, medium, and long term.

Wider Caribbean Region—A Pivotal Time to Strengthen Regional Instruments For Biodiversity Conservation

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Lausche
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Global Environment Facility ◽  
Large Marine Ecosystem ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Specially Protected Areas

AbstractThe countries of the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) are linked economically by their transboundary living marine resources. The region is facing a continued decline of these resources. Science is improving our understanding of the human contributions to this decline, but national policies and programmes have not kept pace with this understanding. The Caribbean Regional Seas Programme and its Cartagena Convention and Protocols provide the regional legal framework for protection and sustainable management of the WCR's living marine and coastal resources. This article focuses on the Cartagena Convention's Protocol for biodiversity conservation, the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW), arguing that governments and organizations need to significantly increase participation in this regional treaty regime to effectively address transboundary environmental challenges. A new initiative, the Global Environment Facility-supported Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem project, will help in this effort. International policy supports strengthened regional seas programmes. It is now imperative for all levels and sectors to assist governments in strengthening this important treaty regime for biodiversity conservation in the Wider Caribbean Region.

Changes in microbial dynamics during long-term decomposition in tropical forests

2013 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 60-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M. DeAngelis ◽  
Dylan Chivian ◽  
Julian L. Fortney ◽  
Adam P. Arkin ◽  
Blake Simmons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Microbial Dynamics

Agrodeforestation and the loss of agrobiodiversity in the Pacific Islands: a call for conservation

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randolph Thaman
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Ecosystem Goods And Services ◽  
Livelihood Security ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Our ability to conserve biodiversity and to adapt to climate, environmental and economic change in the Pacific Islands will be greatly dependent on the conservation, restoration and enrichment of biodiversity within traditional multispecies agricultural land use systems. “Agrobiodiversity” is the most well-known, culturally-useful and accessible biodiversity on most islands and constitutes the most important foundation for ecosystem goods and services that support food, health, energy and livelihood security. This rich Pacific agrobiodiversity heritage, including associated ethnobiodiversity is highly threatened and deserves more prominence in mainstream conservation initiatives as a foundation for long-term sustainability. Such action is in line with Aichi Biodiversity Targets 7 and 13 which set goals for sustainable management of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and the maintenance of genetic diversity as critical for successful biodiversity conservation globally. It is also supported by the findings of the Japan Satoyama-Satoumi Assessment, which stresses the critical importance of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provided by traditional agricultural and village landscapes.

Inter-American Development Bank Sustainability Report 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Development Bank ◽  
Core Element ◽  
Climate Change Risk ◽  
Sustainable Infrastructure ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Sustainability Report

Sustainability is a core element of the IDBs work. Long-term economic growth, and the reduction of poverty and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean depend on development that is economically, financially, environmentally, socially, and institutionally sustainable. The IDBs annual Sustainability Report presents our approach to sustainability and showcases operations and research that are contributing to the sustainable development of the region. The report also presents key data, detailing the greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of our lending portfolio, the climate finance we provide, disaster and climate change risk in our projects, and the application of our environmental and social policies. The report also covers our corporate sustainability efforts and how we work to reduce our direct footprint where we live and work. The theme for the 2020 Sustainability Report is making the recovery from COVID-19 green and inclusive, exploring the IDBs work on digitalization, inclusive and sustainable infrastructure, developing next-generation skills and jobs, and Costa Ricas groundbreaking decarbonization efforts.

Landscaping the Agritech Ecosystem for Smallholder Farmers in Latin America and the Caribbean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panos Loukos ◽  
Leslie Arathoon
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
Digital Interventions ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Digital Agriculture ◽  
Digital Disruption

Agriculture is an important source of employment in Latin America and the Caribbean. In rural areas, some 54.6 per cent of the labour force is engaged in agricultural production. Although much of the region shares the same language and cultural heritage, the structure and scale of the agriculture sector varies significantly from country to country. Based on the review of 131 digital agriculture tools, this report, prepared by GSMA and IDB Lab, provides a market mapping and landscape analysis of the most prominent cases of digital disruption. It highlights some of the major trends observed in five digital agriculture use cases, identifies opportunities for digital interventions and concludes with recommendations for future engagement that could deliver long-term, sustainable economic and social benefits for smallholder farmers.

Romancing the Stone: Academe’s Illusive Template for African Diaspora Studies

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-39
Author(s):  
Melina Pappademos
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
African Diaspora ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Diaspora Studies ◽  
North Americans ◽  
History Of ◽  
America South ◽  
Research Plan ◽  
The Caribbean

I began graduate school in 1994 to study the history of American peoples of African descent; I saw important similarities between their cultures and their resistance struggles and sought to develop a comparative project. However, as I began casting my long term research plan— which was to compare Afro-Cubans and Afro-North Americans—I discovered and uncovered many stumbling blocks. The primary one was that academe grouped African descended people by their European and colonially derived relationships (ex: North America, Latin America, South America, and the Caribbean) and not by their Black derived positions. I may have been naive but this seemed problematic to me.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document