Browsing by Author "Crespo, Patricio"

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Can conservation contracts co-exist with change? Payment for ecosystem services in the context of adaptive decision-making and sustainability
(2015-01) Hayes, Tanya; Murtinho, Felipe; Cárdenas Camacho, Luis Mario; Crespo, Patricio; McHugh, Sarah; Salmerón, David
This paper considers the ability of payment for ecosystem services (PES) programs to operate in the context of dynamic and complex social–ecological systems. Drawing on the experiences of two different PES programs in Latin America, we examine how PES institutions fit with the tenets of adaptive decision-making for sustainable resource management. We identify how the program goals and the connection to the market influence the incentive structure, information gathering, learning and feedback processes, and the structure of decision-making rights, specifically the ability to make and modify resource-use rules. Although limited in their generalizability, findings from the two case studies suggest a tension between the contractual model of PES and adaptive decision-making in natural resource systems. PES programs are not inherently decentralized, flexible management tools, as PES contracts tend to restrict decision-making rights and offer minimal flexibility mechanisms to change resource-use practices over the duration of the contract period. Furthermore, PES design and flexibility is heavily dependent on the goals and mission of the buyer and the respective market. If PES is to facilitate sustainable resource management, greater attention is needed to assess how the institutional design of the PES contracts influence the motivation and capacity of participants and program officers alike to adaptively manage the respective resource systems.
Identifying controls of the rainfall-runoff response of small catchments in the tropical Andes (Ecuador)
(2011-07-24) Crespo, Patricio; Feyen, Jan; Buytaert, Wouter; Bücker, Amelie; Breuer, Lutz; Frede, Hans Georg; Ramírez, Marco
Tropical mountain regions are characterized by strong spatial climate gradients which together with the limited amount of data and knowledge of the underlying processes hinder the management of the water resources. Especially for regional-scale prediction it is important to identify the dominant factors controlling the rainfall–runoff response and link those to known spatial patterns of climate, soils, and vegetation. This study analyzes the rainfall–runoff relation of 13 intensively monitored micro-catchments in the Andes of southern Ecuador. The results of this study show that streamflow in the southern cordillera of the Ecuadorian Andes, above 2500 m a.s.l., primarily consists of subsurface flow. The yearly amount of streamflow is controlled by the annual rainfall depth, whereas the temporal distribution is mainly governed by the lateral saturated hydraulic conductivity, the soil water retention and the antecedent soil moisture content. Anthropogenic effects were found insignificant, with the exception in one of the studied micro-catchment. Effect of land use changes in most of the micro-catchments did not reflect in the shape of the flow duration curve because either the spatial extent of human impact was small and/or the overall basin slope was less than 20%.
Identifying controls on water chemistry of tropical cloud forest catchments: Combining descriptive approaches and multivariate analysis
(2010) Bücker, Amelie; Crespo, Patricio; Frede, Hans Georg; Vaché, Kellie B.; Cisneros, Felipe; Breuer, Lutz
We investigated controls on the water chemistry of a South Ecuadorian cloud forest catchment which is partly pristine, and partly converted to extensive pasture. From April 2007 to May 2008 water samples were taken weekly to biweekly at nine different subcatchments, and were screened for differences in electric conductivity, pH, anion, as well as element composition. A principal component analysis was conducted to reduce dimensionality of the data set and define major factors explaining variation in the data. Three main factors were isolated by a subset of 10 elements (Ca2?, Ce, Gd, K?, Mg2?, Na?, Nd, Rb, Sr, Y), explaining around 90% of the data variation. Land-use was the major factor controlling and changing water chemistry of the subcatchments. A second factor was associated with the concentration of rare earth elements in water, presumably highlighting other anthropogenic influences such as gravel excavation or road construction. Around 12% of the variation was explained by the third component, which was defined by the occurrence of Rb and K and represents the influence of vegetation dynamics on element accumulation and wash-out. Comparison of base- and fast flow concentrations led to the assumption that a significant portion of soil water from around 30 cm depth contributes to storm flow, as revealed by increased rare earth element concentrations in fast flow samples. Our findings demonstrate the utility of multi-tracer principal component analysis to study tropical headwater streams, and emphasize the need for effective land management in cloud forest catchments.
Mining from a conflicting to a collaborative activity: review of literature
(Universidad de Cuenca, 2015-12) Feyen, Jan; Crespo, Patricio; Célleri, Rolando; Universidad de Cuenca; Dirección de Investigación de la Universidad de Cuenca
This article states that the confrontational attitude between local communities pushed by lobbying groups, eventually with the support of local governments, and mining companies can be turned into a corporate communication and cooperation model. Several of the large mining companies recently adopted a corporate business model in which ample room is given to the social and economic desires of the communities living nearby mining sites. Proposed actions that contribute to a collaborative attitude are the investment of time in the setting up of a communication model, the negotiation of impact and benefit agreements, involving community members in the organization and exploitation of services and the provision of goods, training of locals in conservation and restoration techniques and related technologies, and making available infrastructure and equipment as to enable locals developing economic activities which they independently can continue after mine closure. Involving the local scientific community, eventually in association with environmentalists, in activities of monitoring, mitigation, remediation and restoration helps this sector to develop capacity which will be beneficial in educational and research related programs. Governments’ participation will culminate in a better legal framework and the development of more efficient protocols for the verification if mining is conducted in an ethical, social and environmental sound manner.
Preliminary evaluation of the runoff processes in a remote montane cloud forest basin using mixing model analysis and mean transit time
(2012-12-15) Crespo, Patricio; Bücker, Amelie; Feyen, Jan; Vaché, Kellie B.; Frede, Hans Georg; Breuer, Lutz
In this study, the Mean Transit Time and Mixing Model Analysis methods are combined to unravel the runoff generation process of the San Francisco River basin (73.5 km2) situated on the Amazonian side of the Cordillera Real in the southernmost Andes of Ecuador. The montane basin is covered with cloud forest, sub-páramo, pasture and ferns. Nested sampling was applied for the collection of streamwater samples and discharge measurements in the main tributaries and outlet of the basin, and for the collection of soil and rock water samples. Weekly to biweekly water grab samples were taken at all stations in the period April 2007–November 2008. Hydrometric data, Mean Transit Time and Mixing Model Analysis allowed preliminary evaluation of the processes controlling the runoff in the San Francisco River basin. Results suggest that flow during dry conditions mainly consists of lateral flow through the C-horizon and cracks in the top weathered bedrock layer, and that all subcatchments have an important contribution of this deep water to runoff, no matter whether pristine or deforested. During normal to low precipitation intensities, when antecedent soil moisture conditions favour water infiltration, vertical flow paths to deeper soil horizons with subsequent lateral subsurface flow contribute most to streamflow. Under wet conditions in forested catchments, streamflow is controlled by near surface lateral flow through the organic horizon. Exceptionally, saturation excess overland flow occurs. By absence of the litter layer in pasture, streamflow under wet conditions originates from the A horizon, and overland flow.
Solute behaviour and export rates in neotropical montane catchments under different land-uses
(2011-03-10) Bücker, Amelie; Crespo, Patricio; Frede, Hans Georg; Breuer, Lutz
To improve our knowledge of the influence of land-use on solute behaviour and export rates in neotropical montane catchments we investigated total organic carbon (TOC), Ca, Mg, Na, K, NO3 and SO4 concentrations during April 2007–May 2008 at different flow conditions and over time in six forested and pasture-dominated headwaters (0.7–76 km2) in Ecuador. NO3 and SO4 concentrations decreased during the study period, with a continual decrease in NO3and an abrupt decrease in February 2008 for SO4. We attribute this to changing weather regimes connected to a weakening La Niña event. Stream Na concentration decreased in all catchments, and Mg and Ca concentration decreased in all but the forested catchments during storm flow. Under all land-uses TOC increased at high flows. The differences in solute behaviour during storm flow might be attributed to largely shallow subsurface and surface flow paths in pasture streams on the one hand, and a predominant origin of storm flow from the organic layer in the forested streams on the other hand. Nutrient export rates in the forested streams were comparable to the values found in literature for tropical streams. They amounted to 6–8 kg ha−1 y−1 for Ca, 7–8 kg ha−1 y−1 for K, 4–5 kg ha−1y−1 for Mg, 11–14 kg ha−1 y−1 for Na, 19–22 kg ha−1 y−1 for NO3 (i.e. 4.3–5.0 kg ha−1 y−1 NO3-N) and 17 kg ha−1 y−1 for SO4. Our data contradict the assumption that nutrient export increases with the loss of forest cover. For NO3we observed a positive correlation of export value and percentage forest cover.
Understanding the hydrology of tropical Andean ecosystems through an Andean network of basins
(2009-03-30) Célleri, Rolando; Buytaert, Wouter; De Bièvre, Bert; Tobón, Conrado; Crespo, Patricio; Molina, Jorge; Feyen, Jan
During the last decade several initiatives aiming at conserving and protecting the water provision of Andean ecosystems have started. However, their application have faced a number of limitations from the technical side mainly due to the lack of knowledge of hydrological processes and Andean-specific developed and tested hydrological models for scenario analyses. The large variability found in ecosystems, climates and geomorphological settings makes hydrological research a complex task and answers to these societal problems therefore may take too long, unless a well coordinated collaboration between research centres, NGO’s and local governments take place. This manuscript outlines the goals of a regional initiative on participatory-based networking of data monitoring; describes how researchers can help local and regional stakeholders and vice-versa with data collection, processing, storage and dissemination; highlights the benefits of the collaboration for the scientific community and policy makers; and proposes measures to make the collaboration effective and sustainable.