Socio-Environmental Research in Latin America: Interdisciplinary Approaches Using GIS and Remote Sensing Frameworks

Description

This contributed volume presents relevant examples of socio-environmental research that highlight the challenges and opportunities of using geotechnologies in interdisciplinary settings across the vast, culturally, and environmentally mega-diverse region known as Latin America. While remote sensing has been mostly used for mapping and monitoring physical features, geographic information systems open up opportunities for the integration of socio-economic and environmental data collected through individual and community-based surveys, in-situ measurements, and other participatory research techniques to offer additional analytically grounded power when evaluating socio-environmental processes that shape Latin American landscapes. The topics addressed in this book include deforestation and land degradation, borderlands dynamics, agriculture and agroecological systems, environmental conservation and development, public health, tourism, environmental justice, archeology, volunteered geography and urban planning, among others. The book is intended for academics, graduate and undergraduate classrooms, and general audiences with interest in Latin America and the socio-environmental issues that threaten the sustainability of the region and local communities. The book will also appeal to practitioners, managers, and policy makers interested in the application of geo-technologies and field-based research to address complex socio-environmental problems in the Global South.  Preface Acknowledgments Contents About the Contributors Chapter 1: Introduction: Interdisciplinarity, GIScience, and Socio-Environmental Research in Latin America 1 Interdisciplinary Socio-Environmental Research 2 Geographic Information Science Epistemology and Interdisciplinarity 3 Geographic Information Science and Socio-Environmental Research in Latin-America 4 Applied Geospatial Research in Latin America 5 Scope and Purpose of This Book References Chapter 2: Using Spatial Time-Series and Field Data to Understand Cultural Drivers of Land Change: Connecting Land Conflict and Land Change in Eastern Amazonia 1 Introduction 1.1 Southeastern Pará 2 Building a Spatial Time-Series of Conflict and Deforestation 3 Primary Findings 4 Conclusions References Chapter 3: Crossing Boundaries: Transboundary Geographic Information in the Amazon Borderlands of Peru and Brazil 1 Introduction 1.1 Amazon Rainforest and Borderlands 2 Pan-Amazonian Mapping Efforts 3 National and Regional Mapping Efforts 3.1 Peru’s Spatial Data: The Proliferation of Geo Servers and the Cartas Nacionales 3.2 Brazil’s RADAMBRASIL Project, Acre’s EEZ, and Ethno-Mapping 4 Pre-GTASO Efforts 5 The GTASO Initiative 6 Challenges 6.1 Transboundary Challenges 6.2 Amazon Borderlands Challenges 7 Data Needs 8 Human and Technical Capacity Building 9 Workshop Results 10 Future Strategies References Chapter 4: Territorial Implications of Economic Diversification in the Waorani Ancestral Lands 1 Introduction 2 Conceptual Framework 2.1 Characterization of Cacao Cultivation Among Waorani Communities in the WAT 2.2 A Model of the Productive Territory of Traditional Waorani Communities in the WAT 3 Patterns of Cacao Cultivation Among WAORANI Communities in the WAT 4 The Productive Territories of 10 Communities in the WAT 5 The Territorial Outcome of Cacao Cultivation in the WAT 6 Expanding from the WAT to the Western Amazon References Chapter 5: New Insights on Water Quality and Land Use Dynamics in the Napo Region of Western Amazonia 1 Introduction 2 Study Area 3 Methods and Research Approach 3.1 Statistical Modeling of Land Use and Land Cover Change 3.2 Time Series of Land Use and Land Cover 3.3 Water Quality Multi-Temporal Analysis 4 Results 4.1 Land Use/Land Cover Characterization and Deforestation Assessment 4.2 Multinomial Statistical Analysis of Land Use and Land Cover Change 4.3 Multi-Temporal Water Quality Analysis 5 Discussion 5.1 Land Use and Land Cover Change Dynamics 5.2 Multi-Temporal Physico-Chemical Analysis of Water Quality 6 Implications on Human-Environment Dynamics of the Napo Region References Chapter 6: From Mapping to Guiding: An Emergent Framework for the Multiple Uses of Remote Sensing and GIScience in Socio-environmental Research in the Peruvian Andes 1 Introduction 2 Case Studes in the Peruvian Andes 2.1 Land-Cover and Rangeland Productivity of Andean Ecosystems: The Upper Watershed of the Santa River, Ancash, Peru 2.2 Rangeland Condition in the Ulta Basin on the Western Slopes of the Cordillera Blanca in the National Park Huascaran, Peru 3 Multi-Level Vulnerability in the Peasant Community Sallca Santa Ana in Huancavelica, Peru 4 Regional Assessment of Rangelands Dynamics in the Peruvian Central Andes (Cerro De Pasco, Junín, Lima, and Huancavelica Departments) 5 Emerging Framework for the Analysis of High Altitude Social-Ecological Systems 6 Concluding Remarks: Towards a Socio-environmental Research Agenda References Chapter 7: The Use of Remote Sensing in Air Pollution Control and Public Health 1 Remote Sensing in Environmental and Public Health Research 2 Remote Sensors Commonly Used in air Pollution Control And Public Health Research 2.1 The Landsat Program 2.2 Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 2.3 The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) Aboard Sentinel-5 Precursor (Sentinel 5-P) and the Future Sentinel 5 3 Applied Remote Sensing Research in Latin America on Air Pollution Control and Public Health: Opportunities and Limitations 4 Modeling Chronic Respiratory Patient Discharge Based on Environmental Variables Extracted from Satellite Imagery in Quito, Ecuador: A Case Study 4.1 The Integration of Remote Sensing Data, Air Quality, and Respiratory Health 4.2 Data Collection and LUR Models to Predict HCRD 4.3 The Usefulness of LUR Models in Understanding Air Quality and Public Health in Latin American Cities References Chapter 8: Human-Environmental Interactions and Their Impacts on Temperate Forests in the Exploradores Valley in Western Patagonia 1 Introduction 1.1 The Temperate Rainforests of Western Patagonia 1.2 Human-Environmental Interactions in Patagonian Socio-environmental Systems 1.3 Western Patagonia: Wild Frontiers of Socio-environmental Changes 2 Study Area in Western Patagonia 3 Methods and Data 3.1 Quantitative Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Analysis 4 Results and Discussion 4.1 Socio-environmental Transformations of the Valley 4.2 The Area Surrounding Lake Tranquilo (A) 4.3 Start of Exploradores Valley (B) 4.4 Bayo Lake (C) 4.5 Exploradores Bridge (D) 5 Conclusions References Chapter 9: El Chaltén, Argentine Patagonia: A Successful Combination of Conservation and Tourism? 1 Introduction 2 Aims and Structure of this Study 3 Methods 4 The Study Site 4.1 Los Glaciares National Park in Argentinian Patagonia 4.2 The History Behind the Scenes: The Making of El Chaltén and the Development of Tourism 4.3 The Protagonists of Change and Trends Regarding Urban Area 4.4 The Development of Land Cover and the Impacts of Tourism in the Surroundings of El Chaltén 5 Does ‘El Chalten’ Represent a Model of Coexistence Between Urbanization, Tourism, and Conservation? References Chapter 10: GIS Approaches to Environmental Justice in Mexico’s Oil and Gas Production Zones with Implications for Latin America 1 Introduction 2 Empirical Environmental Justice Studies 3 Two Environmental Justice Studies in the Tampico-Misantla Basin, Mexico 3.1 A Traditional Distributional Justice Study 3.2 A Benefit-Sharing Distributional Justice Study 4 Feasibility of GIS-Based Environmental Justice Studies in Latin America’s Oil Production Zones 5 Conclusion References Chapter 11: Contributions to Socio-environmental Research through Participatory GIS in Archaeology 1 Introduction 2 PGIS and Archaeology in Latin America 2.1 Trajectory of the Practice 2.2 Current PGIS in Archaeology and Methodological Approaches 3 Discussion 4 Conclusions References Chapter 12: Comparing Volunteered Data Acquisition Methods on Informal Settlements in Mexico City and São Paulo: A Citizen Participation Ladder for VGI 1 Introduction 1.1 Lack of Information about Informal Settlements 1.2 Citizen Participation in VGI 2 Methods 3 Results 3.1 Research in Mexico: Human and Remote Sensing Perspective 3.2 Research in São Paulo: Participatory GIS 4 Comparison Under the VGI Participation Framework 5 Discussion 6 Conclusions References Chapter 13: Challenges and Opportunities Interdisciplinary GIScience Research on Human-Environment Dynamics in Latin America 1 Introduction 2 Overarching Questions 2.1 How Are Interdisciplinary Approaches Using RS and GIS Uniquely Facilitating a Dialog Between the Geophysical Sciences, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and the Humanities as Conceived by Researchers Doing Work in Latin America? 2.2 How Can Multiple Narratives Be Introduced to Change the Ways in Which RS and GIS Are Practiced in This Region? 3 Challenges in the Field of GIScience in Latin America References Index