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Research article

Research priorities for maintaining biodiversity’s contributions to people in Latin America

Authors
  • Richard G. Pearson orcid logo (Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK)
  • Enrique Martínez-Meyer (Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico)
  • Mercedes Andrade Velázquez (Centro del Cambio Global y la Sustentabilidad AC, Villahermosa, Mexico)
  • Mercedes Caron (Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina)
  • Rogelio O. Corona-Núñez orcid logo (Procesos y Sistemas de Información en Geomática, SA de CV. Calle 5 Viveros de Peten No. 18, Col. Viveros del Valle, Tlalnepantla, CP 54060, Edo. de Mex, Mexico)
  • Katrina Davis orcid logo (Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute, University of Exeter Business School, Xfi Building, Rennes Drive, Exeter, UK)
  • América Paz Durán (Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile)
  • Rodrigo García-Morales (Centro del Cambio Global y la Sustentabilidad AC, Villahermosa, Mexico)
  • Talya D. Hackett (Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK)
  • Daniel J. Ingram (Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK)
  • Rafael Loyola Díaz (Centro del Cambio Global y la Sustentabilidad AC, Villahermosa, Mexico)
  • Julián Lescano (Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Córdoba, Argentina)
  • Andrés Lira-Noriega (Instituto de Ecología, A.C. Carretera antigua a Coatepec 351, Col. El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico)
  • Yolanda López-Maldonado (Department of Geography, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany)
  • Daniela Manuschevich (Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano, Escuela de Geografía, Condell 343, Providencia. Santiago, Chile)
  • Alma Mendoza orcid logo (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schloßpl. 1, Laxenburg, 2361, Vienna, Austria)
  • Ben Milligan (Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London, London, UK; Current address: Global Water Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)
  • Simon C. Mills (Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK)
  • Darío Moreira-Arce (Laboratorio de Estudios del Antropoceno, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad de Concepción, Chile)
  • Luzma F. Nava orcid logo (Centro del Cambio Global y la Sustentabilidad AC, Villahermosa, Mexico)
  • Vicencio Oostra (Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK)
  • Nathan Owen (Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute, University of Exeter Business School, Xfi Building, Rennes Drive, Exeter, UK)
  • David Prieto-Torres orcid logo (Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Museo de Zoología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City, Mexico)
  • Clarita Rodríguez Soto (Centro de Estudios e Investigación en Desarrollo Sustentable, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Toluca, Mexico)
  • Thomas Smith (Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK)
  • Andrew J. Suggitt orcid logo (Department of Biology, University of York, York, UK)
  • Camila Tejo Haristoy (Instituto de Conservación, Biodiversidad y Territorio, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile)
  • Jorge Velásquez-Tibatá (NASCA Conservation Program, The Nature Conservancy, Bogotá, Colombia)
  • Sandra Díaz (Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, CONICET and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina)
  • Pablo A. Marquet (Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile)

This is version 2 of this article, the published version can be found at: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444/ucloe.000002

Abstract

Maintaining biodiversity is crucial for ensuring human well-being. The authors participated in a workshop held in Palenque, Mexico, in August 2018, that brought together 30 mostly early-career scientists working in different disciplines (natural, social and economic sciences) with the aim of identifying research priorities for studying the contributions of biodiversity to people and how these contributions might be impacted by environmental change. Five main groups of questions emerged: (1) Enhancing the quantity, quality, and availability of biodiversity data; (2) Integrating different knowledge systems; (3) Improved methods for integrating diverse data; (4) Fundamental questions in ecology and evolution; and (5) Multi-level governance across boundaries. We discuss the need for increased capacity building and investment in research programmes to address these challenges.

Keywords: ecosystem services, environmental change, capacity building, investment in research, data availability, knowledge systems, governance

Rights: © 2019 The Authors.

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5Citations

Published on
08 Aug 2019
Peer Reviewed
License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

 Open peer review from José R. Ferrer-Paris

Review

Review information

DOI:: 10.14293/S2199-1006.1.SOR-EARTH.A0RFBP.v1.RBZJHH
License:
This work has been published open access under Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0 , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Conditions, terms of use and publishing policy can be found at www.scienceopen.com .

ScienceOpen disciplines: Earth & Environmental sciences , Environmental change , Ecology , General environmental science , Life sciences
Keywords: Capacity building , Investment in research , Ecosystem services , Environmental science , Environmental change , Knowledge systems , Conservation , Biodiversity , Data availability , People and their environment , Governance

Review text

Nature's contributions to people (NCP) have been proposed as a central concept to articulate global policy around the interactions between ecosystems and biodiversity and the diversity of human communities.

The development of a comprehensive regional research agenda on NCP requires broad discussions and contributions from several perspectives. This contribution from Pearson et al. summarizes the results of a workshop held in Mexico by a group of early-career scientists from Latin America and the United Kingdom.

The authors identify five main groups of research questions regarding NCP (specifically biodiversity contributions to people) in the region. Three of these Research Questions are related to the advancement and improvement of ecological research per se (RQ1: quality of biodiversity data; RQ3: methods for integrating data; and RQ4: ecological hypothesis and paradigms); while the other two have a broader scope (RQ2: Integrating different knowledge systems; and RQ5: Multi-level governance across boundaries).

The list of questions presented in the table provides an overview of the themes and topics that are specially relevant for young researchers in the region . However, the manuscript does not deliver an in-depth discussion on how they are related or how can they be articulated with more complex issues regarding environment and nature policy in the region.

Sharing these ideas is an important first step, but future contributions need to include more illustrative and constructive approaches to build comprehensive pathways that link basic and applied research to real environmental and social impact.



Note:
This review refers to round of peer review and may pertain to an earlier version of the document.