Socio-ecological Dynamics in the Sonora River
LARA ALEJANDRINA CORNEJO DENMAN
Disciplines: Natural History, Plant Ecology
Regions: Arizona Uplands, Central Sonora
Chapter: Hermosillo
The services and resources provided by riparian ecosystems in arid zones are essential for ecological and human well-being at a local and regional level. Carbon storage and habitat quality are relevant ecosystem services (ES), since they are directly related to key environmental issues such as global change and loss of biodiversity; both themes represent important sources of alteration in riparian ecosystems. Some extensive activities such as agriculture, mining, grazing lands (and associated overgrazing) alter the integrity of riparian ecosystems, thus compromising the provision of the aforementioned ES. It is possible that some management practices developed at the local level (e.g. live fences and irrigation ditches) have mixed effects on riparian integrity, functioning to degrade or promote sources of ES. This project aims to investigate the use of natural resources carried out at the local level (in the riparian corridor) and the effects that these have on the provision of ES. This will be done through the application of interviews with key informants (residents of different communities of the Sonora River basin), which will be analyzed qualitatively to identify how the uses of riparian resources have various effects on ecological integrity. The information derived from the project can serve as a basic tool for the inhabitants to make better decisions about the management and care of their resources, and also as a precedent for the identification of priority areas for conservation.
