Paramo Soils: Analysis of Perceptions of Ecosystem Services and Economic Valuation of Carbon Content in the Southeastern Sierra of Ecuador
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| Autores: | , , |
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| Formato: | artículo original |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de Publicación: | 2021 |
| Descripción: | [Introduction]: The soil of the paramo contains large amounts of organic carbon due to the low temperatures that reduce the decomposition of the accumulating organic matter. These soils provide an important ecosystem service worldwide, acting as sinks by regulating the level of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. Additionally, the analysis of the environmental perception of these ecosystem services will help their conservation. [Objective]: Evaluate the perception that inhabitants have on the ecosystem services and determine the economic value of the carbon content in the soils of the paramo near the Cubilán Protective Forest, Ecuador. [Methodology]: Through an intentional sampling and a descriptive analysis, the inhabitants' perception of three communes on ecosystem services of the paramo was evaluated. In addition, to determine the economic value of carbon, two scenarios were proposed (intervened and natural soils); then, the method that obtains the damage cost avoided globally due to the climate change mitigation was applied. [Results]: The inhabitants perceive the four categories used to define the ecosystem services with a marked hierarchy. On the other hand, the intervened soils lose, on average, 26 % of carbon content compared to the content of natural sites, which, translated into an economic value, represents a monetary loss of approximately 6 %. [Conclusions]: The ecosystem services of this paramo are adequately perceived in its area of influence. Continuing with anthropogenic activities (livestock and/or agriculture) contributes to economic and carbon content losses. |
| País: | Portal de Revistas UNA |
| Institución: | Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica |
| Repositorio: | Portal de Revistas UNA |
| Lenguaje: | Español |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ojs.www.una.ac.cr:article/15586 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://www.revistas.una.ac.cr/index.php/ambientales/article/view/15586 |
| Palabra clave: | carbon dioxide, climate change, conservation, perception of the environment, soil Cambio climático; conservación; dióxido de carbono; percepción del entorno; suelo alterações climáticas, conservação, dióxido de carbono, percepção do ambiente, solo |