Nature-based solutions for multifunctional landscapes management

• Grant number: 23/12033-2
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Regular Research Grants
• Start date: June 01, 2024
• End date: May 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Debora Cristina Rother
• Grantee: Debora Cristina Rother
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências da Natureza (CCN). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Campus de Lagoa do Sino. Buri , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Alexandra Sanches ; Alexandre Camargo Martensen ; Angélica Maria Penteado Martins Dias ; CARLOS ALBERTO DE MATTOS SCARAMUZZA ; Fábio Grigoletto ; Julia Tavella ; Márcio Rogério Silva ; Marcus Vinícius Peinado Gomes ; Marília Palumbo Gaiarsa ; Paulo Roberto Guimarães Junior ; Pedro Jordano ; Pedro Manoel Galetti Junior ; Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues ; Tamíris Alves de Araújo ; Tatiana Machado de Souza
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/02129-8 - LANDSCAPE HETEROGENEITY OF AGROECOSYSTEMS AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE DYNAMICS OF PREDATORY INSECTS, BP.IC; 24/17945-2 - Mapping complex relationships in agroecosystems: biological diversity and interactions from a transdisciplinary perspective., BP.PD

Abstract

This proposal emerges from the environmental management demands identified during the development of the Municipal Plans for the Conservation and Recovery of the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado in seven municipalities of Alto Paranapanema (SP), within the framework of the "Planos da Mata" project (an initiative by the Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica and Suzano SA) with direct participation from UFSCar. One of the main issues highlighted is the reduction of native vegetation, especially along watercourses, where the deficit of permanent preservation areas is approximately 50%. This reduction in vegetation cover, due to agricultural expansion combined with the necessity of using significant amounts of fertilizers, agricultural pesticides, and irrigation, generates impacts on ecosystems and increases vulnerability to climate change. This, in turn, affects the functioning and ecosystem services (ES) with a direct influence on human well-being. Various strategies have been tested to reverse this scenario; however, they have consistently encountered socioeconomic, political, and ecological barriers. In this study, we will analyze ES that are essential for agroecosystems, with the aim of co-producing strategies that result in win-win outcomes when restoring specific locations within the landscape. We will 1) evaluate scenarios in which ES related to agricultural pest control are maximized, 2) create a protocol featuring functional combinations of plant species that aid in the restoration of degraded areas and in the provision of ES related to pest control and agroecosystem management, and 3) identify factors that influence environmental governance and the capacity to formulate and implement public policies for landscape management, as well as those that impact investment and agricultural production decisions. These steps will be co-produced based on a pre-established collaboration between between academia, municipalities, NGOs, the community and the productive sector. Our findings will enhance the management of multifunctional landscapes, supported by the development of restoration models for functional tropical forests, promoting high levels of biodiversity and ES provision. (AU)