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| Author(s): |
Marcos Djun Barbosa Watanabe
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Campinas, SP. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos |
| Defense date: | 2012-08-24 |
| Examining board members: |
Enrique Ortega Rodriguez;
Ivan Bergier Tavares de Lima;
João Alfredo de Carvalho Mangabeira;
Luis Alberto Ambrosio;
Mario Vito Comar
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| Advisor: | Enrique Ortega Rodriguez |
| Abstract | |
Agricultural production systems occupy large areas in river basins whose sustainability is affected by human interference on its biogeochemical cycles. Although food and energy production are important to human well-being, other goods and services are also fundamental to society. Water, for instance, is a production factor for industrial and agricultural sectors, and is also essential to household consumption placed in rural and urban areas. Thus, this research project studied how food and energy production systems affect the ecosystem services of water production and net carbon sequestration in Taquarizinho watershed. In order to do so, a deterministic model was used to simulate hydrological and carbon flows in areas occupied by agricultural activities, pastures and native vegetation. The model compares values of water and carbon-related ecosystem services (USD ha-1yr-1) over time under different land-use scenarios in Taquarizinho watershed: native savanna, agroforestry, conventional cropping system, no-tillage cropping system, degraded pastures and improved pasture management. The methodology used is in accordance to the emergy concept which makes possible ecosystem services valuation based on the ratio of energy inputs and mass outputs leaving the river basin. In the model, we coupled hydrological and carbon processes in order to understand how carbon cycle is affected by changes in land-use and hydrological processes. Results shown that there is an hierarchy related to water and carbon services provision, which is related to the following scenarios, in descending order: native savanna, agroforestry, improved pasture management, no-tillage cropping system, degraded pasture, and conventional cropping system. The results in this thesis may be useful to support public policy oriented to compensation mechanisms aimed at enhancing water and carbon-related ecosystem services at river basin level (AU) | |