A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä
Indigenous territories and protected areas are crucial for ecosystem connectivity in the Amazon basin
Tekijät: Ritter, Camila Duarte; Muñoz, Jesús; Machado, Arielli Fabrício; Albert, James S.; Ribas, Camila C.; Carnaval, Ana C.; Ulloa Ulloa, Carmen; Carrillo, Juan D.; Tuomisto, Hanna; Armenteras, Dolors; Guayasamin, Juan M.
Kustantaja: National Academy of Sciences
Kustannuspaikka: WASHINGTON
Julkaisuvuosi: 2025
Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Tietokannassa oleva lehden nimi: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Lehden akronyymi: P NATL ACAD SCI USA
Artikkelin numero: e2418189122
Vuosikerta: 122
Numero: 31
Sivujen määrä: 9
ISSN: 0027-8424
eISSN: 1091-6490
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2418189122
Verkko-osoite: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2418189122
Rinnakkaistallenteen osoite: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/499640280
Ecosystem connectivity-the uninterrupted flow of natural processes within and among ecosystems-is critical for maintaining healthy ecosystem functions. However, in the Amazon drainage basin, multiple anthropogenic activities are rapidly disrupting connectivity. To assess the severity of this problem, we analyzed the spatial distributions of six major anthropogenic activities: dam construction, deforestation, fire, mining, oil and gas exploitation, and roads. We examined their impacts across four key landscapes: Amazonian Andes, lowland nonflooded forests, wetlands, and rivers. Using a resistance-based connectivity model, we quantified connectivity across terrestrial, wetland, and river ecosystems and found a marked decline in connectivity across the basin. A central focus of our study was the role of Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas (ITPAs), which collectively cover over 50% of the basin. Our findings show that ITPAs sustain significantly high levels of ecosystem connectivity. Only 14 to 16% of ITPA land is impacted by anthropogenic activities, compared to 38% in unprotected areas. Terrestrial ecosystems in the southern and eastern Amazon are heavily impacted by deforestation, mining, and fires, with significantly higher connectivity inside ITPAs than in unprotected areas (P < 0.01). Wetlands and riverine ecosystems also face severe fragmentation, particularly from dams and illegal mining-but maintain stronger connectivity within ITPAs (wetlands: P < 0.01; rivers: P < 0.001), with the few remaining free-flowing Andean rivers increasingly isolated from the lowland Amazon. Strengthening governance and sustainable initiatives in ITPAs, in partnership with local inhabitants, represents an expedient, efficient, and cost-effective strategy for conserving ecosystem connectivity in the Amazon basin.
Ladattava julkaisu This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |  |
Julkaisussa olevat rahoitustiedot:
This research was funded by the Science Panel for the Amazon. J.S.A. and A.C.C. acknowledge funding from the US NSF (J.S.A.: 0614334, 0741450, and 1354511; A.C.C.: DEB 1745562) .J.D.C. is supported by the Swiss NSF grant TMPFP2_209818. J.M. is supported by the grant PID2023-146996NB-I00 funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion/Agencia Estatal de Investigacion/10.13039/501100011033 and acknowledges Pablo Gutierrez (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Spain) for running part of the sensitivity analyses in his computers, Paul Galpern (University of Calgary, Canada) for interesting conversations and advice on connectivity analysis, and Luis Cayuela (Universidad ReyJuan Carlos, Spain) and Laura Barrios (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Spain) for statistical advice. H.T. acknowledges the Danish National Research Foundation (grant DNRF179) and the CLAMBIO consortium funded through the BiodivERsA2019-2020JointCall (Academy of Finland grant #344733) .J.M.G.'s research is supported by Universidad San Francisco de Quito (grants HUBI 17857, 5467, and 16871) . C.C.R. is funded by FAPEAM (Grants Biodiversa, Universal and IniciativaAmazpnia +10) and by CNPq (314860/2023-1) . We thank Elizabeth P.Anderson,Andrea C. Encalada, Elisa Bonaccorso, and three anonymous reviewers for their comments on the manuscript
