Evaluating conservation threats to reservoirs in the semiarid region of Brazil using the perception of residents

Evaldo de Lira Azevêdo; Maria Auxiliadora Drumond; Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves; Thelma Lúcia Pereira Dias; Joseline Molozzi

doi:10.15451/ec2020-02-9.04-1-15

Authors

Evaldo de Lira Azevêdo Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco - UFRPE, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Etnobiologia e Conservação da Natureza, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brasil.
Maria Auxiliadora Drumond Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia Conservação e Manejo da Vida Silvestre, ICB, Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG,31270-901, Brasil.
Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves Universidade Estadual da Paraíba - UEPB, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, CCBS, Rua das Baraúnas, 351, Bairro Universitário, Bodocongó, Campina Grande, PB, 58429-500, Brasil.
Thelma Lúcia Pereira Dias Universidade Estadual da Paraíba - UEPB, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, CCBS, Rua das Baraúnas, 351, Bairro Universitário, Bodocongó, Campina Grande, PB, 58429-500, Brasil.
Joseline Molozzi Universidade Estadual da Paraíba - UEPB, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, CCBS, Rua das Baraúnas, 351, Bairro Universitário, Bodocongó, Campina Grande, PB, 58429-500, Brasil.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15451/ec2020-02-9.04-1-15

Keywords:

Water Resources, Environmental Degradation, Lotic Ecosystems, Biocultural Conservation.

Abstract

Conservation and management strategies must be holistic, and therefore must guarantee the participation of local communities in the processes of identifying threats. Our study sought to identify the principal threats to reservoir conservation in the semiarid region of Brazil based on the perception of residents, and develop a conceptual model with the main threats to be used as a basis for orienting conservation measures. The study was undertaken with four communities around four reservoirs in two watersheds. A total of 126 people were interviewed to identify threats to reservoir conservation. The Criticality Index (CI) of threats was calculated based on the methodology developed by Open Patterns for Conservation Practices. Among the principal threats to reservoirs identified by local populations were discharging residues (both solid and liquids) and overfishing. In support of local perception, larger Criticality Index values were recorded for: 1- discharging residues (CI = 0.50), 2- deforestation in the riparian zone (CI= 0.20), and 3 - overfishing (CI = 0.17). The recorded threats put at risk the sustainability of local ecosystems and human populations. It will be necessary to develop effective conservation policies that promote environmental awareness and foster the participation of local communities in the sustainable administration of local ecosystems.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Evaldo de Lira Azevêdo, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco - UFRPE, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Etnobiologia e Conservação da Natureza, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brasil.

Unidade de Formação Geral

References

AESA (2016). Agência Executiva de Gestão das Água da Paraíba. [http://www.aesa.pb.gov.br/aesa-website] accessed 20 October 2016

Albuquerque UP, da Cunha LVFC, De Lucena RFP, Alves RRN (2014) Methods and techniques in ethnobiology and ethnoecology. 1 ed. Springer New York, USA. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8636-7

Alvares CA, Stape JL, Sentelhas PC, de Moraes G, Leonardo J, Sparovek G (2013). Köppen's climate classification map for Brazil. Meteorologische Zeitschrift. 22: 711-728. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2013/0507

Artell J, Ahtiainen H, Pouta E (2013). Subjective vs. objective measures in the valuation of water quality. Journal of environmental management. 130: 288-296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.09.007

Attayde JL, Brasil J, Menescal RA (2011). Impacts of introducing Nile tilapia on the fisheries of a tropical reservoir in North‐eastern Brazil. Fisheries Management and Ecology. 18: 437-443. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2400.2011.00796.x

Azevêdo EL, Alves RRN, Dias TLP, Molozzi J (2017a). How do people gain access to water resources in the Brazilian semiarid (Caatinga) in times of climate change? Environmental monitoring and assessment. 189: 1-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6087-z

Azevêdo EL, Barbosa, JEL, Viana LG, Anacleto MJP, Callisto M, Molozzi, J (2017b). Application of a statistical model for the assessment of environmental quality in neotropical semi-arid reservoirs. Environmental monitoring and assessment. 189: 1-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5723-3

Barbosa JEL, Medeiros ESF, Brasil J, Cordeiro RS, Crispim MCB, Silva GHG (2012). Aquatic systems in semi-arid Brazil: limnology and management. Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia. 24: 103-118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S2179-975X2012005000030

Brost BM, Beier P (2012). Comparing linkage designs based on land facets to linkage designs based on focal species. PLoS One. 7: 1-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048965

Brown CJ, Saunders MI, Possingham HP, Richardson AJ (2013). Managing for interactions between local and global stressors of ecosystems. PloS one. 8: 1-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065765

Callisto M, Goulart, M Barbosa FAR, Rocha O (2005). Biodiversity assessment of benthic macroinvertebrates along a reservoir cascade in the lower São Francisco river (northeastern Brazil). Brazilian Journal of Biology. 65: 229-240. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S1519-69842005000200006

Cavalcante S, Maciel RH (2008) Métodos de avaliação da percepção ambiental. In: Pinheiro JQ, Günther H (eds) Métodos de pesquisa nos estudos pessoa-ambiente. 1 ed. Casa do Psicólogo, São Paulo, Brasil, pp. 149-180.

Chellappa S, Bueno RM, Chellappa T, Chellappa NT, Val VMFA (2009). Reproductive seasonality of the fish fauna and limnoecology of semi-arid Brazilian reservoirs. Limnologica. 39: 325-329. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2009.06.003

Chellappa S, Câmara MR, Chellappa NT, Beveridge MCM, Huntingford FA (2003). Reproductive ecology of a neotropical cichlid fish, Cichla monoculus (Osteichthyes: Cichlidae). Brazilian Journal of Biology. 63: 17-26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S1519-69842003000100004

Cirilo JA (2008). Políticas públicas de recursos hídricos para o semi-árido. Estudos avançados. 22: 61-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-40142008000200005

CMP (2013). Open standards for the practice of conservation version 3.0. [http://cmp-openstandards.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/CMP-OS-V3-0-Final.pdf/] accessed 20 October 2016.

Cvitanovic C, McDonald J, Hobday AJ (2016). From science to action: principles for undertaking environmental research that enables knowledge exchange and evidence-based decision-making. Journal of Environmental Management. 183: 864-874. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.09.038

Davis A, Wagner JR (2003). Who knows? On the importance of identifying “experts” when researching local ecological knowledge. Human ecology. 31: 463-489. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025075923297

Driver LJ, Hoeinghaus DJ (2016). Fish metacommunity responses to experimental drought are determined by habitat heterogeneity and connectivity. Freshwater biology. 61: 533-548. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12726

Drobac D, Tokodi N, Simeunović J, Baltić V, Stanić D, Svirčev Z (2013). Human exposure to cyanotoxins and their effects on health. Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju. 64: 305-315. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/10004-1254-64-2013-2320

Fremier AK, Kiparsky M, Gmur S, Aycrigg J, Craig RK, Svancara LK, Goble DD, Cosens B, Davis FW, Scott JM (2015). A riparian conservation network for ecological resilience. Biological Conservation.191: 29-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.06.029

Gennet S, Howard J, Langholz J, Andrews K, Reynolds MD, Morrison SA (2013). Farm practices for food safety: an emerging threat to floodplain and riparian ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 11: 236-242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/120243

Giles-Corti B, Donovan RJ (2002). The relative influence of individual, social and physical environment determinants of physical activity. Social science & medicine. 54: 1793-1812. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(01)00150-2

Gutiérrez‐Cánovas C, Millán A, Velasco J, Vaughan IP, Ormerod SJ (2013). Contrasting effects of natural and anthropogenic stressors on beta diversity in river organisms. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 22: 796-805. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12060

Hartter J, Stampone MD, Ryan SJ, Kirner K, Chapman CA, Goldman A (2012). Patterns and perceptions of climate change in a biodiversity conservation hotspot. PloS one. 7: 1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032408

Hilborn ED, Beasley VR (2015). One health and cyanobacteria in freshwater systems: animal illnesses and deaths are sentinel events for human health risks. Toxins. 7: 1374-1395. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins7041374

Huang J, Li Q, Pontius RG, Klemas V, Hong H (2013). Detecting the dynamic linkage between landscape characteristics and water quality in a subtropical coastal watershed, Southeast China. Environmental management. 51: 32-44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-011-9793-2

Ingold T (2002). The perception of the environment: essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. Taylor & Francis e-Library.

Jackson MC, Loewen CJ, Vinebrooke RD, Chimimba CT (2016). Net effects of multiple stressors in freshwater ecosystems: a meta‐analysis. Global Change Biology. 22: 180-189. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13028

Kaufmann PR, Hughes RM, Van Sickle J, Whittier TR, Seeliger CW, Paulsen SG (2014a). Lakeshore and littoral physical habitat structure: a field survey method and its precision. Lake and Reservoir Management. 30: 157–176. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10402381.2013.877543

Kaufmann PR, Peck DV, Paulsen SG, Seeliger CW, Hughes RM, Whittier TR, Kamman NC (2014b). Lakeshore and littoral physical habitat structure in a national lakes assessment. Lake and Reservoir Management. 30: 192–215. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10402381.2014.906524

Kindu M, Schneider T, Teketay D, Knoke T (2013). Land use/land cover change analysis using object-based classification approach in Munessa-Shashemene Landscape of the Ethiopian Highlands. Remote Sensing. 5: 2411-2435. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs5052411

Lima SML, Barbosa LG, Cruz PS, Wanderley SL, Ceballos BSO (2012). Dinâmica funcional de reservatórios de usos múltiplos da região semiárida/Paraíba-Brasil. Revista Verde de Agroecologia e Desenvolvimento Sustentável. 7: 18-25.

Malaj E, Peter C, Grote M, Kühne R, Mondy CP, Usseglio-Polatera P, Bracka W, Schäfer RB (2014). Organic chemicals jeopardize the health of freshwater ecosystems on the continental scale. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111: 9549-9554. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1321082111

Mas JF, Velázquez A, Díaz-Gallegos JR, Mayorga-Saucedo R, Alcántara C, Bocco G, Castroa R, Fernández T, Pérez-Vega A (2004). Assessing land use/cover changes: a nationwide multidate spatial database for Mexico. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. 5: 249-261. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2004.06.002

Mekonnen MM, Hoekstra AY (2017). Global anthropogenic phosphorus loads to freshwater and associated grey water footprints and water pollution levels: A high‐resolution global study. Water resources research. 54: 345-358. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2017WR020448

Miradi (2013). Miradi Adaptive Management Software for Conservation Projects. [https://www.miradi.org/] accessed 16 February 2016.

Mustapha MK (2008). Assessment of the water quality of Oyun Reservoir, Offa, Nigeria, using selected physico-chemical parameters. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 8: 309-319.

Nisbett RE, Miyamoto Y (2005). The influence of culture: holistic versus analytic perception. Trends in cognitive sciences. 9: 467-473. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2005.08.004

Nóbrega PFA (2015) Aves aquáticas da área de proteção ambiental carste de Lagoa Santa: ecologia e conservação. PhD Thesis, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brasil.

Pamplin PAZ, Almeida TCM, Rocha O (2006). Composition and distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates in Americana Reservoir (SP, Brazil). Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia. 18: 121-132.

Periago ME, Tamburini DM, Ojeda RA, Cáceres DM, Díaz S (2017). Combining ecological aspects and local knowledge for the conservation of two native mammals in the Gran Chaco. Journal of Arid Environments. 147: 54-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2017.07.017

Perrin JL, Raïs N, Chahinian N, Moulin P, Ijjaali M (2014). Water quality assessment of highly polluted rivers in a semi-arid Mediterranean zone Oued Fez and Sebou River (Morocco). Journal of hydrology. 510: 26-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.12.002

Planalto central (2009). Lei 11.959/2009, Política Nacional de Desenvolvimento Sustentável da Aquicultura e da Pesca. [http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2007-2010/2009/lei/l11959.htm/] accessed 16 October 2016

Planalto central (2012). Lei nº 12.727/2012. 2012, Código Florestal [http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2011-2014/2012/lei/l12727.htm/] accessed 20 October 2017.

Robock SH (2012). Some historical reflections on the development of a major semi-arid region: The Brazilian northeast. Parcerias Estratégicas. 16: 75-84.

Salafsky N, Salzer D, Stattersfield AJ, Hilton‐Taylor, CRAIG, Neugarten R, Butchart SH, Collen B, Cox N, Master LL, O’Connor S, Wilkie D (2008). A standard lexicon for biodiversity conservation: unified classifications of threats and actions. Conservation Biology. 22: 897-911. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.00937.x

Semarh (2016). Secretaria de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos do Rio Grande do Rio Grande do Norte. [http://www.semarh.rn.gov.br/] accessed 20 October 2016.

Sibanda T, Selvarajan R, Tekere M (2015). Urban effluent discharges as causes of public and environmental health concerns in South Africa’s aquatic milieu. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 22: 18301-18317. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5416-4

Silva TC, Cruz MP, Araújo TAS, Schwarz ML, Albuquerque UP (2014) Methods in Research of Environmental Perception. In: Albuquerque UP, da Cunha LVFC, De Lucena RFP, Alves RRN (eds) Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology. 1 ed. Springer, New York, pp. 99-109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8636-7_7

Silva TC, Medeiros PM, Albuquerque UP (2010). Northeastern Brazilian students’ representations of Atlantic Forest fragments. Environment, development and sustainability. 12: 195-211. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-009-9189-0

Smith HF, Sullivan CA (2014). Ecosystem services within agricultural landscapes—Farmers' perceptions. Ecological Economics. 98: 72-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.12.008

Smith VH, Tilman, GD, Nekola JC (1999). Eutrophication: impacts of excess nutrient inputs on freshwater, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems. Environmental pollution. 100: 179-196. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0269-7491(99)00091-3

SNIS (2017). Sistema Nacional de Informações sobre Saneamento. [http://www.snis.gov.br/] accessed 20 October 2017.

Sousa E, Quintino V, Palhas J, Rodrigues AM, Texeira J (2016). Can environmental education actions change public attitudes? An example using the pond habitat and associated biodiversity. PloS one. 11: 1-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154440

Stephanson SL, Mascia MB (2014). Putting people on the map through an approach that integrates social data in conservation planning. Conservation biology. 28: 1236-1248. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12357

UNESCO (2015). Urban Waters in Brazil Challenges in the American: a Perspective from the Academies of Sciences. [https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000246414] accessed 25 October 2017

Vitousek PM, Mooney HA, Lubchenco J, Melillo JM (1997). Human domination of Earth’s ecosystems. Science. 277: 494–499. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5325.494

Vollmer D, Prescott MF, Padawangi R, Girot C, Grêt-Regamey A (2015). Understanding the value of urban riparian corridors: considerations in planning for cultural services along an Indonesian river. Landscape and Urban Planning .138: 144-154. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.02.011

West AO, Nolan JM, Scott JT (2016). Optical water quality and human perceptions: a synthesis. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water. 3: 167-180. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1127

WMO (2015). World Meteorological Organization. [https://www.wmo.int/pages/index_en.html] accessed 23 November 2017.