This paper presents the results of one of the hydrological models, the InVEST “Annual Water Yield” (InVEST–AWY), applied to the Meta River basin in Colombia, which covers an area of 113,981 km². The ...study evaluates the performance of the model in different subbasins of the Meta River basin. The model’s accuracy was assessed using different statistical measures, including Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) coefficient, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), correlation coefficients for the calibration (rcal) and validation (rval) periods. The overall performance of the model in the Meta River basin is relatively poor as indicated by the low NSE value of 0.07 and high RMSE value of 1071.61. In addition, the model explains only a 7% of the variance in the observed data. The sensitivity analysis revealed that a 30% reduction in crop coefficient (Kc) values would result in a 10.7% decrease in water yield. The model estimated, for example, the annual average water yield of the river in 2018 as 1.98 × 1011 m3/year or 6273.4 m3/s, which is 1.3% lower than the reported value. The upper Meta River subbasin shows the highest NSE value (0.49), indicating a good result between observed and simulated water discharge. In contrast, the South Cravo River subbasin shows a negative NSE value of −1.29, indicating poor model performance. The Yucao River subbasin and the upper Casanare River subbasin also show lower NSE values compared to the upper Meta River subbasin, indicating less accurate model performance in these subbasins. The correlation coefficients in calibration (rcal) and validation (rval) for the upper Meta River, Yucao River, South Cravo River, and upper Casanare River subbasins were 0.79 and 0.83, 0.4 and 0.22, 0.5 and −0.25, and 0 and 0.18, respectively. These results provide useful insights into the limitations for the proper use of the InVEST–AWY model in Colombia. This study is the first to use the InVEST–AWY model on a large scale in the territory of Colombia, allowing to evaluate its effectiveness in hydrological modeling for water management.
La papa (Solanum tuberosum) es un cultivo clave para la seguridad alimentaria de la población mundial y característico de los sistemas de producción campesina en Colombia. Se siembra en zonas de alta ...montaña, cerca de ecosistemas frágiles y estratégicos como los páramos y sus zonas de amortiguación, realidades como el cambio y la variabilidad climática afectan significativamente la sostenibilidad del sistema. Productores y asistentes técnicos locales, han definido el déficit hídrico como la principal limitante agroclimática para el cultivo. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar mediante modelos microeconómicos la viabilidad de tecnologías agrícolas orientadas a aumentar la resiliencia al cambio climático en el cultivo de papa. Se recopiló información primaria, de tipo cuantitativo y cualitativo mediante encuestas y talleres participativos con productores y asistentes técnicos, a través de un Análisis Factorial Múltiple de Mezcla de Datos (FAMD) se tipificó el sistema de producción; se hizo uso de programación lineal para evaluar económicamente los sistemas de pequeño y mediano productor, tecnologías de siembra de nuevas variedades certificadas y de labores de fertilización como alternativas para enfrentar un escenario de déficit hídrico. Los resultados muestran diferentes tipos de productores de papa, así como alta viabilidad de la incorporación de estas prácticas, por lo cual este modelo es un insumo para el proceso de toma de decisiones de los productores y asistentes técnicos que contribuyan al aumento de la resiliencia, rentabilidad y sostenibilidad del sistema productivo ante los escenarios de cambio y variabilidad climática.
This study assessed the precipitation recycling and moisture sources in the Colombian Pacific region between 1980–2017, based on the monitoring of moisture in the atmosphere through the Eulerian ...Water Accounting Model-2 layer (WAM2 layer) and the delimitation of the area contributing to terrestrial and oceanic moisture in the region is performed using the “precipitationshed” approach. The results indicate a unimodal precipitation recycling ratio for the North and Central Pacific and Patía-Mira regions, with the highest percentages between March and April, reaching 30% and 34%, respectively, and the lowest between September and October (between 19% and 21%). Moreover, monthly changes in the circulation of the region promote a remarkable variability of the sources that contribute to the precipitation of the study area and the spatial dynamics of the precipitationshed. From December to April, the main contributions come from continental sources in eastern Colombia and Venezuela, the tropical North Atlantic, and the Caribbean Sea, a period of high activity of the Orinoco Low-Level jet. In September, the moisture source region is located over the Pacific Ocean, where a southwesterly cross-equatorial circulation predominates, converging in western Colombia, known as the Choco Jet (CJ), decreasing the continental contribution. An intensified Caribbean Low-Level Jet inhibits moisture sources from the north between June and August, strengthening a southerly cross-equatorial flow from the Amazon River basin and the southeastern tropical Pacific. The March–April (September–October) season of higher (lower) recycling of continental precipitation is related to the weakening (strengthening) of the CJ in the first (second) half of the year, which decreases (increases) the contribution of moisture from the Pacific Ocean to the region, increasing (decreasing) the influence of land-based sources in the study area.
Livestock raising is an important sector of the Colombian economy, which will face serious challenges in the next decade, including adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. Colombia must ...change the model of livestock production in a very short time by freeing up areas of pasture for other uses and focusing intensified livestock production in suitable zones. Despite the urgency and the magnitude of the required changes, only isolated small-scale initiatives exist. Colombia therefore has the challenge to scale-up these initiatives1, but at present it has no program designed to achieve this objective. We started by analyzing the policies, actors, and existing initiatives in Colombia. We then sought to understand the potential for and the limitations to scaling-up promising initiatives to face the challenges of climate change in the livestock sector. We identified the key elements from previous initiatives and classified them into the conceptual spaces identified in the theory of scaling-up. These are the spaces in matters of: policy, fiscal and financial matters, institutional capacity, learning, partnerships, and technical matters, emphasizing the importance of the technical dimension. Finally, we propose some elements for the design of Colombia's national program of livestock raising.
In this research, we explored rainfall variability in the Sogamoso River Basin (SRB), its relationship with multiple scales of variability associated with El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and the ...implications for rainfall prolongation during multiyear La Niña events. First, we examined time-frequency rainfall variations in the SRB based on the standardized precipitation index (SPI) from 1982 to 2019, using wavelet transform and principal component analysis (PCA). In addition, we applied wavelet analysis to investigate the links at different time scales between ENSO and the main mode of rainfall variability in the SRB. Finally, we explored the role that each scale of variability played in the prolongation and intensity of rainfall in the SRB during the 1998–2000 and 2010–2012 multiyear La Niña events. The results of the wavelet analyses revealed significant ENSO relationships affecting SRB rainfall at three different scales: quasi-biennial (2–3-years) between 1994 and 2002, as well as from 2008 to 2015; interannual (5–7 years) from 1995 to 2011; and quasi-decadal (9–12 years) from 1994 to 2012. This indicates that multiyear events are a consequence of the interaction of several scales of variability rather than a unique scale. During the 1998–2000 event, El Niño conditions were observed during the first half of 1998; subsequently, a cooling of the central and eastern tropical Pacific (western tropical Pacific) on the quasi-biennial (interannual) scale was observed during 1999; in 2000, only La Niña conditions were observed on the interannual scale. Therefore, during this event, the quasi-biennial (interannual) scale promoted wet conditions in the Caribbean, the Andes, and the Colombian Pacific from June–August (JJA) 1998 to JJA 1999 (during 1999–2000). During the 2010–2012 La Niña event, the interbasin sea surface temperature gradient between the tropical Pacific and tropical North Atlantic contributed to strengthening (weakening) of the Choco jet (Caribbean low-level jet) on the quasi-biennial scale during 2010, and the interannual scale prolonged its intensification (weakening) during 2011–2012, acting to extend the rainy periods over most of the Colombian territory. Variations on quasi-decadal scales were modulated by the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO), resulting in a further intensification of the 2010–2012 La Niña event, which developed under conditions of the cold PDO (CPDO) phase, whereas the 1998–2000 La Niña occurred during the transition from warm (WPDO, 1977–1998) to cold (CPDO, 2001–2015) conditions. These results indicate that the interaction of quasi-biennial to quasi-decadal scales of variability could play a differential role in the configuration and prolongation of rainfall events in the SRB.
The processes countries use to revise their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the UNFCCC's Paris Agreement will be key to ensure that their pledges lead to effective climate change ...policy. In many developing countries, the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector is central to their NDCs. For this study, a marginal abatement cost (MAC) curve was used to review Vietnam's mitigation pledges pertaining to the AFOLU sector. We conclude that Vietnam has the potential to increase its NDC pledges, especially in the land use sector and through negative cost mitigation measures including water techniques for rice cultivation, agroforestry, and management of livestock diets and manure. While the MAC curve alone is insufficient to prioritize policy options, this study highlights the fundamental importance of continuous data improvement and refinement for monitoring NDC actions and ultimately achieving the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.
Forage-based livestock production plays a key role in national and regional economies, for food security and poverty alleviation, but is considered a major contributor to agricultural GHG emissions. ...While demand for livestock products is predicted to increase, there is political and societal pressure both to reduce environmental impacts and to convert some of the pasture area to alternative uses, such as crop production and environmental conservation. Thus, it is essential to develop approaches for sustainable intensification of livestock systems to mitigate GHG emissions, addressing biophysical, socio-economic and policy challenges. This paper highlights the potential of improved tropical forages, linked with policy incentives, to enhance livestock production, while reducing its environmental footprint. Emphasis is on crop-livestock systems. We give examples for sustainable intensification to mitigate GHG emissions, based on improved forages in Brazil and Colombia, and suggest future perspectives.
To conduct a non-monetary valuation of ecosystem services, this study explored combining data on the use of ecosystem resources with measuring the effort expended on agricultural activities in three ...communities of the lower Caqueta, Colombian Amazon. By measuring the energy expended by people during their principal subsistence activities, a measure of wellbeing was also indirectly obtained. For the three communities, the most costly ecosystem service in terms of energy expended was land in forests, which is prepared for planting with felling and clearing, with a value of 1,353 kcal per workday. This was followed by bush meat from hunting at 811 kcal per workday, fish at 682 kcal, obtaining food from the chagra (small family farming plot) at 470 kcal, collecting fruits at 380 kcal, collecting firewood at 148 kcal, and fetching water at 29 kcal. The preparation of casabe (cassava flatbread) as a cultural service has an energy cost of 386 kcal, while preparing mambe (toast pulverized coca leaves) has a much higher cost at 808 kcal.
Introduction. The cultivation of high-value fruit species is a profitable agricultural activity in many tropical countries; however, intensive fruit cultivation may depend on high amounts of external ...inputs. The objective of our study was to quantify and compare the resource use during the cultivation of eight tropical fruit species (Rubus glaucus, Solanum quitoense, Passiflora edulis, Cyphomandra betacea, Physalis peruviana, Ananas comosus, Persea americana and Mangifera indica) commonly cultivated in Colombia. It further aimed to identify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the selected production systems and to highlight the potential to contribute to climate change mitigation efforts. Materials and methods. The analysis was based on data from agricultural databases and applied a life-cycle assessment with energy use and GHG emissions as impact categories. Furthermore, economic indicators were taken into account with the aim of integrating the environmental and economic goals of production systems. Results and discussion. Among the eight fruit species studied, mango (Mangifera indica) was found to have the lowest and tree tomato (Cyphomandra betacea) the highest emission profile. The variability in resource use among growers of the same species was high, indicating the need to improve management abilities at the farm level. Mineral fertilizer production was the highest contributor to GHG emissions. GHG- and energy-efficient management alternatives would have a high potential to reduce the carbon footprint of fruit cultivation. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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