Abstract
Abrupt changes in land use/land cover have often characterized Andean rural landscapes. This is particularly notorious in the Paute River watershed in southern Ecuador. We seek to show how, under tenets of the global economy, rural mountain landscapes suffer constant modifications due to the agricultural practices of dwellers and migrants. Erosion of arable slopes takes center stage in analyzing vulnerability due to the high erodibility factor found in this watershed. By using remote sensing and GIS applications, we analyzed the potential erodibility with intersections of rural development constraining of ecosystem services, including the production of water, food, and cultural values in the Paute River watershed. We found six sources of migratory flows and analyzed topographic and elevation effects in potential erodibility indexes of agroecological options to ameliorate the environmental stress. We identified factors associated with migration trends observed in the area and assessed vulnerability issues of resource management that could prevent deforestation, soil erosion, and acculturation amidst the pressures of development in the region. We conclude that sustainable development options can be implemented with a watershed management approach oriented to diminish emigration. This approach shall be integrative, inclusive, and respectful of the rich biocultural diversity heritage conservation of southern Ecuador.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Åkesson CM, Matthews-Bird F, Bitting M, et al. (2020) 2,100 years of human adaptation to climate change in the High Andes. Nat Ecol Evol 4(1): 66–74. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-1056-2
Arellano M (2014) Institutional capacities for local climate change adaptation in the Paute River basin. Revista Universidad Católica Del Ecuador 99(1): 115–140. https://repositorio.pucesa.edu.ec/bitstream/123456789/1108/1/PUCE%2099.pdf#page=125
Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador (2016) La Ley Orgánica de Tierras Rurales y Territorios Ancestrales del Ecuador. Balslev Hand Luteyn JL (eds.) (1992) Paramo, An Andean Ecosystem Under Human Influence. http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=XF2015011387
Barreno Proaño IM (2017) La Ley Orgánica de Tierras Rurales y Territorios Ancestrales y su impacto en la institución de la propiedad en Ecuador. http://dspace.udla.edu.ec/handle/33000/7966
Bebbington A (2001) Globalized Andes? Livelihoods, Landscapes and Development. Ecumene 8(4): 414–436. https://doi.org/10.1177/096746080100800403
Bertoli S, Fernández-Huertas Moraga J and Ortega F (2011). Immigration policies and the Ecuadorian Exodus. The World Bank Economic Review, 25(1): 57–76. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhr004
Bertoli S and Marchetta F (2014) Migration, remittances and poverty in Ecuador. J Dev Stud 50(8): 1067–1089. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2014.919382
Buján RM (2003) La reciente inmigración latinoamericana a España. United Nations Publications. https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/7177/S035339_es.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Cadwallader MT (1992) Migration and Residential Mobility: Macro and Micro Approaches. Univ of Wisconsin Press. https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/0039.htm
Crespo-Toral H (2002) La Convención del Patrimonio Mundial y su impacto en América Latina. PH: Boletín Del Instituto Andaluz Del Patrimonio Histórico 10(40): 166–173. https://doi.org/10.33349/2002.40.1424
Delechat C (2001). International migration dynamics: the role of experience and social networks. Labour 15: 457–486. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9914.00173
Donoso-Correa ME and Sarmiento FO (2019) Geospatial Memory and Joblesness interpolated: International migration oxymora in the city of Biblián, Southern Ecuador. Am J Geogr Inf Syst 8(2): 60–88. https://doi.org/10.5923.j.ajgis.20190802.03.html
Fawcett JT (1989) Networks, linkages, and migration systems. Int Migr Rev 23(3): 671–680. https://doi.org/10.1177/019791838902300314
Fussell E (2010) The Cumulative causation of international migration in Latin America. Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci 630(1): 162–177. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716210368108
Gratius S (2006) El factor hispano: los efectos de la inmigración latinoamericana a EEUU y España. Boletín Elcano 77: 29. http://biblioteca.ribei.org/941/1/DT-049-2005.pdf
Gratton B (2007) Ecuadorians in the United States and Spain: history, gender and niche formation. J Ethn Migr Stud 33(4): 581–599. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830701265446
Griffin CB (1999) Watershed councils: an emerging form of public participation in natural resource management. J Am Water Resour. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.1999.tb03607.x
Hagen — Zanker J (2008) Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature. Maastrcht Graduate School of Governance Working Paper No. 2008/WP002. Available at https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1105657
Harden CP (1993) Land use, soil erosion, and reservoir sedimentation in an andean drainage basin in Ecuador. Mt Res Dev 13(2): 177–184. https://doi.org/10.2307/3673635
Harden CP (1996) Interrelationships between land abandonment and land degradation: a case from the Ecuadorian Andes. Mt Res Dev 16(3): 274–280. https://doi.org/10.2307/3673950
Harden CP (2001) Soil erosion and sustainable mountain development: experiments, observations, and recommendations from the Ecuadorian Andes. Mt Res Dev 21(1): 77–83. https://doi.org/10.1659/0276-4741(2001)021[0077:SEASMD]2.0.CO;2
Haug S (2008) Migration networks and migration decision-making. J Ethn Migr Stud 34(4): 585–605. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830801961605
Himley M (2009) Nature conservation, rural livelihoods, and territorial control in Andean Ecuador. Geoforum 40(5): 832–842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2009.06.001
Huttel C, Zebrowski C and Gondard P (1999) Paisajes agrarios del Ecuador. documentation.ird.fr. https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exldoc/pleins_textes/divers17-08/010022373.pdf
INEC (1990) REDATAM. Censo de Población y Vivienda 1990. https://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/censo-de-poblacion-y-vivienda/
INEC (2001) REDATAM. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2001. https://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/censo-de-poblacion-y-vivienda/
INEC (2010) REDATAM. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2010. https://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/censo-de-poblacion-y-vivienda/
INEC (2015) REDATAM. Sistema Integrado de Consultas. http://redatam.inec.gob.ec/cgibin/RpWebEngine.exe/PortalAction
Jokisch B and Pribilsky J (2002) The panic to leave: economic crisis and the “New Emigration” from Ecuador. Int Migr 40(4): 75–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2435.00206
Kremen C and Merenlender AM (2018) Landscapes that work for biodiversity and people. Science 362(6412): eaau6020. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau6020
Kurekova L (2011) Theories of migration: Conceptual review and empirical testing in the context of the EU East-West flows. Interdisciplinary Conference on Migration. Economic Change, Social Challenge. pp 901–918. https://cream.conference-services.net/resources/952/2371/pdf/MECSC2011_0139_paper.pdf
Kyle D (2000) Transnational Peasants: Migrations, Networks, and Ethnicity in Andean Ecuador. JHU Press. https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/transnational-peasants
Kyle DJ and Goldstein R (2011) Migration industries: a comparison of the Ecuador-US and Ecuador-Spain cases. http://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/17845
Lewis EG (2003) Local, Open Economies within the U.S.: How Do Industries Respond to Immigration? https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.494884
Llerena Pinto F, Llerena Pinto MC and Llerena Pinto MA (2015) Social Spending, Taxes and Income Redistribution in Ecuador (No. 28). Tulane University, Department of Economics website: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tul:ceqwps:28
Massey DS, Arango J, Hugo G, et al. (1993) Theories of international migration: A review and appraisal. Popul Dev Rev 19(3): 431–466. https://doi.org/10.2307/2938462
Massey DS and Riosmena F (2010) Undocumented Migration from Latin America in an Era of Rising U.S. Enforcement. Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci 630: 294–321. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716210368114
Military Geographic Institute (IGM), Ecuador (2017) Geoportal. http://www.geoportaligm.gob.ec/portal/
Morris A (1985) Forestry and Land-Use Conflicts in Cuenca, Ecuador. Mt Res Dev 5: 183. https://doi.org/10.2307/3673257
Pielke RA (2005) Land use and climate change. Science 310(5754): 1625–1626. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1120529
Porumbescu A (2015) Defining the new economics of labor migration theory boundaries: a sociological-level analysis of international migration. Revue Des Sciences Politiques (45): 55–64. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=730922
Rudel TK and Richards S (1990) Urbanization, roads, and rural population change in the Ecuadorian Andes. Stud Comp Int Dev 25(3): 73–89. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02687180
Sarmiento FO (2000) Breaking mountain paradigms: ecological effects on human impacts in Man-aged Tropandean landscapes. AMBIO 29(7): 423–431. https://doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447-29.7.423
Sarmiento FO (2008) Andes mountains and human dimensions of global change: An overview. Pirineos 163(1): 7–13. https://doi.org/10.3989/pirineos.2008.v163.18
Sarmiento FO (2010) Anthropogenic change in the landscapes of highland Ecuador. Geogr Rev 92(2): 213–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1931-0846.2002.tb00005.x
Sarmiento FO (2012) Contesting Páramo: Critical Biogeography of the Northern Andean Highlands. Charlotte: Kona Publishing and Media Group.
Sarmiento FO (2020) Montology Manifesto: echoes towards a transdisciplinary science of mountains. J Mt Sci 17(10): 2512–2527. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5536-2
Sarmiento FO, Russo R and Gordon B (2013) Tropical Mountains Multifunctionality: Dendritic Appropriation of Rurality or Rhyzomic Community Resilience as Food Security Panacea. In: Pillarisetti JR, Lawrey R and Ahmad A (eds.), Multifunctional Agriculture, Ecology and Food Security: International Perspectives. New York: Nova Science Publishers. pp 55–66. https://novapublishers.com/shop/multifunctional-agriculture-ecology-and-food-security-international-perspectives/
Sarmiento FO, Vázques A, Aguilar G, et al. (2018) Trees microrefugia and community-based conservation in tropandean mountainscapes: a bio-cultural approach for heritage management of “el collay” protected forest in Southeastern Ecuador. Satoyama Rev 4(1): 95–109. https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/97881/http://Perceptions_Bedmar_2018.pdf#page=105
Sarmiento FO and Kooperman G (2019) A socio-hydrological perspective on recent and future precipitation changes over tropical montane cloud forests in the Andes. Front Earth Sci 7: 324. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00324
Sarmiento FO (2002) Anthropogenic landscape change in highland Ecuador. Geogr Rev 92(2): 213–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1931-0846.2002.tb00005.x
Servan-Mori E, Leyva-Flores R, Infante Xibille C, et al. (2014) Migrants suffering violence while in transit through Mexico: factors associated with the decision to continue or turn back. J Immigr Minor Health 16(1): 53–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-012-9759-3
Slocombe DS (1993) Implementing ecosystem-based management. Bioscience 43(9): 612–622. https://doi.org/10.2307/1312148
Soussan J, Noel S, Harlin J and Schmidt S (2006) Linking poverty reduction and water management. United Nations Development Programme Stockholm Environment Institute Poverty-Environment Partnership. http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/handle/10535/5151
Stahl CW (1995) Theories of international labor migration: an overview. APMJ 4(2–3): 211–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/011719689500400203
Staver CP, Byers AC, Ravelo AC and Dickinson JC (1991) Refining Soil Conservation Strategies in the Mountain Environment: The Climatic Factor: An Ecuadorian Case Study. Mt Res Dev 11(2): 127–144. https://doi.org/10.2307/3673572
Taylor JE (1999) The new economics of labour migration and the role of remittances in the migration process. Int Migr 37(1): 63–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2435.00066
Villanueva AB, Díaz-Varela ER, Chao JT, et al. (2018) Enhancing effective area-based conservation through the sustainable use of biodiversity in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS). Satoyama Rev 4(1): 1–13. https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:6636/SITR_vol4_fullset_FINAL_web.pdf
Villavicencio M (1858) Geografia de la Republica del Ecuador. Ed. Unión. Quito. http://repositorio.casadelacultura.gob.ec/handle/34000/1349
Viteri X (2017) New Dimensions in the Territorial Conservation Management in Ecuador. Indigeneity and the Sacred: Indigenous Revival and the Conservation of Sacred Natural Sites in the Americas. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvw04ck0.18
Waters WF (1997) The Road of Many Returns: Rural Bases of the Informal Urban Economy in Ecuador. Latin Am Perspect 24(3): 50–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X9702400304
Young KR (1998) Deforestation in landscapes with humid forests in the central Andes: Patterns and processes. Nature’s Geography: New Lessons for Conservation in Developing Countries. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. pp 75–99. https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/494604/TOC
Young KR (2009) Andean Land Use and Biodiversity: Humanized Landscapes in a Time of Change. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Missouri Botanical Garden 96(3): 492–507. https://doi.org/10.3417/2008035
White S (2013) Grass páramo as hunter-gatherer landscape. Holocene 23(6): 898–915. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683612471987
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to individuals in the Paute and Gualaceo GADs, the University of Cuenca, and other institutions in the Paute River watershed. We thank Dr. Dunlian QIU who was at the VULPES Ecuador meeting and stimulated our submission to JMS, and two anonymous reviewers that improved the manuscript. MD and FS worked with the Neotropical Montology Collaboratory of the University of Georgia, with funds from the VULPES project (NSF-1624207).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Donoso, M.E., Sarmiento, F.O. Changing mountain farmscapes: vulnerability and migration drivers in the Paute River watershed, Southern Ecuador. J. Mt. Sci. 18, 1902–1919 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-020-6127-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-020-6127-y