Abstract
On the basis of research conducted in three contrasting South American ecoregions (southern Patagonia, Argentina; the central Pampas and Campos, Uruguay; and western Amazonia, Brazil), this chapter aims to better understand the complex sets of reasons that have recently led local societies to adopt more sustainable pasture management in South America. After a brief overview of each of the three biomes, representative social–ecological systems of pastoralism are identified with the objective to describe their respective pasture management history, especially the colonization process and the settlement of the pioneers, and the successive farming systems, mainly the practices related to herd and pasture management, are compared. Finally, the main local and national policies regarding the livestock sector and landownership are analyzed. The evolution of the social–ecological systems of pastoralism in these ecoregions was assessed with a three-dimensional model of vulnerability based on the agroecosystem resilience, livelihood improvement, and institutional capability. The evolution of the mental models about livestock has also been analyzed to better understand the current perceptions of the local people and their scenarios for the future of livestock in their social–ecological systems. The results focused on the dynamics of rangeland management, the vulnerability of the pastoral social–ecological systems, and the evolution of the mental models of local people about livestock, so as to discuss the different rhythms of transformation and the existence of critical thresholds. Besides diverse land and social issues, it is imperative to intensify livestock production and increase the offer of new technologies, as well as to identify some relevant human dimension factors, such as the demand of local societies for collective livelihood improvement, the recent national and international environmental policies related to global warming and biodiversity, and the stronger awareness of consumers for sustainable development. In the context of global change, the practices of rangeland management will change in a more sustainable way, resulting in better society–environment interaction and human–nature integration.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Community settled by metis (cross-breeding) of Amerindians and descendants of Europeans migrants.
References
Allen VG, Batello C, Berretta EJ, Hodgson J, Kothmann M, Li X, McIvor J, Milne J, Morris C, Peeters A, Sanderson M, The Forage and Grazing Terminology Committee (2011) An international terminology for grazing lands and grazing animals. Grass Forage Sci 66:2–28. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2494.2010.00780.x
Arbeletche P, Perrugorría A, Saravia A, Correa P, Torres(de) M-F, Morales H, Franco R, Gédouin M, Poccard-Chapuis R, Bonaudo T, Capdevila L, Valarié P, Tourrand J-F (2011) El norte del Uruguay: ¿cómo analizan los actores la dinámica de la ganadería? II jornadas interdisciplinarias de estudios agrarios y agroindustriales, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1–4 November 2011
Ares J (2006) Systems valuing of natural capital and investment in extensive pastoral systems: lessons from the Patagonian case. Ecol Econ 62(1):162–173
Blanco PD et al (2013) A land cover map of Latin America and the Caribbean in the framework of the SERENA project. Remote Sensing of Environ 132:13–31
Cattan A (2014) La préservation des prairies dans la PAC: Les raisons d’une illusion. Le courier de l’environnement de l’INRA no. 94. pp 91–103
Coronato FR (2010) Le rôle de l’élevage bovin dans La construction du territoire de la Patagonie. Doctoral thesis, ABIES/AgroParisTech, Paris
Coronato FR, Fasioli E, Schweitzer A, Tourrand JF (2011) Rethinking the role of sheep in local development of Patagonia, Argentina. In: 9th international rangeland congress, workshop: livestock farming embedded in local development, Rosario, 02/03-04-11, pp 19–20
Crosby A (2004) Ecological imperialism: the biological expansion of Europe, 900–1900. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 390pp
Dong S, Wen L, Liu S, Zhang X, Lassoie JP, Yi S, Li X, Li JY (2011) Vulnerability of worldwide pastoralism to global changes and interdisciplinary strategies for sustainable pastoralism. Ecol Soc 16(2):10, http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss2/art10/
Droulers M (2001) Brésil, une géohistoire. Presses Universitaires de France
Guido A, Díaz V, Baldassini P, Paruelo J (2014) Spatial and temporal variability in aboveground net primary production of Uruguayan Grasslands. Rangeland Ecol Manage 67(1):30–38. doi:10.2111/REM-D-12-00125.1
Jarvis LS (1981) Predicting the diffusion of improved pastures in Uruguay. Am J Agric Econ 63(3):495–502
Litre G (2010) GaúchosGlobais. As percepções e estratégias de adaptação dos pecuaristas familiares gaúchos da Argentina, Brasil e Uruguai num Pampa em transformação. Tese de Doutorado, Centro do Desenvolvimento Sustentável—Universidade de Brasília (CDS-UnB), Brasília-DF, Brasil/IHEAL La Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3, Paris
March J (2010) The ambiguities of experience. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 152p
Melville EGK (1997) A plague of sheep. Environmental consequences of the conquest of Mexico. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 220p
Milchunas D, Sala O, Lauenroth W (1988) A generalized model of the effects of grazing by large herbivores on grassland community structure. Am Nat 132:87–106
Moraes MI (2008) La pradera perdida. Historia y economía del agro uruguayo: una visión de largo plazo, 1760–1970. In: Linardi, Risso (eds), Montevideo (https://books.google.com.br/books/about/La_pradera_perdida.html?id=RGEVAQAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y)
Morales H (2007) Évaluation des conséquences de décisions stratégiques en élevage à l’herbe en Uruguay. Une approche par les systèmes multi-agents (SMA). Doctoral thesis, ABIES/AgroParisTech, Paris
Morales H, Homem V, Champredonde M, Tourrand JF (2011) South American livestock farming expansion. the long way to sustainability. In: Kammili T, Hubert B, Tourrand JF (eds) A paradigm shift in livestock management: from resource sufficiency to functional integrity. Cardère, Lirac, pp 73–85, ISBN: 978-2-914053-57-0
Paruelo J, Jobbágy E, Sala O (1998) Biozones of Patagonia (Argentina). Ecol Aust 8:145–153
Paruelo JM, Piñeiro G, Baldi G, Baeza S, Lezama F, Altesor A, Oesterheld M (2010) Carbon stocks and fluxes in rangelands of the Rio de la Plata Basin. Rangel Ecol Manage 63:94–108
Piñeiro G, Paruelo JM, Oesterheld M (2006) Potential long-term impacts of livestock introduction on carbon and nitrogen cycling in grasslands of southern South America. Glob Chang Biol 12:1267–1284
Poccard-Chapuis R (2004). Les réseaux de la conquête. Élevage bovin et structuration de l’espace en Amazonie brésilienne. Doctoral thesis, Université de Paris X
Santiago AA (1972) O zebu na India, no Brasil e no mundo. Inst. Camp. Ens. Agric., Campinas, 744p
Sayago D, Tourrand JF, Bursztyn M, Drummond JA (eds) (2010) L’Amazonie, un demi-siècle après la colonisation. QUAE, Versailles, 271p
Schmink M, Wood C (1992) Contested frontiers in Amazonia. Colombia Press University, New York, 387p
Soriano A, Paruelo J (1990) El pastoreo ovino: principios ecológicos para el manejo de los campos. Ciencia Hoy 2(7):44–53
Tourrand JF, Vaz V, Veiga JB, Quanz D, Poccard-Chapuis R (2012) Pionnier d’Amazonie: une vision particulière de l’incertitude. In: Agir en situation d’incertitude. QUAE, Paris
Tourrand JF, Barnaud C, Dobremez L, Lasseur J, Capdevila, Valarié P, Cournut S, Ickowicz A, Moulin CH, Dedieu B (2014). Mental model about Livestock at global scale in a global perspective. Animal
Treccani GD (2001) Violência & grilagem: instrumentos de aquisição da propriedade da terra no Pará. UFPA, ITERPA, Belém, 600p
Vaz V (2013) A formação dos latifúndios no sul do estado do Pará: terra, pecuária e desflorestamento. Tese de doutorado. CDS/ UnB. Brasília
Veiga JB, Tourrand JF, Piketty MG, Poccard-Chapuis R, Alves AM, Thales MC (2004) Expansão e trajetórias da pecuária na Amazônia: estado do Pará, vol 1. Editora da Universidade de Brasilia, Brasília
Walker B, Salt D (2006) Resilience thinking: sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world. Island, Washington, 192p
Westoby M, Walker B, Noy-Meir I (1989) Opportunistic management for rangelands not at equilibrium. J Range Manage 42:266–274
Williams BK, Brown ED (2014) Adaptive management: from more talk to real action. Environ Manage 53:465–479. doi:10.1007/s00267-013-0205-7
Acknowledgments
Acknowledge to the following research projects: MOUVE (ANR, France), PIC (Uruguay) and G2IES (Argentina).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Morales, H. et al. (2016). Building New Human–Natural Systems for Sustainable Pasture Management in South America. In: Dong, S., Kassam, KA., Tourrand, J., Boone, R. (eds) Building Resilience of Human-Natural Systems of Pastoralism in the Developing World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30732-9_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30732-9_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-30730-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-30732-9
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)