Abstract
In this chapter, we evaluate whether drylands have expanded and become increasingly arid over time using geographic information systems (GIS) and climate data across 33 Latin American country boundaries and across two property regime types in Mexico. In all cases, we evaluate and identify changes using the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Aridity Index (AI) that measures the annual ratio of potential evapotranspiration to precipitation. Annual fields of land surface precipitation and air temperature data are extracted from 1960 to 2017. We also compare aridity index summary statistics and trends between communal and non-communal land property regimes in Mexico as a proxy of communal environmental governance. Our results show that: (1) with some exceptions, most Latin American countries have experienced aridification from the 1961–1990 period to the 1991–2017 period, and the trend is for this pattern to continue; (2) in Mexico, communal lands experience slightly lower levels of aridification than non-communal lands. However, because the difference in aridity index values between periods is very small, the degree to which that difference is significant needs further research. If this difference were significant, it mean that communal land holders are at lower risk than non-communal land holders. At this point, however, we cannot claim that land regime practices have or have had any connection with the process of aridification itself.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Assies W (2008) Land tenure and tenure regimes in Mexico: an overview. J Agrar Chang 8(1):33–63
Barnes G (2014) Land Administration of Communal Land: Lessons from the Ejidos in Mexico, (7299) FIG Congress 2014. Engaging the Challenges – Enhancing the Relevance. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
García E (2004) Modificaciones al Sistema de Clasificación Climática de Kopen. (original de 1964). Instituto de Geografía de La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Serie Libros Num. 6. México
Huang J, Yu H, Guan X, Wang G, Guo R (2016) Accelerated dryland expansion underclimate change. Nat Clim Chang 6:166–171
Haenn N (2006) The changing and enduring ejido: a state and regional examination of Mexico’s land tenure counter-reforms. Land Use Policy 23(2):136–146
Jones AG, Ward P (1998) Privatizing the commons: reforming the Ejido and urban development in Mexico. Int J Urban Reg Res 22(1):76–93
Ojanen M, Zhou W, Miller DC, Nieto SH, Mshale B, Petrokofsky G (2017) What are the environmental impacts of property rights regimes in forests, fisheries and rangelands? Environmental Evidence 6(1):12
Paavola J (2007) Institutions and environmental governance: a reconceptualization. Ecol Econ 63(1):93–103
UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (2007) A spatial analysis approach to the global delineation of dryland areas of relevance to the CBD programme of work on dry and subhumid lands, Cambridge
UNESCO (1979) Map of the world distribution of arid regions: explanatory note. UNESCO, Paris
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendix
Appendix
Data Source References
-
1.
Clasificación de Koppen modificada por Enriqueta García, para adaptarlo a las condiciones de la República Mexicana
- 2.
-
3.
http://smn.cna.gob.mx/es/component/content/article?id=13:lop&catid=1:general
-
4.
Datos geográficos de las tierras de uso común, por estado - Formato SHAPE.
- 5.
-
6.
Diccionario de datos http://datos.ran.gob.mx/filesdd/ran_dd_dgcat_poligonos_tierras_uso_comun.pdf
-
7.
Números 11 al 17
- 8.
-
9.
Sistema de Información Geoespacial del Catastro Rural
-
10.
http://www.ran.gob.mx/ran/index.php/sistemas-de-consulta/sistema-de-informacion-geoespacial
-
11.
Listado de títulos de concesiones mineras
- 12.
-
13.
Consulta de la Cartografía Minera Digitalizada
- 14.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nickl, E., Millones, M., Parmentier, B., Lucatello, S., Trejo, A. (2020). Drylands, Aridification, and Land Governance in Latin America: A Regional Geospatial Perspective. In: Lucatello, S., Huber-Sannwald, E., Espejel, I., Martínez-Tagüeña, N. (eds) Stewardship of Future Drylands and Climate Change in the Global South. Springer Climate. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22464-6_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22464-6_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-22463-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-22464-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)