| dc.description.abstract | Alianza del Pastizal is a non-profit conservation organization that works to promote conservation practices for sustainable cattle ranching in Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. In Uruguay, the ranchers in the Colonia Juan Gutierrez face challenges with water resource management during annual flood and drought seasonal events predicted to increase in magnitude with climate change. Additionally, the grasslands they use for livestock grazing are threatened by native and non-native vegetative species woody encroachment, possibly coming from expanding nearby forestry plantations. The purposes of this dissertation were to 1) investigate the perceptions of practices promoted by Alianza for woody encroachment and water resource management to most efficiently use available resources, and 2) to determine if woody encroachment and the forestry plantations are having effects on the vegetation types in the Juan Gutierrez properties and on the water dynamics of the sites analyzed: Colonia properties, conservation area, and the forestry plantations. For these purposes we used quantitative and qualitative methods including two Google Earth Engine tools, Global Forest Watch 2.0 and the Temporal Evapotranspiration Aggregation Method (TEAM), and syntheses of themes, surveys, and a Q-method based interview. The findings indicate that prescribed burning for woody encroachment management is culturally unacceptable and highly regulated. However, there was positive receptivity to practices that align with a coexistence-based approach instead of an eradication approach. Carefully managed targeted grazing was identified as a possible option for woody encroachment management as it aligns with cultural, socioeconomic, and ecological contexts in the area. Ranchers assigned importance to caring for natural water bodies to use during future emergencies depending on their reliance on these water bodies for livestock watering sources. Ranchers assigned low importance to this practice if they were already implementing it or if they were using natural water bodies as a complement to an artificial livestock watering system. Ranchers who had limited access to natural water bodies assigned high importance to the strategic placing of artificial livestock waterers in their property. Low importance was assigned to this practice if other infrastructure, like fencing, needed to be installed prior to an artificial watering distribution system, or if no additional artificial waterers were needed. The water use efficiency analysis indicated that vegetation types in the forestry plantations had periods of instability where biomass production and water processes were disrupted. The gross primary production analysis indicated potential effects that forestry plantations have on the vegetation types in the Colonia Juan Gutierrez properties. Vegetation types from all sites followed a similar GPP pattern but it was clear that the vegetation types from the properties followed the GPP values from the forestry plantations more closely than the GPP values from the conservation area. The role of Alianza in helping ranchers in the Colonia navigate these challenges involves their role as mediator between ranching communities and potential opportunities that may provide financial incentives or subsidies to implement conservation practices. Most importantly is Alianza’s role in facilitating the dissemination of information and education to the Colonia ranchers regarding the proper implementation of these conservation practices. | |
