From biophysical to social-ecological trade-offs: integrating biodiversity conservation and agricultural production in the Argentine Dry Chaco

The study identifies a nonlinear efficiency frontier in the Argentine Dry Chaco where transitioning from low- to intermediate-intensity land-use systems allows for significant production gains with minimal conservation losses. A 'land sharing with conservation' scenario (70% intermediate-intensity systems and 30% undisturbed forests) was found to optimize both avian habitat and agricultural productivity. The research categorizes landholders into preproductivist, multifunctional, and productivist groups, noting that while preproductivists may endogenously transition to multifunctional regimes to increase productivity by 35-65% without harming avian habitat, productivists require exogenous incentives to adopt similar regimes that could increase conservation outcomes by 30-50% without significant productivity loss.

• The efficiency frontier for avian habitat and agricultural productivity is nonlinear and concave, suggesting that transitioning from low- to intermediate-intensity systems can result in large production gains with small conservation losses.
• A land-use scenario consisting of 70% intermediate-intensity systems and 30% undisturbed forests provides the highest combined outcome for agricultural productivity and avian habitat.
• Different landholder groups exhibit varying preferences: preproductivists may transition to multifunctional regimes to increase productivity by 35-65% without compromising avian habitat, whereas productivists could increase conservation outcomes by 30-50% without significant productivity loss but would require exogenous incentives and regulations to do so.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2025). From biophysical to social-ecological trade-offs: integrating biodiversity conservation and agricultural production in the Argentine Dry Chaco. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/from-biophysical-to-social-ecological-trade-offs-integrating-biodiversity-conservation-and-agricultural-production-in-the-argentine-dry-chaco/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. From biophysical to social-ecological trade-offs: integrating biodiversity conservation and agricultural production in the Argentine Dry Chaco. 2025. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/from-biophysical-to-social-ecological-trade-offs-integrating-biodiversity-conservation-and-agricultural-production-in-the-argentine-dry-chaco/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=From biophysical to social-ecological trade-offs: integrating biodiversity conservation and agricultural production in the Argentine Dry Chaco |date=15 January 2025 |url=https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/from-biophysical-to-social-ecological-trade-offs-integrating-biodiversity-conservation-and-agricultural-production-in-the-argentine-dry-chaco/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2025from, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{From biophysical to social-ecological trade-offs: integrating biodiversity conservation and agricultural production in the Argentine Dry Chaco}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/from-biophysical-to-social-ecological-trade-offs-integrating-biodiversity-conservation-and-agricultural-production-in-the-argentine-dry-chaco/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }