From landscape to ecosystem: across-scales functioning in changing environments (CRN2005)

This fact sheet describes a study analyzing transition zones (ecotones) between forest and non-forest sites across one Canadian and four South American locations to understand how climate change and human intervention drive ecosystem displacements.

• In the Andes, the boundary between forest and páramo is primarily determined by temperature and temperature extremes affecting trees and seedling success. While established trees stabilize this boundary by modifying the environment, human disturbance pushes the ecotone downward, opposing climate trends.
• The Gran Chaco dry forest has experienced extensive deforestation (80%), which is primarily driven by land use linked to remote markets, such as soybean production, and is further facilitated by an increase in rainfall.
• In Brazil and Canada, the productivity gains for trees resulting from increased atmospheric CO2 are being offset by a decrease in water availability, which is now causing tree growth to decline. This finding contradicts the assumption that higher CO2 levels always increase plant growth.
• Regional ecosystem dynamics vary by location: in Southern Brazil, sediment cores indicate forest-grassland boundaries shifted over centuries due to variable climate; in the Sierras de Córdoba, Argentina, recurrent fires are key drivers of montane forest and grassland distribution; and in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, mosaics of Araucaria forests, shrublands, grasslands, and croplands are influenced by climate, land forms, fire, and grazing.

APA

Sarmiento, G., Rada, F., Sarmiento, L., Acevedo, D., Llambi, L. D., Chacon, E., Schwartzkopf, T., Romero, L., Smith, J., García, C., Cabido, M., Renison, D., Cingolani, A. M., Pillar, V., Dillenburg, L., Behling, H., Roig, F. A., Carretero, E. M., Orloci, L., ... Ablan, M. (2010). From landscape to ecosystem: across-scales functioning in changing environments (CRN2005). Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/CRN2_5.pdf

Chicago

Sarmiento, Guillermo, Fermin Rada, Lina Sarmiento, Dimas Acevedo, Luis Daniel Llambi, Eulogio Chacon, Teresa Schwartzkopf, et al. From landscape to ecosystem: across-scales functioning in changing environments (CRN2005). Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, 2010. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/CRN2_5.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{sarmiento2010from, author = {Sarmiento, Guillermo and Rada, Fermin and Sarmiento, Lina and Acevedo, Dimas and Llambi, Luis Daniel and Chacon, Eulogio and Schwartzkopf, Teresa and Romero, Liccia and Smith, Julia and García, Carlos and Cabido, Marcelo and Renison, Daniel and Cingolani, Ana María and Pillar, Valerio and Dillenburg, Lúcia and Behling, Herman and Roig, Fidel A. and Carretero, Eduardo Martinez and Orloci, Lazlo and Anand, Madhur and Ablan, Magdiel}, title = {{From landscape to ecosystem: across-scales functioning in changing environments (CRN2005)}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2010}, month = feb, url = {https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/CRN2_5.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }