Nitrogen management policies urgently needed

The document outlines multiple IAI-funded research projects focusing on environmental and social vulnerabilities in the Americas. Key initiatives include the study of nitrogen cycling and wastewater treatment in Latin America, the conservation of tropical dry forests, the provision of climate services for agriculture in southeastern South America, and the assessment of freshwater ecosystem risks. Other projects examine the link between land use and malaria in the Amazon, water security in arid regions, the role of phytoplankton in carbon sequestration, the impact of transcontinental highways on zoonotic disease risk in Peru, and urban hydrological vulnerability in Mexico City.

• Excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers in Latin America leads to soil degradation and water pollution, necessitating immediate policies to ensure "the health of soils and an adequate nutrient balance".
• In South America, only 20 per cent of wastewater is treated; failure to increase treatment plant capacity could result in coastal nitrogen levels tripling by 2050.
• Tropical dry forests are globally under-studied, with only one scientific paper for every 300 on tropical rainforests, despite covering about 40 percent of tropical ecosystems worldwide.
• Climate change is increasing the prevalence of lianas in tropical dry forests, which contribute to forest destruction by strangling host trees.
• A collaborative network in southeastern South America has developed a meteorological database from 329 weather stations (covering data from 1961 to date) to provide climate services for the energy, water, agriculture, and health sectors.
• The Patagonian Sea acts as a significant CO2 reservoir, and together with the Humboldt and southern Brazil marine ecosystems, these areas absorb 40 per cent of global CO2 emissions and sustain over 20 per cent of the global fish catch.
• The construction of the 2,600-kilometer Peru-Brazil Inter-Oceanic Highway has altered wild rodent populations, increasing the risk of zoonotic diseases; a study found 78% of sampled rodents were positive for Bartonella bacteria and 24% for Leptospira.
• In the Argentinian Chaco, replacing woods with annual crops has caused a loss of 40% of carbon in the highest soil layer (to a depth of 1m) and a loss of 66mg of carbon per hectare of biomass in the surface.
• A computer model for the western Amazon demonstrates that eliminating mosquito larvae sources in areas more than 200 meters around settlements can cause malaria to disappear.

APA

Ometto, J. P. (n.d.). Nitrogen management policies urgently needed. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/ProjectBriefs_CRN3_en.pdf

Chicago

Ometto, Jean Pierre. Nitrogen management policies urgently needed. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, n.d. https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/ProjectBriefs_CRN3_en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ometto |first1=Jean Pierre |title=Nitrogen management policies urgently needed |publisher=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |url=https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/ProjectBriefs_CRN3_en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{omettondnitrogen, author = {Ometto, Jean Pierre}, title = {{Nitrogen management policies urgently needed}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, url = {https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/ProjectBriefs_CRN3_en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }