281
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. Lucatello et al. (eds.), Stewardship of Future Drylands and Climate
Change in the Global South, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22464-6_16
Chapter 16
Drylands, Aridification, and Land
Governance in Latin America: A Regional
Geospatial Perspective
E. Nickl, M. Millones, B. Parmentier, S. Lucatello, and A. Trejo
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.
E. Nickl
University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
M. Millones (*)
Department of Geography, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA, USA
e-mail: mmillone@umw.edu
B. Parmentier
SESYNC, Annapolis, MD, USA
S. Lucatello
Estudios Ambientales y Territoriales, Instituto Mora, Mexico City, Mexico
A. Trejo
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. Lucatello et al. (eds.), Stewardship of Future Drylands and Climate
Change in the Global South, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22464-6_16
Chapter 16
Drylands, Aridification, and Land
Governance in Latin America: A Regional
Geospatial Perspective
E. Nickl, M. Millones, B. Parmentier, S. Lucatello, and A. Trejo
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.
E. Nickl
University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
M. Millones (*)
Department of Geography, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA, USA
e-mail: mmillone@umw.edu
B. Parmentier
SESYNC, Annapolis, MD, USA
S. Lucatello
Estudios Ambientales y Territoriales, Instituto Mora, Mexico City, Mexico
A. Trejo
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico