Browsing by Author "Mondaca, Pedro"

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    Assessment of revegetation of an acidic metal(loid)-polluted soils six years after the incorporation of lime with and without compost
    (2018) Pardo, Javier; Mondaca, Pedro; Celis-Diez, Juan Luis; Ginocchio Cea, Rosanna; Navarro-Villarroel, Claudia; Neaman, Alexander
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    Comparison of exposure to trace elements through vegetable consumption between a mining area and an agricultural area in central Chile
    (2018) Aguilar, Marcelo; Mondaca, Pedro; Ginocchio Cea, Rosanna; Vidal, Kooichi; Sauve, Sebastien; Neaman, Alexander
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    From risk assessment to land planning. The case of a trace element-contaminated area in Chile
    (2024) Mondaca, Pedro; Berasaluce, Maite; Larraguibel-Gonzalez, Cristian; Salazar, Andres; Nunez-Hidalgo, Ignacio; Diaz-Siefer, Pablo
    While abundant scientific literature focuses on diagnosing contaminated areas, solutions with a scientific base are far from balanced. This is the case of the Quintero-Puchuncavi Bay, a widely known contaminated area in the central coast of Chile. Here, arsenic in soils surrounding the industrial complex has been reported as a threat to human health. However, land planning based on As contamination becomes a challenge since the whole area is identified as contaminated. Such a lack of land-planning constrains the occupation and remediation of contaminated soil leading to a brownfield-like landscape. To face this challenge, we proposed using a geospatial decision support system (S-DSS) to integrate the contamination assessment, health and ecosystem risks, and potential land uses. When characterizing soil arsenic concentration thresholds for different land uses in a S-DSS, we could categorize the land in suitable, caution, and unsuitable areas (based on human health risks). This way, we unravel areas with potential use in the current condition while also discerning caution and unsuitable categories, that can undergo extensive and intensive remediation techniques. Similarly, we took a conservational approach to estimate emerging risk from the industrial complex associated to explosions. Altogether, it highlights the potential of S-DSS to integrate different geographic information. We finally feature two APPs regarding current land-use suitability and a modeled one considering future arsenic emissions.
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    Integrated cloud computing and cost effective modelling to delineate the ecological corridors for Spectacled bears (Tremarctos ornatus) in the rural territories of the Peruvian Amazon

    (2022) Sanchez, Alexander Cotrina; Salazar, Andres; Oviedo, Carlos; Bandopadhyay, Subhajit; Mondaca, Pedro; Valentini, Riccardo; Briceno, Nilton B. Rojas; Guzman, Cristobal Torres; Oliva, Manuel; Guzman, Betty K.; Mori, Gerson Meza
    Spectacled bears (SB) (Tremarctos ornatus) are the only bear species native to South America. This particular bear is the single species of its genus, and it is listed as vulnerable according to the IUCN red list. A critical SB conservation habitat is in the rural territories of the Peruvian Amazon, where anthropogenic land-use changes and landscape fragmentation threaten SB habitats. The following questions arise in this context: How much has land-use changed? How to design the establishment of ecological corridors (ECs) to support the conservation of SB?. We investigated the temporal land use and land cover changes for last 30 years (1990-2020) for a better projection of the ECs and to quantify the temporal landscape metrics. Furthermore, we integrated cloud computing, machine learning models with cost-effective techniques to delineate the ECs for SB within the rural territories. Ensemble Random Forest model associated with Google Earth Engine (GEE) was used to develop four land use and land cover (LULC) maps (for the years 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020). The least cost path (LCP) model based on Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm was assembled based on six variables (altitude; slope; distance to roads; distance to population centers; land use map; inventory map of SB). Then, we calculated the ECs based on the multidirectional origin-destination points, we found that forest patches increased by 57%& nbsp;between 1990 and 2020. Results showed statistically significant agreement (R-2 = 0.47; p < 0.05) between cost/ha* and percentage of forest cover. We observed that the higher the forest cover, the better the connectivity and the lower the cost of mobilization in the ECs. Our study outcomes validated through the images obtained from trap cameras that confirms that delineated routs for SB movements. The proposed model can be adopted for other parts of the global forest including other species of interest. To formulate a sustainable conservation action plan, we provided five recommendations that will support conservation practices, design cost-effective ECs for policy makers.
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    Social-environmental conflicts in Chile: Is there any potential for an ecological constitution?
    (MDPI, 2021) Berasaluce, Maite; Diaz-Siefer, Pablo; Rodríguez-Diaz, Paulina; Mena-Carrasco, Marcelo; Ibarra Eliessetch, José Tomás; Celis-Diez, Juan L.; Mondaca, Pedro
    © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Social unrest is on the rise worldwide amid deepening inequalities, environmental degradation, and job crises worsened by increasing social-environmental conflicts. In Chile, a social revolt in 2019 resulted in a national referendum in 2020. An ample majority (78.3% vs. 21.7%) voted to draft a new constitution to replace the current constitution drawn up under dictatorship. The result led to the emergence and empowerment of several organizations demanding an “ecological constitution”. In this context, we aim to analyze: (1) the main social-environmental conflicts in Chile and how they are related to the country’s current constitution, and (2) the potential drafting of an ecological constitution that addresses these conflicts. Across different industries in Chile, we observed common problems that are intrinsically related to the current constitution. This relationship seems to be perceived by Chilean citizens since a survey carried out in May 2021 found 79% support for an ecological constitution. Moreover, 105 of the 155 delegates to the constitutional convention proposed three or more environmental principles to be included in the new constitution. A potential ecological constitution entails principles that would improve the current situation of social-environmental conflicts in Chile. Based on our analysis, we recommend the establishment of watershed-based “territorial rights” in the new Chilean constitution to improve sustainability and environmental justice.