Roads of the Caribbean: regional analysis from Environmental Impact Assessments in Colombia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/bgss-2022-0030Keywords
road infrastructure, landscape fragmentation, regional analysis, environmental impact assessmentAbstract
The road infrastructure produces several impacts on the environment. In the Colombian Caribbean region, the growing road infrastructure threatens systems equilibrium in diverse and not well-known ways. Despite the several administrative tools available in Colombian legislation to manage every project impact, the big picture of the interconnected regional ecosystems falls out of scope. To study the large-scale problems in landscape, we analyzed eight Environmental Impact Studies of road construction projects in the region. We did a scientific and institutional literature review to shed light on the possible unseen problems and future challenges. Results suggest that Environmental Impact Assessments for each project focus on construction processes, ignore accumulative and residual effects, and use typified measures to cover a broad set of impacts. We offer recommendations from an integrated analysis perspective for future projects to understand landscape and water systems alteration at the regional scale.
References
Aldana-Domínguez, J. (2014) Biodiversidad Caribe y servicios ecosistémicos. Barranquilla: Universidad del Norte.
Ascensão, F., Mestre, F. and Barbosa, A. M. (2019) ‘Prioritizing road defragmentation using graph-based tools’, Landscape and Urban Planning. Elsevier, 192(September), p. 103653. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.103653.
Bracken, L. J. et al. (2013) ‘Concepts of hydrological connectivity: Research approaches, Pathways and future agendas’, Earth-Science Reviews, 119, pp. 17–34. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.02.001.
Brejão, G. L., Teresa, F. B. and Gerhard, P. (2020) ‘When roads cross streams : fish assemblage responses to fluvial fragmentation in lowland Amazonian streams’, 18(3), pp. 1–16.
Bunn, S. E. and Arthington, A. H. (2002) ‘Basic principles and ecological consequences of altered flow regimes for aquatic biodiversity’, Environmental Management, 30(4), pp. 492–507. doi: 10.1007/s00267-002-2737-0.
Cardona-Almeida, C., Obregón, N. and Canales, F. A. (2019) ‘An integrative dynamic model of Colombian population distribution, based on the maximum entropy principle and matter, energy, and information flow’, Entropy, 21(12). doi: 10.3390/e21121172.
Condurat, M., Nicuţǎ, A. M. and Andrei, R. (2017) ‘Environmental Impact of Road Transport Traffic. A Case Study for County of Iaşi Road Network’, in Procedia Engineering. Elsevier Ltd, pp. 123–130. doi: 10.1016/j.proeng.2017.02.379.
Correa Ayram, C. A. et al. (2020) ‘Spatiotemporal evaluation of the human footprint in Colombia: Four decades of anthropic impact in highly biodiverse ecosystems’, Ecological Indicators. Elsevier B.V., 117, p. 106630. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106630.
Entrekin, S. A. et al. (2019) ‘Multiple riparian–stream connections are predicted to change in response to salinization’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 374(1764).
Espinosa, L. F. et al. (2005) ‘Monitoreo de las condiciones ambientales y los cambios estructurales y funcionales de las comunidades vegetales y de los recursos pesqueros durante la rehabilitación de la Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta: Informe’, 725, pp. 1–91. Available at: http://www.invemar.org.co/redcostera1/invemar/docs/monitoreoCGSM/Informe_CGSM_2005.pdf.
Foley, L. et al. (2017) ‘Effects of living near an urban motorway on the wellbeing of local residents in deprived areas: Natural experimental study’, PLOS ONE. Edited by H. Zeeb. Public Library of Science, 12(4), p. e0174882. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174882.
Freeman, M. C., Pringle, C. M. and Jackson, C. R. (2007) ‘Hydrologic connectivity and the contribution of stream headwaters to ecological integrity at regional scales’, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 43(1), pp. 5–14. doi: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2007.00002.x.
Golden, H. E. et al. (2014) ‘Hydrologic connectivity between geographically isolated wetlands and surface water systems: A review of select modeling methods’, Environmental Modelling and Software. Elsevier Ltd, 53, pp. 190–206. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2013.12.004.
Gurrutxaga, M. (2011) ‘La gestión de la conectividad ecológica del territorio en España: Iniciativas y retos’, Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles, pp. 225–244.
Gutiérrez-C., Á. L. and Pinilla-A., G. A. (2016) ‘Efectos de la conectividad local sobre los ensambles de peces en una planicie de inundación tropical’, Caldasia, 38(2), pp. 300–313. doi: 10.15446/caldasia.v38n2.60920.
IAVH and PUJ (2015) CARACTERIZACIÓN SOCIOECOLÓGICA. Bogotá.
INVIAS (2009) Manual de drenaje de Carreteras. Edited by Instituto Nacional de Vias. Bogotá: Ministerio de Transporte.
INVIAS (2011) ‘Guia de Manejo Ambiental de Proyectos de Infraestructura Subsector Vial’, Dirección de Desarrollo Sectorial Sostenible. Bogotá, Colombia: Instituto Nacional de Vías - INVIAS. MInisterio de Ambiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial, p. 165.
Jaramillo, F., Brown, I., et al. (2018) ‘Assessment of hydrologic connectivity in an ungauged wetland with InSAR observations’, Environmental Research Letters, 13(2). doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/aa9d23.
Jaramillo, F., Licero, L., et al. (2018) ‘Effects of Hydroclimatic Change and Rehabilitation Activities on Salinity and Mangroves in the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia’, Wetlands. Wetlands, 38(4), pp. 755–767. doi: 10.1007/s13157-018-1024-7.
Jørgensen, S. (2012) Introduction to systems ecology. Boca Raton: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis.
Karlson, M. et al. (2016) ‘Design and evaluation of railway corridors based on spatial ecological and geological criteria’, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. Elsevier Ltd, 46, pp. 207–228. doi: 10.1016/j.trd.2016.03.012.
Keesstra, S. et al. (2018) ‘The way forward: Can connectivity be useful to design better measuring and modelling schemes for water and sediment dynamics?’, Science of the Total Environment. Elsevier B.V., 644, pp. 1557–1572. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.342.
Khan, A. A. et al. (2019) ‘Fuzzy AHP based prioritization and taxonomy of software process improvement success factors in global software development’, Applied Soft Computing, 83, p. 105648. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asoc.2019.105648.
Langen, T. A. et al. (2012) ‘Road mortality in freshwater turtles: Identifying causes of spatial patterns to optimize road planning and mitigation’, Biodiversity and Conservation, 21(12), pp. 3017–3034. doi: 10.1007/s10531-012-0352-9.
Mancebo Quintana, S. et al. (2010) ‘A model for assessing habitat fragmentation caused by new infrastructures in extensive territories - Evaluation of the impact of the Spanish strategic infrastructure and transport plan’, Journal of Environmental Management, 91(5), pp. 1087–1096. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.12.013.
MARM (2010) Indicadores de fragmentación de hábitat. Madrid: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino.
Meisel-Roca, A. and Pérez-Valbuena, G. J. (2008) ‘Geografía física y poblamiento en la costa Caribe colombiana’, Geografía económica y análisis espacial en Colombia. Capítulo 2. Geografía física y poblamiento en la costa Caribe colombiana. Pág.:47-106, (73). Available at: http://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/461.
Mintransporte (2018) ‘Con el programa vías 4G, Colombia se pone al día en materia de infraestructura’, Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura.
Paliwal, R. (2006) ‘EIA practice in India and its evaluation using SWOT analysis’, Environmental Impact Assessment Review. Elsevier, 26(5), pp. 492–510. doi: 10.1016/j.eiar.2006.01.004.
Pavlickova, K. and Vyskupova, M. (2015) ‘A method proposal for cumulative environmental impact assessment based on the landscape vulnerability evaluation’, Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 50, pp. 74–84. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2014.08.011.
Pinto, F. A. S., Clevenger, A. P. and Grilo, C. (2020) ‘Effects of roads on terrestrial vertebrate species in Latin America’, Environmental Impact Assessment Review. Elsevier Inc., p. 106337. doi: 10.1016/j.eiar.2019.106337.
Raiter, K. G. et al. (2018) ‘Linear infrastructure impacts on landscape hydrology’, Journal of Environmental Management. Elsevier Ltd, 206, pp. 446–457. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.10.036.
Saaltink, R. M. et al. (2018) ‘Vegetation growth and sediment dynamics in a created freshwater wetland’, Ecological Engineering, 111(November 2017), pp. 11–21. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2017.11.020.
Dos Santos, A. R. et al. (2020) ‘Fuzzy concept applied in determining potential forest fragments for deployment of a network of ecological corridors in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest’, Ecological Indicators. Elsevier B.V., 115, p. 106423. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106423.
Sássi, C. M. et al. (2013) ‘Levantamento de animais silvestres atropelados em trecho da rodovia BR482’, Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinaria e Zootecnia. Escola de Veterinária UFMG, pp. 1883–1886. doi: 10.1590/S0102-09352013000600041.
Saunders, D. A., Hobbs, R. J. and Margules, C. R. (1999) ‘Biological consequences of ecosystem fragmentation: a review’, NCASI Technical Bulletin, pp. 469–470.
Soto, V., Suárez, N. and Arrieta, S. (2018) ‘Análisis comparativo de los métodos de evaluacion de impacto ambiental aplicados en el subsector vial en Colombia’, Revista de investigación agraria y ambiental, 9(2), pp. 281–294. doi: https://doi.org/10.22490/21456453.2174.
Thompson, C. J., Takken, I. and Croke, J. (2008) ‘Hydrological and sedimentological connectivity of unsealed roads’, IAHS-AISH Publication, (325), pp. 524–531.
Toro, J., Requena, I. and Zamorano, M. (2010) ‘Environmental impact assessment in Colombia: Critical analysis and proposals for improvement’, Environmental Impact Assessment Review. Elsevier, 30(4), pp. 247–261. doi: 10.1016/j.eiar.2009.09.001.
Wu, C. F. et al. (2014) ‘Assessing highway’s impacts on landscape patterns and ecosystem services: A case study in Puli Township, Taiwan’, Landscape and Urban Planning. Elsevier B.V., 128, pp. 60–71. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.04.020.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Title, logo and layout of journal Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series are reserved trademarks of Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series.Stats
Number of views and downloads: 948
Number of citations: 0
