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Using Four Capitals to Assess Watershed Sustainability

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Abstract

The La Antigua watershed drains into the Gulf of Mexico and can be considered as one of the most important areas in Mexico because of its high productivity, history, and biodiversity, although poverty remains high in the area in spite of these positive attributes. In this study, we performed an integrated assessment of the watershed to recommend a better direction toward a sustainable management in which the four capitals (natural, human, social, and built) are balanced. We contrasted these four capitals in the municipalities of the upper, middle and lower watershed and found that natural capital (natural ecosystems and ecosystem services) was higher in the upper and middle watershed, while human and social capitals (literacy, health, education and income) were generally higher downstream. Overall, Human Development Index was negatively correlated with the percentage of natural ecosystems in the watershed, especially in the upper and lower watershed regions. Our results indicate that natural capital must be fully considered in projections for increasing human development, so that natural resources can be preserved and managed adequately while sustaining intergenerational well-being.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT projects 43082 and 101542). Thanks to Griselda Benítez for sharing historic data of the La Antigua watershed and to Miriam Ramos for helping us to find databases at the beginning of this project. We are also very grateful to Christian Delfín for his assistance with Figs. 1 and 2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ambiente y Sustentabilidad, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Km 2.5 Antigua Carretera a Coatepec 351, 91070, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    Octavio Pérez-Maqueo & Miguel Equihua

  2. Ecología Funcional, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Km 2.5 Antigua Carretera a Coatepec, 91070, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    M. Luisa Martinez & Gabriela Vázquez

Authors
  1. Octavio Pérez-Maqueo
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  2. M. Luisa Martinez
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  3. Gabriela Vázquez
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  4. Miguel Equihua
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Octavio Pérez-Maqueo.

Appendix

Appendix

See the Table 5.

Table 5 Land use (km2) in the upper, middle, and lower watersheds municipalities of La Antigua
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Pérez-Maqueo, O., Martinez, M.L., Vázquez, G. et al. Using Four Capitals to Assess Watershed Sustainability. Environmental Management 51, 679–693 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-9972-9

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