Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade of Maize in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Agriculture is the largest fresh water consuming sector, and maize is the most produced and consumed crop worldwide. The water footprint (WF) methodology quantifies and evaluates the water volumes consumed and polluted by a given crop, as well as its impacts. In this work, we quantified for the first time the green WF (soil water from precipitation that is evapotranspired) and the green virtual water exports of maize from Buenos Aires province, Argentina, during 2016–2017, due to the relevance of this region in the world maize trade. Furthermore, at local level, we quantified the green, blue (evapotranspired irrigation), and grey (volume of water needed to assimilate a pollution load) WF of maize in a pilot basin. The green WF of maize in the province of Buenos Aires ranged between 170 and 730 m3/ton, with the highest values in the south following a pattern of yields. The contribution of this province in terms of green virtual water to the international maize trade reached 2213 hm3/year, allowing some water-scarce nations to ensure water and water-dependent food security and avoid further environmental impacts related to water. At the Napaleofú basin scale, the total WF of rainfed maize was 358 m3/ton (89% green and 11% grey) and 388 m3/ton (58% green, 25% blue, and 17% grey) for the irrigated crop, showing that there is not only a green WF behind the exported maize, but also a Nitrogen-related grey WF.

Download Full-text

Globalization of agricultural pollution due to international trade

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ◽

10.5194/hess-18-503-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 503-510 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

C. O'Bannon ◽

J. Carr ◽

D. A. Seekell ◽

P. D'Odorico

Keyword(s):

International Trade ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Virtual Water ◽

Water Transfer ◽

Global Network ◽

Environmental Costs ◽

Grey Water ◽

Water Transfers ◽

Nitrogen Concentrations ◽

Water Scarce

Abstract. Almost 90% of freshwater resources consumed globally are used to produce plant and animal commodities. Water-scarce countries can balance their water needs by importing food from other countries. This process, known as virtual water transfer, represents the externalization of water use. The volume and geographic reach of virtual water transfers is increasing, but little is known about how these transfers redistribute the environmental costs of agricultural production. The grey water footprint quantifies the environmental costs of virtual water transfers. The grey water footprint is calculated as the amount of water necessary to reduce nitrogen concentrations from fertilizers and pesticides released into streams and aquifers to allowed standards. We reconstructed the global network of virtual grey water transfers for the period 1986–2010 based on international trade data and grey water footprints for 309 commodities. We tracked changes in the structure of the grey water transfer network with network and inequality statistics. Pollution is increasing and is becoming more strongly concentrated in only a handful of countries. The global external grey water footprint, the pollution created by countries outside of their borders, increased 136% during the period. The extent of externalization of pollution is highly unequal between countries, and most of this inequality is due to differences in social development status. Our results demonstrate a growing globalization of pollution due to virtual water transfers.

Download Full-text

The water footprint of Indonesian provinces related to the consumption of crop products

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ◽

10.5194/hess-14-119-2010 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 119-128 ◽

Cited By ~ 87

Author(s):

F. Bulsink ◽

A. Y. Hoekstra ◽

M. J. Booij

Keyword(s):

Water Use ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Virtual Water ◽

Grey Water ◽

Water Flows ◽

External Water ◽

Water Scarce ◽

Water Accounts ◽

National Water

Abstract. National water use accounts are generally limited to statistics on water withdrawals in the different sectors of economy. They are restricted to "blue water accounts" related to production, thus excluding (a) "green" and "grey water accounts", (b) accounts of internal and international virtual water flows and (c) water accounts related to consumption. This paper shows how national water-use accounts can be extended through an example for Indonesia. The study quantifies interprovincial virtual water flows related to trade in crop products and assesses the green, blue and grey water footprint related to the consumption of crop products per Indonesian province. The study shows that the average water footprint in Indonesia insofar related to consumption of crop products is 1131 m3/cap/yr, but provincial water footprints vary between 859 and 1895 m3/cap/yr. Java, the most water-scarce island, has a net virtual water import and the most significant external water footprint. This large external water footprint is relieving the water scarcity on this island. Trade will remain necessary to supply food to the most densely populated areas where water scarcity is highest (Java).

Download Full-text

A revised and updated checklist of Monogononta rotifers from Argentina

Check List ◽

10.15560/12.4.1942 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 1942 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Noelia S. Ferrando ◽

María C. Claps

Keyword(s):

Buenos Aires ◽

Water Bodies ◽

Buenos Aires Province ◽

Lotic Environments ◽

First Time

We provide here a checklist of species of Monogononta rotifers from lentic and lotic environments in Argentina, 25 years after the initial catalogue compiled by Susana B. José de Paggi. This new inventory now includes the reports on rotifers documented in 93 studies produced after 1990. The majority of the investigations were carried out in three of the 24 Argentine provinces. In addition, the presence of 13 species in samples from three water bodies within Buenos Aires province are now cited here for the first time in Argentina. In this updated checklist, a total of 351 species are catalogued, the majority being representatives of the Lecanidae, Brachionidae, and Lepadellidae.

Download Full-text

Water footprints of cities – indicators for sustainable consumption and production

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/hessd-10-2601-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 2601-2639 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

H. Hoff ◽

P. Döll ◽

M. Fader ◽

D. Gerten ◽

S. Hauser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Footprint ◽

Sustainable Consumption ◽

Virtual Water ◽

External Source ◽

Trade Integration ◽

Export Production ◽

Source Regions ◽

Context Specific ◽

Water Scarce ◽

Water Imports

Abstract. Water footprints have been proposed as sustainability indicators, relating the consumption of goods like food to the amount of water necessary for their production and the impacts of that water use in the source regions. We have further developed the existing water footprint methodology by globally resolving virtual water flows and import and source regions at 5 arc minutes spatial resolution, and by assessing local impacts of export production. Applying this method to three exemplary cities, Berlin, Delhi and Lagos, we find major differences in amounts, composition, and origin of green and blue virtual water imports, due to differences in diets, trade integration and crop water productivities in the source regions. While almost all of Delhi's and Lagos' virtual water imports are of domestic origin, Berlin on average imports from more than 4000 km distance, in particular soy (livestock feed), coffee and cocoa. While 42% of Delhi's virtual water imports are blue water based, the fractions for Berlin and Lagos are 2% and 0.5%, respectively, roughly equal to local drinking water abstractions of these cities. Some of the external source regions of Berlin's virtual water imports appear to be critically water scarce and/or food insecure. However for deriving recommendations on sustainable consumption and trade, further analysis of context-specific costs and benefits associated with export production will be required.

Download Full-text

DIFFUSE TERMITINAE NESTS SHED LIGHT ON THE AFFINITIES OF LAETOLICHNUS KWEKAI (KRAUSICHNIDAE)

Palaios ◽

10.2110/palo.2020.057 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 122-127

Author(s):

LILIANA F. CANTIL ◽

JORGE F. GENISE ◽

JUAN L. FARINA ◽

SEBASTIÁN LUPO ◽

DARÍO PORRINI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Buenos Aires ◽

Complex Structure ◽

Coastal Dunes ◽

Field Studies ◽

Buenos Aires Province ◽

South American ◽

First Time ◽

New Evidence ◽

Semiarid Shrublands ◽

Shed Light

ABSTRACT The insect trace fossil Laetolichnus kwekai, which is composed of a small chamber extending to slender cylinders at each end, was tentatively included in the ichnofamily Krausichnidae as termite nests. New evidence presented here provides information to validate these inferences. A more complex structure formed by interconnected Laetolichnus was recently found in the same Pliocene deposits (Laetoli, Tanzania) as the isolated specimens reported previously. Our study confirms inclusion of Laetolichnus in Krausichnidae and supports the inference that it represents a nest of a social insect. Neoichnological field studies in the coastal dunes of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, were undertaken to refine further the nature of these affinities. Survey of the dune surface revealed abundant loose fragments of termite nests of a size and shape comparable to that of L. kwekai. The fragile nests constructed by Onkotermes brevicorniger, which are described here in detail for the first time, enable us to interpret the fossil structures. They consist of connected chambers similar to the interconnected Laetolichnus. These were frequently exposed and broken by wind action resulting in loose fragments similar to the isolated Laetolichnus. The Celliforma ichnofacies represented at Laetoli, which contains L. kwekai, indicates arid or semiarid shrublands and woodlands. The distribution of O. brevicorniger also corresponds to arid and semiarid shrublands and dry woodlands of Argentina. Although the African termite producer of L. kwekai and the South American Onkotermes would be phylogenetically unrelated, the analogous structures probably reflect convergent nesting behaviors as an adaptation to similar arid to semiarid environmental conditions.

Download Full-text

The Water Footprint of European Agricultural Imports: Hotspots in the Context of Water Scarcity

Resources ◽

10.3390/resources8030141 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 141 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Iulia Dolganova ◽

Natalia Mikosch ◽

Markus Berger ◽

Montserrat Núñez ◽

Andrea Müller-Frank ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Consumption ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Virtual Water ◽

The United States ◽

The European Union ◽

Product Categories ◽

External Water ◽

Agricultural Imports ◽

Water Scarce

This study investigates the Water Footprint (WF) resulting from the agricultural imports of the European Union (EU-28). Import trade statistics were compiled and linked with crop- and country-specific water consumption data and water scarcity factors. Within the study, the virtual water imports of 104 agricultural commodities for the baseline year 2015 were assessed and product and country hotspots were evaluated. It was shown that (a) Europe imported 100 million tons of agricultural goods and 11 km3 of associated virtual irrigation water; (b) the highest impacts of water consumption do not necessarily result from high import amounts, but from water-intensive goods produced in water scarce countries; (c) the largest external EU-28 water footprint occurred due to the product categories cotton, nuts and rice; and (d) the highest share of the EU external water footprint took place in the United States (US), Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and India.

Download Full-text

Globalization of agricultural pollution due to international trade

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/hessd-10-11221-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 11221-11239 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

C. O'Bannon ◽

J. Carr ◽

D. A. Seekell ◽

P. D'Odorico

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Production ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Virtual Water ◽

Water Transfer ◽

Global Network ◽

Environmental Costs ◽

Grey Water ◽

Water Transfers ◽

Water Scarce ◽

Produce Plant

Abstract. Almost 90% of freshwater resources consumed globally are used to produce plant and animal commodities. Water scarce countries can balance their water needs by importing food from other countries. This process, known as virtual water transfer, represents the externalization of water use. The volume and geographic reach of virtual water transfers is increasing, but little is known about how these transfers redistribute the environmental costs of agricultural production. The grey water footprint quantifies the environmental costs of virtual water transfers. The grey water footprint is calculated as the amount of water necessary to reduce the concentrations of fertilizers and pesticides released in streams and aquifers to the allowed standards. We reconstructed the global network of virtual grey water transfers for the period 1986–2010 based on global trade data and grey water footprints for 309 commodities. We tracked changes in the structure of the grey water transfer network with network and inequality statistics. Pollution is increasing and is becoming more strongly concentrated in only a handful of countries. The global external grey water footprint, the pollution created by countries outside of their borders, increased 136% during the period. The extent of externalization of pollution is highly unequal between countries and most of this inequality is due to differences in social development status. Our results demonstrate a growing globalization of pollution due to virtual water transfers.

Download Full-text

Virtual water flows and economic water productivity of Italian fair-trade: the case of bananas, cocoa and coffee

British Food Journal ◽

10.1108/bfj-03-2020-0265 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Pier Paolo Miglietta ◽

Christian Fischer ◽

Federica De Leo

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Fair Trade ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Virtual Water ◽

Content Type ◽

Water Flows ◽

Water Volumes ◽

Measurement And Evaluation

PurposeIn a globalized economic system, the role of agrifood production is to ensure at the same time both the population's livelihood and environmental resource conservation. The present study aims at expanding the debate on the potentials of the fair-trade in terms of environmental sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThe research presents a methodology divided into three phases: (1) the identification of the water footprint values associated with the production of bananas, cocoa and coffee imported from developing countries to Italy; (2) the calculation of the virtual water volumes used to produce the crops imported from developing countries to Italy through fair-trade; (3) the analysis of the economic water productivity, obtained by the fair-trade premium, for bananas, cocoa and coffee.FindingsThe results of this study identified and measured the amount of virtual water flows and water savings or losses deriving from the fair-trade of bananas, cocoa and coffee. The average virtual water flow related to the fair-trade imports in Italy amounts to 7.27 million m3 for bananas, 22,275 m3 for cocoa and 14,334 m3 for coffee. The research findings also highlight that fair-trade and the related premium ensures at the same time the achievement of social and institutional purposes but also the remuneration of virtual water used within the life cycle of the imported crops.Originality/valuePrevious scientific literature showed that fair-trade premium has commonly been used to finance environmental protection. No study has evaluated the environmental impacts associated with fair-trade, nor the monetary value associated with the natural resources exploited to produce crops to be exported. This empirical paper fills a literature gap in terms of identification, measurement and evaluation of virtual water flows along the supply chain processes of some fair-traded crops, also providing, through the economic water productivity approach, a useful tool for decision-makers.

Download Full-text

Review of the Sarcophaginae (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) of Buenos Aires Province (Argentina), with a key and description of a new species

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.2575.1.1 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2575 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

PABLO RICARDO MULIERI ◽

JUAN CARLOS MARILUIS ◽

LUCIANO DAMIÁN PATITUCCI

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

New Species ◽

Buenos Aires ◽

Junior Synonym ◽

Buenos Aires Province ◽

Adult Males ◽

Males And Females ◽

First Time ◽

A New Species

Thirty-nine species of Sarcophaginae are recorded from Buenos Aires Province (Argentina). A new species, Microcerella asymmetrica sp. nov., is described. Females of Oxysarcodexia bicolor Lopes, O. marina Hall, and Sarcophaga (Lipoptilocnema) koehleri Blanchard are described for the first time. Four nomenclatorial actions are reported: Sarcohelicobia elegans Blanchard is established as a new junior synonym of Nephochaetopteryx cyaneiventris Lopes, and lectotypes are designated for Oxysarcodexia delpontei Blanchard [a junior synonym of Oxysarcodexia paulistanensis (Mattos)], Sarcophaga argentina Brèthes [a junior synonym of Sarcophaga (Liopygia) argyrostoma (Robineau-Desvoidy)], and Neobellieria brethesi Blanchard [a junior synonym of Sarcophaga (Neobellieria) polistensis Hall]. Blaesoxipha (Tephromyia) hospes (Aldrich), Peckia (Euboettcheria) florencioi (Prado & Fonseca), Ravinia advena (Walker), R. aureopyga (Hall) and Sarcodexia lambens (Wiedemann) are newly recorded from Buenos Aires Province, and Udamopyga percita is newly recorded from Argentina. A key is presented to the adult males and females of 36 of the 39 species of Sarcophaginae recorded from Buenos Aires province. Notes on distribution, biology, life history and host records are also given.

Download Full-text

New record for the distribution of the colonial hydroid Cordylophora caspia (Pallas, 1771) (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) in Argentina

Check List ◽

10.15560/11.1.1515 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 1515

Author(s):

Maria Irene Deserti ◽

Alicia Haydeé Escalante ◽

Fabián Horacio Acuña

Keyword(s):

Invasive Species ◽

New Record ◽

Buenos Aires ◽

External Morphology ◽

Buenos Aires Province ◽

Wide Range ◽

Ecological Problems ◽

First Time ◽

Colonial Hydroid ◽

Cordylophora Caspia

Cordylophora caspia is a colonial, athecate hydroid inhabiting both in freshwater and brackish habitats. Its global distribution is in part due to its ability to tolerate a wide range of salinity. It is considered an invasive species and its control is widely studied because of the industrial and ecological problems it causes in many environments. We report for the first time the occurrence of this hydrozoan in Nahuel Rucá Lake (Buenos Aires province, Argentina) with some notes on its internal and external morphology.

Download Full-text