Land-Use Patterns and Supply Chain Relationship in Upper Parana Atlantic Forest

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Abstract
The expansion and intensification of agriculture are widely recognized as major drivers of biodiversity loss. While research has primarily focused on deforestation frontiers, few studies have linked spatial-temporal land-cover dynamics to the organizational arrangements of agro-industrial supply chains. This study addresses this gap by analyzing land-use systems in the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest in Argentina, a priority biodiversity hotspot. We identify trends and patterns of agricultural and forest land-use change over the past two decades. We interpret these patterns in relation to the territorial integration of agro-industrial supply chains, using secondary data sources. We divided the study area into hexagonal cells of approximately 100 km². Interannual trends in native forest cover and dominant land uses were analyzed from 2000 to 2019. Trends were estimated by regressing the proportional area of land-cover classes derived from the MapBiomas Trinational Atlantic Forest against calendar year. To explore landscape homogenization, we regressed Shannon land-cover diversity indices over time. Our results reveal two contrasting spatial configurations. Some landscapes are dominated by a single land use, showing increasing homogenization. Others maintain a diversity of land uses and remain heterogeneous. These configurations seem closely associated with transaction modalities between primary producers and agro-industrial actors. In turn, these arrangements influence their impacts on native forest cover and habitat conservation outside protected areas. Understanding how agro-industrial supply chains are territorially embedded is critical for identifying incentives to foster more sustainable land-use trajectories and support biodiversity conservation, like the design of effective governance systems for Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs).
Funding Information
  • Universidad Nacional de Misiones (16/F1715-PI)
  • Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (PIP Nº 1006)

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