Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago

Preferred name

Main Affiliation

Centro de Investigación para el Territorio y el Hábitat Sostenible

Quito

santiagobonilla@uti.edu.ec

ORCID

0000-0002-2464-4500

Scopus Author ID

55360745200

Now showing 1 - 10 of 33

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A transition in the theoretical and methodological paradigms for the rehabilitation of hardened pyroclastic formations in tropical Andean landscapes
(Wiley, 2026-06-09)
Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
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Zalakeviciute, Rasa
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Mejía‐Coronel, Danilo
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Silva, Gilson F.
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Molina, Juan R.
Introduction Global ecological restoration commitments face political, economic, and technical challenges that limit their implementation and long‐term success. Among the technical constraints, the lack of effective management and monitoring plans highlights the need for tools that support efficient and accurate spatial management of restoration landscapes. Objectives This study provides theoretical and methodological contributions to digital soil mapping (DSM) for the classification and local prediction of suitable microsites for vegetation establishment, with the aim of improving restoration efficiency in hardened pyroclastic formations ( cangahua ) of the Tropical Andes. Methods Unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with multispectral cameras were used to collect environmental data in a mountainous peri‐urban landscape dominated by cangahua . In a ravine sub‐landscape, 350 soil samples were collected at a depth of 0.15 m. Soil organic carbon (SOC) was analyzed and predictively modeled using two machine‐learning algorithms: Random Forest (RF) and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). Results SOC exhibited substantial spatial variability, with minimum, mean, and maximum values of 0.69%, 2.48 ± 0.71%, and 4.33%, respectively. In DSM predictions of SOC, the CNN model showed better performance ( r 2 = 34.81%) than the RF model (out‐of‐bag error‐based coefficient of determination, r 2 OOB = 24%). The most influential variables in the CNN model were the red, near‐infrared, and blue spectral bands. Conclusions DSM proved effective for identifying spatial patterns of SOC and suitable restoration microsites in cangahua landscapes. At local scales, this approach provides valuable information on landscape structure, micro‐topography, and ecological and historical memory, improving understanding of how these factors interact to influence soil properties.
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Tourism transport capacity under wildfire risk: A framework for highly visited protected areas
(Elsevier BV, 2026-09)
Ortega, M.
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Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
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Molina, J.R.
Ecotourism is a major driver of rural development, particularly in natural protected areas. Existing approaches to estimating sustainable tourism capacity in these areas have focused primarily on physical, ecological, perceptual, and economic dimensions. However, these frameworks do not explicitly incorporate risks to people, vehicles, and infrastructure under wildfire scenarios. Given the global rise in large wildfires, this study develops a framework to quantify tourism transport capacity in a highly visited protected area. Tourism transport fire capacity is defined as the maximum number of vehicles permitted within a given sector to minimize wildfire exposure and potential impacts on infrastructure and assets. This capacity is determined by the interaction among structural infrastructure risk, tourism transport fire exposure, and the fire spread index. Under extreme fire spread conditions, results indicate that the number of vehicles during summer weekends should be reduced by 28–34% relative to current levels. Furthermore, when flame lengths exceed 4.3 m, 83.3% of the vegetation-free buffer strips tested in experimental burns fail to prevent impacts on infrastructure or vehicles. This study advances a risk-informed framework for integrating wildfire dynamics into tourism transport capacity assessments. The proposed approach should be incorporated into protected area management planning guidelines, in alignment with evolving fire regimes and regulatory requirements.
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Vulnerability assessment of natural heritage in the North-Eastern Ecuadorian Amazon using land use cover and nature protection status
(2024)
J. Durango-Cordero
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M. Saqalli
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Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
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A. Elger
This study evaluates the vulnerability of natural heritage in the Northeast Ecuadorian Amazon (NEA), from the perspective of intrinsic vulnerability. Therefore, two proxy indicators of vulnerability were established: (i) the ecological integrity vulnerability index (EIVI), indicating the potential loss of ecological integrity, assessed by protection status (2018); (ii) the biological diversity vulnerability index (BVI), deriving the potential loss of biological diversity, using land cover/land use (2014). Biodiversity values were derived with land cover-related biodiversity data, and (iii) and compared with spatial congruence/correlation between (i) and (ii). The EIVI was directly derived using protection status, which defines vulnerability levels by ranking them according to corresponding levels of anthropic development allowance. A robust relationship between land use classes and species richness was found for both endemic vascular plants in neotropical regions and multi-taxa in tropical forests worldwide, validating the BVI. Furthermore, the moderate spatial correlation between protection status and land cover (r = 0.52) may be partially explained by 3,060 km2 of unprotected primary forest. Overall, 42 % of the NEA have a high degree of congruence between potential biodiversity and protection status. In conclusion, this study provides insights into nature conservation efforts in areas with sparse biodiversity data using readily available geographic information.
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Urban soil management in the strategies for adaptation to climate change of cities in the Tropical Andes
(2022)
Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
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Ángel Herrera, M.
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Vaca, A.
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Salazar, L.
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Zalakeviciute, R.
The unique characteristics of a city amplify the impacts of climate change; therefore, urban planning in the 21st century is challenged to apply mitigation and adaptation strategies that ensure the collective well-being. Despite advances in monitoring urban environmental change, research on the application of adaptation-oriented criteria remains a challenge in urban planning in the Global South. This study proposes to include urban land management as a criterion and timely strategy for climate change adaptation in the cities of the Tropical Andes. Here, we estimate the distribution of the soil organic carbon stock (OCS) of the city of Quito (2,815 m.a.s.l.; population 2,011,388; 197.09 km2) in the following three methodological moments: i) field/laboratory: city-wide sampling design established to collect 300 soil samples (0–15 cm) and obtain data on organic carbon (OC) concentrations in addition to 30 samples for bulk density (BD); ii) predictors: geographic, spectral and anthropogenic dimensions established from 17 co-variables; and iii) spatial modeling: simple multiple regression (SMRM) and random forest (RFM) models of organic carbon concentrations and density as well as OCS stock estimation. We found that the spatial modeling techniques were complementary; however, SMRM showed a relatively higher fit both (OC: r2 = 20%, BD: r2 = 16%) when compared to RFM (OC: r2 = 8% and BD: r2 = 5%). Thus, soil carbon stock (0–0.15 m) was estimated with a spatial variation that fluctuated between 9.89 and 21.48 kg/m2; whereas, RFM showed fluctuations between 10.38 and 17.67 kg/m2. We found that spatial predictors (topography, relative humidity, precipitation, temperature) and anthropogenic predictors (population density, roads, vehicle traffic, land cover) positively influence the model, while spatial predictors have little influence and show multicollinearity with relative humidity. Our research suggests that urban land management in the 21st century provides key information for adaptation and mitigation strategies aimed at coping with global and local climate variations in the cities of the Tropical Andes. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
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The effect of national protest in Ecuador on PM pollution
(2021)
Zalakeviciute R.
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Alexandrino K.
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Mejia D.
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Bastidas M.G.
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Oleas N.H.
Particulate matter (PM) accounts for millions of premature deaths in the human population every year. Due to social and economic inequality, growing human dissatisfaction manifests in waves of strikes and protests all over the world, causing paralysis of institutions, services and circulation of transport. In this study, we aim to investigate air quality in Ecuador during the national protest of 2019, by studying the evolution of PM2.5 (PM ≤ 2.5 µm) concentrations in Ecuador and its capital city Quito using ground based and satellite data. Apart from analyzing the PM2.5 evolution over time to trace the pollution changes, we employ machine learning techniques to estimate these changes relative to the business-as-usual pollution scenario. In addition, we present a chemical analysis of plant samples from an urban park housing the strike. Positive impact on regional air quality was detected for Ecuador, and an overall − 10.75 ± 17.74% reduction of particulate pollution in the capital during the protest. However, barricade burning PM peaks may contribute to a release of harmful heavy metals (tire manufacture components such as Co, Cr, Zn, Al, Fe, Pb, Mg, Ba and Cu), which might be of short- and long-term health concerns. © 2021, The Author(s).
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Patterns of timber harvesting and its relationship with sustainable forest management in the western Amazon, Ecuador case
(2017)
Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
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Estrella-Bastidas A.
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Ordoñez M.
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Sánchez A.
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Herrera M.A.
The Amazon rainforest lies within the most diverse forest ecosystem in the world. However, a large part of the tropical rainforest is being degraded because of timber harvesting without any sustainability criteria and owing to a limited understanding of the effects of forest exploitation. The Ecuadorian Amazon (EA) is part of the Andes Amazon (AA), an area covered by five countries (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia). This research identified the patterns of legal timber harvesting in the EA and determined current trends with respect to mostly harvested forest species. Two harvesting programs aimed at small farmers prevail in the EA: first, naturally regenerated trees felling program, and simplified timber harvesting programs in native forests. Considering the surface and volume of logging, significant differences were detected between logging procedures and ecosystems in the region. Two hundred and thirty-two genera are registered for harvest and, 51.93% of the total harvesting volume comes from eight genera and ten species. This research shows that in fallows of fragmented forest ecosystems, small farmers are harvesting fast-growing pioneer species. Maintaining a sustainable production in timber harvesting depends, by and large, on the harvesting and felling programs established on small farms. © 2017 Taylor & Francis.
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Gradient boosting machine to assess the public protest impact on urban air quality
(2021)
Zalakeviciute R.
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Rybarczyk Y.
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Alexandrino K.
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Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
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Mejia D.
Political and economic protests build-up due to the financial uncertainty and inequality spreading throughout the world. In 2019, Latin America took the main stage in a wave of protests. While the social side of protests is widely explored, the focus of this study is the evolution of gaseous urban air pollutants during and after one of these events. Changes in concentrations of NO2, CO, O3 and SO2 during and after the strike, were studied in Quito, Ecuador using two approaches: (i) inter-period observational analysis; and (ii) machine learning (ML) gradient boosting machine (GBM) developed business-as-usual (BAU) comparison to the observations. During the strike, both methods showed a large reduction in the concentrations of NO2 (31.5–32.36%) and CO (15.55–19.85%) and a slight reduction for O3 and SO2. The GBM approach showed an exclusive potential, especially for a lengthier period of predictions, to estimate strike impact on air quality even after the strike was over. This advocates for the use of machine learning techniques to estimate an extended effect of changes in human activities on urban gaseous pollution. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
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The conflict between Rights of Nature and mining in Ecuador: Implications of the Los Cedros Cloud Forest case for biodiversity conservation
(2024)
Peck M.R.
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Desselas M.
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Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
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Redín G.
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Durango-Cordero J.
Global emergence of Rights of Nature (RoN) has gained momentum since Ecuador became the first country to constitutionally recognize it in 2008. The shift from perceiving nature as an object, to granting it legal subjecthood, can revolutionize protection of ecological systems. In 2021, Ecuador's Constitutional Court issued a landmark ruling, halting mining in the Los Cedros Protected Forest. Three pillars form the basis for legal protection of Los Cedros: (i) the right to timely, Free Prior Informed Environmental Consultation, (ii) application of the Precautionary Principle in risk to RoN, and (iii) the Right to Water. We analyse the Court ruling to identify legal frameworks applied then map and rank mining risk to other protected forests, Indigenous territories, unprotected native ecosystems, biodiversity and areas of water resource conflict to determine potential scale of conflict between mining and RoN. 7813 mining concessions of 22,812km2 overlay 9.2% of Ecuadorian mainland, 2323 concessions (29.7%) overlap 16,081km2 of protected forest (4781 km2, 20%), Indigenous territory (6473 km2, 8%) and native vegetation outside protected areas and Indigenous territories (13,390 km2, 9%). With 80% of their protected forests at risk from large-scale mining, the most impacted Indigenous communities are the Shuar. Synthesis and applications: The Los Cedros legal case in Ecuador sets a precedent for using RoN to challenge mining in 4781 km2 of similar Protected Forest, with potential to protect an additional 16,081 km2 of Indigenous lands and biologically important ecosystems. However, lack of biological data for these areas will necessitate extensive data collection, possibly through community-empowering citizen science. Our study emphasizes the urgent need to integrate indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge (ITEK), law and ecology. We propose a new transdisciplinary field of ‘ecological forensics’ to support nature protection within the RoN framework. Our research also identifies areas where RoN could effectively protect nature and that are likely to be of high investment risk for the mining industry. The final recommendation is to reconsider mining concessions in Ecuador, especially in ecologically sensitive areas, Indigenous territories, high biodiversity areas, and regions with water resource conflicts, to maintain ecological integrity and social harmony. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. © 2024 The Authors. People and Nature published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.
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Spatiotemporal variation of forest cover and its relation to air quality in urban Andean socio-ecological systems
(2021)
Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
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Zalakeviciute R.
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Coronel D.M.
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Durango-Cordero J.
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Molina J.R.
Confronting the dynamics of global urbanization is one of the challenges of sustainability in the 21st century. Latin America is expected to be one of the regions with the highest urban growth; however, research related to variations in urban land coverage and air quality is relatively new, despite its importance for urban planning and citizens well-being. This study determines the relationship between the spatial variability of some atmospheric pollutants and changes in land cover in a Andean mountain cities of Latin American. We quantified the changes and transitions of land cover using SPOT optical images and generating an object-based classification. In addition, we identified variations in the mean concentrations of some atmospheric pollutants; and, finally, using various linear regression models, we explained the relationship between the spatiotemporal variation of atmospheric pollutants with the spatiotemporal variations of the land cover and some meteorological and topographical factors. Changes in land cover indicated an increase of impervious cover and a loss of urban non-forest vegetation. However, there was also an increase in forest fragments and urban woodland to the detriment of green areas and shrubbery. On the other hand, the concentrations of the air pollutants CO, O3, and PM2.5 showed significant variations between periods, reducing their concentrations in the air. Finally, land cover such as forests and urban trees, as well as meteorological and topographical factors were associated with and explained (r2 > 0.6) the spatiotemporal variation of air pollutants. Urban green infrastructure management in developing regions should consider a multidisciplinary approach to achieve an equitable and minimum distribution of local green infrastructure; by promoting conditions that allow the conversion of land use and coverage, in order to maximize the benefits and the ecosystemic forest services that a city demands. © 2021 Elsevier GmbH
Scopus© Citations 7 26
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Central parks as air quality oases in the tropical Andean city of Quito
(2024)
Zalakeviciute R.
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Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
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Mejia Coronel D.
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Bastidas M.
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Buenano A.
Urban ecosystem is an intricate agglomeration of human, fauna and flora populations coexisting in natural and artificial environments. As a city develops and expands over time; it may become unbalanced, affecting the quality of ecosystem and urban services and leading to environmental and health problems. Fine particulate matter (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm - PM2.5) is the air pollutant posing the greatest risk to human health. Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, exhibits a high occurrence of exposure to unhealthy levels of PM2.5 due to a combination of natural and social variables. This study focused on three central parks of this high elevation city, investigating the spatial distribution of PM2.5 concentrations. The particle pollution was then modeled using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Hazardous instantaneous levels of PM2.5 were consistently found on the edges of the parks along busy avenues, which are also the most frequented areas. This raises concerns about both short- and long-term exposures to toxic traffic pollution in recreational areas within urban dwellings in the global south. The NDVI model successfully predicted the spatial concentrations of PM2.5 in a smaller urban park, suggesting its potential application in other cities. However, further research is required to validate its effectiveness. © 2024 The Authors
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