Abstract: Latin America (LA) has many social indicators similar to those of highly developed economies but most frequently falls midway between least developed countries and industrialized regions. To move forward, LA must address uncontrolled urbanization, agricultural production, social inequity, and destruction of natural resources. We discuss these interrelated challenges in terms of human impact on the nitrogen (N) cycle. Human activity has caused unprecedented changes to the global N cycle; in the past century; total global fixation of reactive N (Nr) has at least doubled. Excess Nr leaked into the environment negatively affects soils, atmosphere, and water resources in temperate zones. In addition to N excess from human impact, mining of natural soil N creates N deficits in some regions.
Se publicó la semana pasada en la revista Science (vol.340, p. 149, 2013) un análisis sobre cómo impacta la actividad del hombre en el ciclo del nitrógeno en Latinoamérica. La primera autora del artículo es Amy Austin, investigadora independiente del CONICET en el Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA, CONICET-UBA), y son co-autores, investigadores de Brasil, Venezuela, Bolivia y México. El autor correspondiente es el Dr. Luiz Matinelli del CENA-Universidade de São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brasil.
Latin America's Nitrogen Challenge