The IRD’s work in Latin America is mainly focused in the Andes and the Amazon, on a continent where countries all have very different levels of development. The IRD’s network in the region comprises 8 representations and a dense and varied set of scientific partners (universities and public research institutes). In this region, IRD’s research mainly explores hydroclimatic variability at regional level in the past and the present day, Andean geosciences, oceanography, aquatic and land biodiversity, food security, environmental quality, health and the social sciences.
A seminar on South-South-North cooperation was held in Brasilia in October 2015 in conjunction with the project to support bilateral political dialogue on science and technology among EU Member States and Brazil (B.BICE+), coordinated by IRD. This seminar brought together representatives from South Africa, Brazil, Europe, Argentina, Namibia and Angola. A joint declaration on cooperation between Brazil and South Africa was signed at the end of the gathering. The Brazilian and European partners presented the PIRATA oceanic observation programme — Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic – coordinated by IRD as a model of South-South-North cooperation.
By comparing the isotopic ratios of strontium in the Amazonian rivers and in the otoliths of the large Amazonian catfish, Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii, biologists from the ICL-EDIA (Evolution and Domestication of Amazonian Ichthyofauna), the Amazonian Ichthyofauna research network (RIIA), and hydro-geochemists from SNO-HYBAM have demonstrated that this fish follows the longest migration known in freshwater (> 8,000 km return): it is born in the rivers at the foot of the Andes, migrates to nurseries near the Amazon estuary on the other side of the continent and then returns to the reproduction areas in which it was born (natal homing*). This extraordinary life cycle is now jeopardized by the development of hydropower dams in the Amazon basin. A considerable fall in the populations of this apex predator could have serious consequences on the ecosystem through a system of trophic cascades, but also for human populations in the Amazon because the species is an important fishing resource.
Trans-Amazonian natal homing in giant catfish
Catfish face migration barriers
Over the last fifteen or so years, the development of GPS networks in subduction zones has identified slips where no significant earthquake has occurred: these are known as ‘aseismic slip transients’. A team of geodesists and seismologists from Géoazur (CNRS, UNS, IRD/OCA) worked with French and Peruvian partners (Peruvian Geophysics Institute) to observe a process in northern Peru where seismic activity and aseismic slips interacted in a complex manner over several months. This is the first time that a mixed seismic/aseismic process has been observed, with the two forms of slip seemingly interacting during the sequence. The various types of slip provide information on the different types of friction occurring along the interface between plates and illustrate the variety of behaviour at different points on the subduction interface. The study suggests that similar processes could contribute to easing a signification portion of stress, especially in subduction zones with similar characteristics to those in northern Peru. This work was published in Nature Geoscience.
In 2015, following the development of an intense El Niño event in the equatorial Pacific, IRD and IMARPE (Peruvian Institute of the Sea) launched the CIENPERU observation programme in Peru. Its aim is to develop better understanding of the impact of an El Niño event in Peru’s coastal region, which is one of the globe’s most productive marine ecosystems. As part of this programme, several operations were carried out such as the fitting of sensors (temperature and salinity) at several fixed points along the coastline and the deployment of drifting oceanographic devices (ARGO floats) off the coast. In addition, an autonomous underwater vehicle (glider) was launched with support from the INSU/CNRS technical division, and used to collect high spatial resolution hydrographic and biogeochemical parameters (e.g. oxygen and chlorophyll) over four months. These measurements were taken in addition to the regular monitoring of oceanographic conditions by the IMARPE and form a valuable database to help better understand how this unique marine environment functions. The CIENPERU programme is based on several activities developed by the DISCOH (Dynamics of the Humboldt current system) ICL, the main framework for multidisciplinary research conducted by IRD in partnership with the IMARPE over the last decade or so.
The exhibition entitled Yo soy la nueva ciudad invites us all to think about the future of our cities and how to build them differently. It is based on IRD’s work on urban planning, conducted in partnership with its Mexican partners and most notably the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico). Since its inauguration at the UNAM’s Unversum (science museum), the exhibition has travelled to many other cities and sites such as Campeche, La Paz, the Mexican Senate and Panama. It has even been translated ready to show in France, so that a wider public can reflect on their city.