Quantifying a virtual water metabolic network of the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador using ecological network methods

Rosales, F.O., Fath, B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9440-6842, & Llerena, G.Y. (2023). Quantifying a virtual water metabolic network of the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador using ecological network methods. Journal of Industrial Ecology 27 1304-1318. 10.1111/jiec.13424.

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Abstract

Current human population is mostly located in urban areas making cities the center of attention in terms of achieving sustainability goals. Evidence shows that ecosystems have evolved over time toward a balanced configuration between resource efficiency and functional redundancy. For this reason, they are exemplary models to follow in terms of sustainability. Here, we apply similar ecological network-based methods to study the virtual water metabolic network (VWMN) of the Metropolitan District of Quito. The VWMN was obtained using novel bottom-up, survey-based methods to generate the urban metabolic network. We compare the VWMN results with those previously obtained from ecological food webs, to learn if there are insights about the sustainability of urban metabolic processes. We conclude that VWMN does not exhibit characteristics observed in sustainable ecological networks because this socioeconomic network exhibits higher levels of path redundancy. Urban metabolism studies are gaining in popularity as a research tool aimed at informing resource management and this is one of the first covering a city in the Global South and using a bottom-up survey method.

Item Type:	Article
Research Programs:	Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) > Systemic Risk and Resilience (SYRR)
Depositing User:	Luke Kirwan
Date Deposited:	24 Jul 2023 04:17
Last Modified:	05 Jan 2024 14:17
URI:	https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/18919

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