This paper offers paradigmatic insights from an international workshop on Ecological Legacies: Bridge Between Science and Community, in Ecuador, in the summer of 2023. The conference brought together foreign and local scholars, tour operators, village community, and Indigenous leaders in the upper Amazonia region of Ecuador with the goal of developing a vision for a sustainable and regenerative future of the upper Amazon. The conference offered three epistemological contributions to the existing literature in the emergent field of Montology, including addressing issues of (a) understanding the existing linguistic hegemony in describing tropical environments, (b) the redress of mistaken notions on pristine jungle environments, and (c) the inclusion of traditional knowledge and transdisciplinary approaches to understand the junglescape from different perspectives and scientific traditions. Methodologically, the conference bridged the fields of palaeoecological and ethnobotanical knowledge (as part of a wider conversation between science and local communities). Results show that local knowledge should be incorporated into the study of the junglescape and its conservation, with decolonial approaches for tourism, sharing language, methodology, tradition, and dissemination of the forest’s attributes. Our research helped co-create and formulate the “Coca Declaration” calling for a philosophical turn in research, bridging science and ethnotourism in ways that are local, emancipatory, and transdisciplinary. We conclude that facilitating new vocabulary by decolonial heightening of Indigenous perspectives of the junglescape helps to incorporate the notion of different Amazons, including the mountainscape of the Andean–Amazonian flanks. We also conclude that we can no consider Ecuador the country of “pure nature” since we helped demystify pristine nature for foreign tourists and highlighted local views with ancestral practices. Finally, we conclude that ethnotourism is a viable alternative to manage heritagization of the junglescape as a hybrid territory with the ecological legacies of the past and present inhabitants of upper Amazonia.

The current situation of global environmental degradation as a result of anthropogenic activities makes it necessary to open new research lines focused on the causes and effects of the main alterations caused in the ecosystems. One of the most relevant is how the niche dynamics of invasive species change between different geographical areas, since its understanding is key to the early detection and control of future invasions. In this regard, we analyzed the distribution pattern of Cirsium vulgare (Savi) Ten., a plant of the Asteraceae family originally from the Eurasian region that currently invades wide areas of the world. We estimated its niche shifts between continents using a combination of principal components analysis (PCA) and Ecological Niche Modelling (ENM) on an extensive set of data on global presences of its native and invaded ranges from Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). A set of bioclimatic variables and the Human Footprint (HFP) with a resolution of 10 km were selected for this purpose. Our results showed that the species has a marked global trend to expand toward warmer climates with less seasonality, although in some regions its invasiveness appears to be less than in others. The models had a good statistical performance and high coherence in relation to the known distribution of the species and allowed us to establish the relative weight of the contribution of each variable used, with the annual temperature and seasonality being the determining factors in the establishment of the species. Likewise, the use of non-climatic variable HFP has provided relevant information to explain the colonizing behavior of the species. The combination of this methodology with an adequate selection of predictor variables represents a very useful tool when focusing efforts and resources for the management of invasive species.

Climate change poses a significant threat to the persistence of rear-edge populations, which are located at the margins of a species’ distribution range and are particularly vulnerable to environmental shifts. This study focuses on Yew (Taxus baccata L.) in the Iberian Peninsula, representing the southernmost extent of its range, where warming temperatures and decreasing moisture may compromise its survival. Our research aims to assess the climate sensitivity and habitat variability of Yew, addressing the hypothesis that future climate scenarios will significantly reduce the species’ climatic suitability, particularly in southern and low-altitude regions, and that this reduction will negatively impact individual growth performance. We used species distribution models (SDMs) based on ecological niche modeling (ENM) to project the current and future distribution of suitable habitats for Yew under two climate scenarios (SSP126 and SSP585). The models were calibrated using bioclimatic variables, and the resulting suitability maps were integrated with field data on individual growth performance, measured as basal area increment over the last five years (BAI5). The ensemble model showed high predictive performance, highlighting precipitation seasonality and annual mean temperature as the most influential variables explaining the climatic suitability distribution in the Iberian Peninsula. Our results indicate a substantial reduction in suitable habitats for Yew, especially under the high-emission scenario (SSP585), with southern populations experiencing the greatest losses. Furthermore, individual growth was positively correlated with climatic suitability, confirming that populations in favorable habitats exhibit better performance. These findings highlight the vulnerability of rear-edge populations of Yew to climate change and underscore the need for targeted conservation strategies, including the identification of climatic refugia and the potential use of assisted migration.

Este artículo ofrece perspectivas decoloniales del cambio de paradigma de la montología en el aprendizaje del sistema socioecológico de los paisajes de montaña. Al evidenciar la transformación del paisaje tropical andino nos preguntamos sobre la importancia de recalcar en los visitantes y en los habitantes locales el concepto de legados ecológicos, y de qué manera la ciencia puede ayudar al etnoturismo a generar una mejor conciencia sobre la importancia de la conservación biocultural del territorio de los flancos andinos del piedemonte y las montañas bajas de la alta Amazonía. Los resultados de un estudio etnoecológico en el alto río Napo, Ecuador, como respuesta a cuestionarios Liker de quintiles, encuestados personalmente y en línea en cuatro temas etnoecológicos, muestran que el conocimiento local debe ser incorporado al estudio del paisaje selvático y su conservación, con enfoques decoloniales para el turismo, compartiendo lenguaje, metodología, tradición y difusión de los atributos del bosque. Nuestra investigación ayudó a cocrear y formular la “Declaración de Coca” que pide un giro filosófico en la investigación, conectando la ciencia y el etnoturismo en formas que sean locales, emancipadoras y transdisciplinarias. La geografía crítica y etnoecología nos ayuda a entender los predicamentos de las poblaciones silvícolas, como por ejemplo los sáparos de Jandiayacu. Concluimos que facilitar un nuevo vocabulario mediante la intensificación decolonial de las perspectivas indígenas del paisaje montañoso y selvático ayuda a incorporar la noción de diferentes Amazonías, incluyendo el paisaje montañoso de los flancos andino-amazónicos o “alta amazonía”. También concluimos que no podemos considerar a Ecuador el país de la “naturaleza pura” ya que ayudamos a desmitificar la naturaleza prístina de la selva para los turistas extranjeros, resaltando las visiones locales con prácticas ancestrales. Finalmente, concluimos que el etnoturismo es una alternativa viable para gestionar la patrimonialización del paisaje selvático como un territorio híbrido con los legados ecológicos de los habitantes pasados y presentes de la alta Amazonía.

La degradación ambiental global como consecuencia de las actividades antropogénicas hace necesario abrir nuevas líneas de investigación en las causas y efectos de las alteraciones en los ecosistemas. Un enfoque importante es ver cómo cambia la dinámica de nicho de las especies invasoras entre diferentes áreas geográficas. Analizamos el patrón de distribución de Cirsium vulgare (Savi) Ten., una planta de la familia Asteraceae originaria de la región euroasiática que actualmente invade amplias zonas del mundo. Se estimaron los desplazamientos de su nicho entre continentes mediante una combinación de análisis de componentes principales (ACP) y modelización de nichos ecológicos (ENM) en un amplio conjunto de datos del Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Para ello se seleccionó un conjunto de variables bioclimáticas y la Huella Humana (HFP) con una resolución de 10 km. Nuestros resultados mostraron que la especie tiene una marcada tendencia global a expandirse hacia climas más cálidos y con menor estacionalidad, aunque en algunas regiones su invasividad parece ser menor que en otras. Los modelos tuvieron un buen comportamiento estadístico y una alta coherencia en relación a la distribución conocida de la especie y nos permitieron establecer el peso relativo de la contribución de cada variable utilizada, siendo la temperatura anual y la estacionalidad los factores determinantes en el establecimiento de la especie. La combinación de esta metodología con una adecuada selección de variables representa una herramienta muy útil a la hora de enfocar esfuerzos a la gestión de especies invasoras. Global environmental degradation as a consequence of anthropogenic activities makes it necessary to open new lines of research into the causes and effects of alterations in ecosystems. An important approach is to see how the niche dynamics of invasive species change between different geographic areas. We analyzed the distribution pattern of Cirsium vulgare (Savi) Ten. a plant of the family Asteraceae originating from the Eurasian region that currently invades large areas of the world. Its niche shifts between continents were estimated using a combination of principal component analysis (PCA) and ecological niche modeling (ENM) on a large dataset from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). For this purpose, a set of bioclimatic variables and the Human Footprint (HFP) at a resolution of 10 km were selected. Our results showed that the species has a marked global tendency to expand towards warmer climates and with less seasonality, although in some regions its invasiveness seems to be lower than in others. The models had good statistical behavior and high consistency in relation to the known distribution of the species and allowed us to establish the relative weight of the contribution of each variable used, with annual temperature and seasonality being the determining factors in the establishment of the species. The combination of this methodology with an adequate selection of variables represents a very useful tool when focusing efforts on invasive species management.

High-mountain protected areas are increasingly exposed to climate change, governance fragmentation, and limited integration of cultural dimensions into conservation strategies. In this context, this study examines the Chimborazo Fauna Production Reserve (Ecuador) as a high-Andean biocultural landscape, integrating ecological, geological, climatic, and cultural evidence within a common interpretive framework based on the concepts of integrity and authenticity. Using an interdisciplinary synthesis of secondary sources, the analysis explores six analytical dimensions encompassing geodiversity, ecosystems, biodiversity, climate dynamics, archaeological evidence, and cultural practices. The results suggest that the Chimborazo system maintains a notable degree of structural and functional coherence across its ecological and geomorphological components, while also experiencing increasing pressures associated with climate change, particularly glacier retreat and hydrological variability. At the same time, the persistence of archaeological records, Andean epistemologies, ritual practices, and biocultural traditions supports the interpretation of a landscape characterized by continuity of cultural meaning and long-term human–environment interaction. Rather than proposing a definitive or directly transferable model, this study offers a conceptual perspective that highlights the interdependence between ecological processes and cultural values in high-mountain environments. Interpreting Chimborazo as a biocultural landscape offers a useful approach for exploring sustainability-oriented governance and adaptive management in Andean protected areas. The findings may inform ongoing discussions on the integration of biodiversity conservation, cultural continuity, and climate adaptation, while further empirical validation is required to assess the broader applicability of this approach in other mountain contexts.