Navigating the Freshwaters of Patagonia... and This Book

Abstract

A number of distinctive features characterise the Patagonian region, fromgeological history to present geography and climate, signed by the presence of the Andesridge. Patagonia can be thus best analysed from an eco-regional viewpoint, which hasbeen applied to terrestrial ecosystems as well as to freshwaters and, in Argentina,specifically to wetlands. If landscapes can be read as palimpsests on which successivemodifications have been produced by both natural and human forces, inland waterecosystems carry strong signals of such changes, which account for the characteristics ofthose in a more pristine status but also for those of heavily intervened and submitted tofast changes in land use in their catchments. Thus, in addition to the order in which thechapters of this book are presented, the manifold interactions between the biotic, abioticand anthropic spheres of the environment in Patagonia invite a number of differentpossible organisations of the reading, one of which we offer in this chapter, with the finalobjective of discussing the regional prospects of achieving the water-related goals of theUN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.