Biodiversity, markets and food security in a tropical river basin: insights from the Yom River, Thailand

IF 4.5 1区农林科学 Q1 FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Food Security Pub Date : 2026-08-07 DOI:10.1007/s12571-026-01706-0

Apinun Suvarnaraksha, Thapanee Pholdee, Patumvadee Punpikul

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Tropical river basins are biodiversity hotspots that critically support food and nutrition security for millions of people. However, the interactions between biodiversity, market dynamics, and food security in rapidly transforming riverine systems remain insufficiently understood, particularly in terms of how ecological diversity translates into actual food provisioning under market-driven conditions. This study addresses this gap by integrating basin-wide fish biodiversity surveys, market flow analysis, and a Food Dependence Index (FDI) within a system-level stress-testing framework to evaluate food-system structure and vulnerability in Thailand’s Yom River Basin. We find that despite more than 95% of fish species being native, food provisioning is overwhelmingly dominated by four alien aquaculture species—tilapia, red tilapia, pangasius, and hybrid catfish—which account for nearly 90% of total volume and over 93% of market value. This concentration results in a high FDI (0.92), indicating structural lock-in to aquaculture-based provisioning. Stress-test results show that moderate disruptions to alien aquaculture (20–40% supply reductions) lead to disproportionate declines in total fish availability (18–35%) and increased affordability pressure, while system dependence remains high even under severe shock scenarios. In contrast, native capture fisheries, although contributing limited market volume, provide critical ecological and livelihood buffering through biodiversity, floodplain connectivity, and seasonal harvesting. This reveals a dual-system dynamic in which aquaculture supports short-term stability, while biodiversity underpins long-term resilience. These findings highlight a fundamental trade-off between efficiency and resilience and underscore the need for portfolio-based governance that explicitly balances aquaculture efficiency with biodiversity-based adaptive capacity to sustain food security in tropical riverine systems.

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热带河流流域的生物多样性、市场和粮食安全：来自泰国Yom河的见解

热带河流流域是生物多样性的热点地区，对数百万人的粮食和营养安全至关重要。然而，在快速变化的河流系统中，生物多样性、市场动态和粮食安全之间的相互作用仍然没有得到充分的了解，特别是在市场驱动条件下，生态多样性如何转化为实际的粮食供应方面。本研究通过在系统级压力测试框架内整合全流域鱼类生物多样性调查、市场流量分析和粮食依赖指数（FDI）来评估泰国Yom河流域的粮食系统结构和脆弱性，从而解决了这一差距。我们发现，尽管95%以上的鱼类是本地的，但食物供应绝大多数是由四种外来水产养殖物种——罗非鱼、红罗非鱼、巴沙鱼和杂交鲶鱼——占总产量的近90%，占市场价值的93%以上。这种集中导致了较高的外国直接投资（0.92），表明结构性锁定了以水产养殖为基础的供应。压力测试结果表明，外来水产养殖的适度中断（供应减少20-40%）导致鱼类总可得性不成比例地下降（18-35%），并增加了负担能力压力，而即使在严重冲击情景下，系统依赖性仍然很高。相比之下，本地捕捞渔业虽然贡献了有限的市场份额，但通过生物多样性、河漫滩连通性和季节性捕捞，提供了重要的生态和生计缓冲。这揭示了一种双重系统动态，其中水产养殖支持短期稳定性，而生物多样性支持长期复原力。这些发现强调了效率和复原力之间的根本权衡，并强调需要基于组合的治理，明确平衡水产养殖效率与基于生物多样性的适应能力，以维持热带河流系统的粮食安全。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Food Security FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY-

CiteScore

14.00

自引率

6.00%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： Food Security is a wide audience, interdisciplinary, international journal dedicated to the procurement, access (economic and physical), and quality of food, in all its dimensions. Scales range from the individual to communities, and to the world food system. We strive to publish high-quality scientific articles, where quality includes, but is not limited to, the quality and clarity of text, and the validity of methods and approaches. Food Security is the initiative of a distinguished international group of scientists from different disciplines who hold a deep concern for the challenge of global food security, together with a vision of the power of shared knowledge as a means of meeting that challenge. To address the challenge of global food security, the journal seeks to address the constraints - physical, biological and socio-economic - which not only limit food production but also the ability of people to access a healthy diet. From this perspective, the journal covers the following areas: Global food needs: the mismatch between population and the ability to provide adequate nutrition Global food potential and global food production Natural constraints to satisfying global food needs: § Climate, climate variability, and climate change § Desertification and flooding § Natural disasters § Soils, soil quality and threats to soils, edaphic and other abiotic constraints to production § Biotic constraints to production, pathogens, pests, and weeds in their effects on sustainable production The sociological contexts of food production, access, quality, and consumption. Nutrition, food quality and food safety. Socio-political factors that impinge on the ability to satisfy global food needs: § Land, agricultural and food policy § International relations and trade § Access to food § Financial policy § Wars and ethnic unrest Research policies and priorities to ensure food security in its various dimensions.