Effects of climate change on the resources of the rural ecosystem, a view from farmer perspectives

This paper presents the results obtained from the categorization of the social representations of farmer groups on the effects of climate change on the biodiversity of their farms, developed in a rural area of the Colombian Andes. A mixed methodology was used throughout the analysis of the behavior of rainfall and temperature between the years 2010-2017 and the implementation of an open survey on 144 farmers, of which its data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics through descriptive estimators and an analysis of variance and multiple comparison mean tests, respectively. Furthermore, a qualitative analysis, supported by Corbin and Strauss' Grounded Theory, was carried out on 18 farmer families using semi-structured interviews. The hypothesis testing determined the existence of significant differences between the mean temperatures of the years observed when obtaining a value of F_c = 3.50, highly significant at 1%, and a value of F_c = 2.79, significant at 5%, P<0.05, for the mean rainfall. In the descriptive analysis, farmers' perception of the negative effects of climate change was evident in the decrease in the availability of water from natural sources (80.6%), deterioration in water quality (50.0%), variations in rainfall intensity (82.0%) and in local bimodal rainfall patterns (79.0%). The inferential analysis determined that the proportion of farmers reporting a disappearance of species due to intense heat or rainfall differs significantly from the level of p<0.05, over those who reported that these conditions have not caused variations in flora and fauna. The qualitative analysis verified the effects of climate change on rural biodiversity resources, which were expressed in 4 emerging categories: 1) Biodiversity resources in the process of extinction, 2) resilient resources, 3) emerging biodiversity, and 4) new agricultural business opportunities. The findings reveal that from a farmers' perspective climatic variations are affecting species of fauna and flora in rural communities.