Computable Nature Dependency in a Watershed Knowledge Graph

Jayson Gutierrez, Javier C. Alvarez

Resolving nature-related financial risk and watershed resilience requires a representational shift from opaque, aggregate indices to auditable, mechanistic pathways. Current natural-capital workflows often succumb to an "epistemic collapse", where granular ecological interactions are erased in favor of sector-level proxies or spatial heatmaps that lack a downstream asset trace. Here, we present a reproducible architectural proof of concept for computable nature dependency within the Medellin-Aburra watershed of Colombia. Using a YAML-governed Neo4j property graph, we materialize a multidimensional system comprising 225 nodes and 1,807 relationships, substantiated by a four-tier evidence registry and governed by 33 domain-specific integrity checks. Our headline query reveals a precise, eight-edge service chain that preserves mechanistic continuity: beginning with the specialized pollination mutualism of Ensifera ensifera and Passiflora mixta, the path traverses canopy recruitment, fog interception, and catchment regulation to terminate in named infrastructure assets, e.g., the La Fe reservoir, La Ayura treatment plant, and the EPM distribution network. Structural analysis of the 1,023-edge biological substrate identifies a complex ecological backbone (k-core shell 23), while compound-stress simulations indicate a 67.5% loss in pathway integrity under urbanization and climate pressures. By enforcing the ontological separation of evidence, bridge axioms, and risk metrics, this architecture formally establishes a rigorous, standards-governed protocol for the continuous, verifiable auditability of ecological dependencies. We demonstrate that nature dependency is most accurately managed not as a static score, but as a transparent, query-reviewed evidence agenda that maintains the auditability of ecological complexity across the entire service-to-finance continuum.