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This paper provides the first analysis at the sub-municipality scale of the relationships between population densities and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon between 2000 and 2010. We use the database on deforestation published by the Brazilian space research center (INPE) and the population census data released by the federal geographical and statistical agency IBGE at their finest scale: the census tract level. By crossing the population density and deforestation variables, we identify ten human settlement patterns in the Amazon. There are low-low and high-high classes of population density and deforestation, but also low-high and high-low classes. This analysis helps understand the low overall relations in the Amazon for population and deforestation. We emphasize the expansion of large-scale agriculture and cattle ranching as causing the depopulation of rural areas while in many regions of the Amazon quite strong population densities coexist with relatively low extents of deforestation. Such findings stress the need to implement case-specific public policies in these regions in order to encourage human presence compatible with the conservation of forest cover and biodiversity. We also confirm the importance of the Amazon urbanization process, including the ‘discrete urbanization’ of rural areas, and the need to better recognize the distinct social and environmental problems of urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distance is a key variable in explicating environmental, social, and economic conditions and in defining spatial and temporal patterns. Prior research has primarily focused on using simple to complex algorithms for calculating distances along road networks. In contrast, few algorithms are available for distance calculations along fluvial networks which are often more erratic, divergent and transient than road networks. Fluvial transportation is relied upon worldwide, particularly in developing regions, where communities use river networks for transportation, access to natural resources and for trade and commerce. This paper presents a methodology developed for mapping complex fluvial networks for travel distance analysis. The methodology was applied in four major river basins in western Amazonia over some 35,000 km of river length and incorporating 919 communities as origins/destinations. A cost path and network analysis methodology was created using vector and raster datasets in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to assess interactions among communities and the distances traveled by river to reach district capitals, major urban centres and marketplaces. An accuracy assessment using distance values calculated from a previous study using a different methodological approach in the region as well as Google Earth Pro, found a high degree of concordance for distance calculations. Our methodology creates a very flexible approach for complex river systems that can be use to calculate river distances in an adaptive and efficient manner and that can be use in other regions of the world where rural communities must rely on rivers for transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a study of land use and land cover dynamics in an indigenous community in the Amazon, in particular the methods used to deal with problems related to small size of cultivated plots, spectral similarity between land use classes, atmospheric haze and topographic shade. The main focus was on identifying and quantifying cultivated and fallow areas. Based on remote sensing alone, it was possible to identify about half of the fallows younger than 20 years of age. Combining remote sensing with field-based methods, however, it was possible to estimate the number and size of cultivated areas, the extent of fallows up to 65 years of age, as well as the rate of old-growth forest loss. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Brazilian Amazon contains the most active rainforest frontier in the world, and its socioeconomic, demographic and spatial dynamism has been a topic of interest for academics and policy makers for decades. In this paper, we use spatial statistical modeling to examine the context of migration in the Brazilian Amazon by investigating its socioeconomic, demographic, spatial and environmental heterogeneities at the municipal level between 2000 and 2010. First, we visualized the spatial distribution of net-migration, in-migration and out-migration rates among municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon. Then, we explored the presence of spatial autocorrelation using Global Moran ' s I Index, and use spatial modeling techniques to investigate the associations between response variables (in-migration and out-migration) and selected explanatory variables. We identified several in-migration frontiers in the region, especially in Center Mato Grosso and Southeast Pará, while out-migration seems more diffuse in the Amazonia territory. Global Moran ' s I scores indicate that most of the selected variables exhibit spatial dependence, and the spatial regression models present better estimates of the coefficients by incorporating the spatially lagged autoregressive parameter. Our results also confirm the spatial heterogeneity and multidimensional character of in-migration and out-migration in the Brazilian Amazon. Economic growth, regional inequality and the environmental dynamism of the rainforest frontier appear to be closely associated with the intensity of migration flows in the region. We also find that less-populated municipalities have a central role in regional migration dynamics, forming relevant in-migration frontiers and ensuring territorial robustness for migration in the region. • There are several in-migration frontiers in the Brazilian Amazon. • Out-migration seems more diffuse in the Amazonia territory. • There is significant spatial patterning in in-migration and out-migration rates. • Socioeconomic and environmental variables are closely associated with migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]