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Different mechanisms act to structure metacommunities. Among them, the most studied are those related to environmental and spatial drivers. Also, most studies on metacommunities are based on data obtained in snapshot surveys, hindering the test of other potential mechanisms, including historical effects. Here, we quantified the relative importance of different sets of variables that could potentially structure zooplankton communities in 39 small reservoirs in Midwest Brazil. In addition to local environmental, spatial, and land use variables, as a proxy for potential priority effects, we tested the effect of earlier zooplankton composition on (later) zooplankton metacommunity structure. The relative importance of these sets of explanatory variables varied over time. However, earlier zooplankton community data were, in general, the most consistent predictors (especially for microcrustaceans) of zooplankton community structure. This result may indicate the role of historical effects on later zooplankton metacommunity structure. Our results highlight the importance of considering multiple surveys and past community data in spatiotemporal studies aiming to unveil the determinants of zooplankton metacommunity structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased availability of remote sensing products and new legislative agendas are driving a growing focus on farm‐level traceability and monitoring to tackle commodity‐driven deforestation. Here, we use data on land use change in Brazil (1985–2021) from Mapbiomas to demonstrate how analyses of the drivers of deforestation are sensitive to the scale of analysis: while pixel‐ or property‐level analyses identify proximate drivers of deforestation, analyses at larger scales (subnational regions or countries) capture more complex land use dynamics, including indirect land use change. We argue that initiatives which seek to monitor and address commodity‐driven deforestation—such as the European Union's deforestation due‐diligence regulation and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development's Greenhouse Gas Protocol—must be conscient of these wider land use dynamics. Only by measuring progress and defining success at multiple scales can initiatives for sustainable commodity sourcing create the right mix of incentives for addressing deforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic carbon performs essential functions in soils, which act as sources or sinks of atmospheric organic carbon. Agricultural management affects the carbon cycle in the soil, with effects on climate change. One of the crops most vulnerable to climate change is coffee. Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer, with a predominance of management under a conventional system, with sloping terrain and the absence of conservationist practices. The absence of conservationist practices increases in soil loss rates due to water management and carbon emissions, as well as a reduction in coffee production. This paper intended to estimate soil and organic carbon losses by RUSLE in coffee farms in southern Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil. Data were obtained from fieldwork, laboratory analysis, and cartographic products. The results indicated, exclusively for coffee crops, soil and carbon losses between 7 and 32 Mg ha−1 year−1 and 87 and 460kg ha−1 year−1, respectively. However, the highest soil losses occurred on sloping terrains with eucalyptus plantations located downhill, and the lowest losses occurred on flat land with native forests. Organic carbon losses were linked directly to soil losses, as a result from the land practices, slope and agricultural management adopted. These results can be used for the planning and priority definition of areas needing conservationist practices, such as green manuring, planting in contour and maintaining of vegetation between coffee rows, which are already used in some sites of the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disasters caused by rainfall extremes represent social challenges in several sectors, especially in climate change scenarios. Along with changes in land use and land cover, this relationship may become more complex. Thus, the present study aimed to detect recent trends in the pattern of rainfall indicators and associate them with records of natural disasters and the evolution of changes in land use and land cover for the state of Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil. Daily rainfall data from 77 rain gauge stations from 1970 to 2018 were used to analyze climate trends in different rainfall indicators obtained using the RClimDex software. Records of natural disasters from 1991 to 2020 in the state of Espírito Santo were gathered from the Brazilian Integrated Disaster Information System. Additionally, land use and land cover data from 1985 and 2019 were also used. The Mann–Kendall (MK) test and the Sen slope were used to detect and quantify trends. In the Litoral Norte Espírito-santense and Noroeste Espírito-santense mesoregions of the State, trends of drought intensification are expected mainly in the regions further north. Associated with the great recent agricultural expansion in the region, this trend is concerning. The Central Espírito-santense and Sul Espírito-santense mesoregions tend to become wetter, which explains the recent increase in floods and heavy rainfall. No significant trends were found in the other regions studied. The approach adopted in this study has the potential to assist decision-making, implement mitigation and/or adaptation measures, and reduce the impacts of natural disasters in different regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metacommunity studies have demonstrated that local macroinvertebrate communities are structured not only by local environmental conditions but also by spatial processes. Effective bioassessment tools should account for spatial processes while doing so with the least amount of cost. In this study, we applied variance partition techniques based on redundancy analysis to assess the performance of three sets of benthic invertebrate metrics in detecting agricultural land-use effects in a SE Brazil rainforest watershed. Macroinvertebrate data were analyzed separately regarding their taxonomic, functional structure and bioindicator metrics developed for the study region. We stipulated that groups of metrics most sensitive to land-use effects should have the highest amount of variance explained by the joint effects of land use and environmental variation, independently of spatial structuring. Statistical analyses were repeated removing rare taxa in order to assess the effects of their inclusion in the responsiveness of each group of metrics. Traditional bioindicator metrics were more responsive to environmental variation associated with agriculture than taxa abundances and functional attributes. Furthermore, a few common taxa drove a high proportion of the variation observed in invertebrate communities, regardless of how invertebrate data were organized. Similar analytic approaches have the potential to be useful in curtailing sorting and identification efforts when developing macroinvertebrate-based biomonitoring protocols, especially in areas where information regarding the taxonomy of benthic communities is still poorly described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in land use can cause degradation of soil physical quality with negative effects on the environment and agricultural production. The effects of different land uses on soil physical-hydric attributes were studied in the Renato River and Caiabi River watersheds in the southern Brazilian Amazon. Three conditions of land use were evaluated: native forest, crops, and pasture in the headwater, middle, and mouth of each watershed. Particle size, particle density, bulk density, total porosity, macroporosity, microporosity, water contents at field capacity and permanent wilting point, and available water capacity in soil were evaluated in three soil layers down to 0.4 m. Data collected were subjected to the Kruskal–Wallis nonparametric test and Pearson's correlations. Multivariate analyses were also performed using the principal component method. In the Renato watershed, in comparison with native forest, conventional management of pasture and crops caused soil physical degradation, increasing soil density in the surface layer and reducing macroporosity and total porosity. In the Caiabi watershed, converting native forest areas into pasture and crops altered water quality, influencing the water dynamics in the soil, by reducing soil water conductivity. Soil attributes varied by watershed, with texture variations between the headwater and mouth, indicating that changes in soil properties result from both management and the granulometric composition of the soil in different regions of the same watershed. Adoption of crop and pasture conservation practices can improve soil physical attributes in regions bordering agricultural areas in the southern Amazon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to assess the influencing factors of the presence of mercury in a river within the Savanna biome (Cerrado), we surveyed total mercury (THg) in bottom sediment from 50 lakes along 750 km of the Middle Araguaia floodplain. The sampling sites included non-urban and urban surroundings over three distinct geomorphologies. We measured water physicochemical parameters at each site and tested statistically if land use nested within the geological formation influenced the THg concentration in bottom sediments and related water parameters. Multivariate results indicate that the interaction between geological groups and land use is statistically significant (p < 0.05). Nested ANOVA and Tukey HSD tests confirmed that the geological formation with its nested land use influences the THg, pH, DO, conductivity, and TDS (p < 0.05). THg was significantly lower in Quaternary terrains (p < 0.05) and differed significantly between non-urban and urban areas in Neoproterozoic terrains (p = 0.02). The spatial projections of the THg eigenvector on the main axes with the scoring factors of the Neoproterozoic/Paleoproterozoic terrains, and urban/non-urban, confirmed the spatial correlations. These results indicate that the association of land use and geology could be the main driver of THg in the bottom sediments of lakes from the Middle Araguaia floodplain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the trends in land use and land cover (LULC) is crucial for modeling streamflow and sediment yield, particularly in hydrological basins. This study examined the impact of LULC on the dynamics of streamflow and sediment yield within a humid tropical basin of the Atlantic Forest biome in Brazil, focusing on the period from 2000 to 2016. Changes in LULC were analyzed using annual MapBiomas data products for the same period. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was deployed to simulate streamflow and sediment yield based on LULC changes. To investigate temporal trends in LULC, a suite of non-parametric statistical tests, including the Mann–Kendall, Pettitt, and Sen's slope estimator tests, was employed. Ecological diversity indices such as Shannon–Weaver, Simpson, and Pielou were applied to assess forest fragmentation, along with the Forest Fragmentation Index. The results revealed a growing trend in urban and sugarcane areas, coupled with a decline in dense vegetation, mangroves, and other forms of dense vegetation. With regard to the correlation between land uses and hydrological variables, the findings indicate minor variations in hydrological balance, attributable to the not-so-significant changes among the studied land-use scenarios, except for sediment yield estimates, which showed more considerable alterations. Notably, the estimates for 2000 and 2013–2016 were the most divergent. In a broader scientific context, this research conclusively establishes that the incorporation of dynamic LULC data into the SWAT model augments the precision and robustness of simulations pertaining to agricultural watersheds, thereby enabling a more comprehensive hydrological characterization of the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass burning (BB) emissions negatively impact the biosphere and human lives. Orbital remote sensing and modelling are used to estimate BB emissions on regional to global scales, but these estimates are subject to errors related to the parameters, data, and methods available. For example, emission factors (mass emitted by species during BB per mass of dry matter burned) are based on land use and land cover (LULC) classifications that vary considerably across products. In this work, we evaluate how BB emissions vary in the PREP-CHEM-SRC emission estimator tool (version 1.8.3) when it is run with original LULC data from MDC12Q1 (collection 5.1) and newer LULC data from MapBiomas (collection 6.0). We compare the results using both datasets in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado biomes during the 2002–2020 time series. A major reallocation of emissions occurs within Brazil when using the MapBiomas product, with emissions decreasing by 788 Gg (−1.91% year−1) in the Amazon and emissions increasing by 371 Gg (2.44% year−1) in the Cerrado. The differences identified are mostly associated with the better capture of the deforestation process in the Amazon and forest formations in Northern Cerrado with the MapBiomas product, as emissions in forest-related LULCs decreased by 5260 Gg in the Amazon biome and increased by 1676 Gg in the Cerrado biome. This is an important improvement to PREP-CHEM-SRC, which could be considered the tool to build South America's official BB emission inventory and to provide a basis for setting emission reduction targets and assessing the effectiveness of mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic changes in habitats are one of the main threats to biodiversity. Understanding how species diversity and their functions are affected by these changes is crucial to assess environmental impacts. In this work, we aim to understand how lizard composition, taxonomic and functional diversity respond to differences in native vegetation regeneration stages (conserved vegetation and open secondary vegetation) and agricultural land use in different vegetation types (Caatinga sensu stricto, Cerrado sensu stricto and Relictual Humid Forest) in Caatinga domain, Brazil. In more degraded areas (open secondary vegetation and agricultural areas), we found a decline in species evenness, shown by greater dominance of few species. Moreover, we found a lower functional evenness in agricultural areas than in areas of conserved vegetation, which suggests that a smaller portion of functional traits present greater dominance in more anthropized areas. We did not detect any significant differences in species richness, but we did registered differences in species composition in Relictual Humid Forest. Contrary to our expectations, lizard abundance was also greater in more degraded areas, probably as a result of the increased abundance of species benefited by anthropization. In this work, we advance the knowledge of how anthropogenic changes influence lizard diversity and emphasize the importance of analysing different facets of diversity and different habitat environments to understand how anthropization affects patterns in community ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion of native forest into agricultural land, which is common in many parts of the world, poses important questions regarding soil degradation, demanding further efforts to better understand the effect of land use change on soil functions. With the advent of 3D computed tomography techniques and computing power, new methods are becoming available to address this question. In this direction, in the current work we implement a modification of the Fisher–Shannon method, borrowed from information theory, to quantify the complexity of twelve 3D CT soil samples from a sugarcane plantation and twelve samples from a nearby native Atlantic forest in northeastern Brazil. The distinction found between the samples from the sugar plantation and the Atlantic forest site is quite pronounced. The results at the level of 91.7% accuracy were obtained considering the complexity in the Fisher–Shannon plane. Atlantic forest samples are found to be generally more complex than those from the sugar plantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way water resources behave in the face of changes in land use are essential for managing a watershed. The Ibicuí river basin, located in the center of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, has great agricultural potential and peculiar characteristics regarding its hydrological regime. Changes in land use and land cover with the purpose of expanding economic activities in this area can generate major impacts on the flow regimes of this watershed. This study shows an analysis of the influence of land use and land cover changes on the flow regime in the Ibicuí river basin from the large-basin hydrological model (MGB-IPH), considering maps of land use history and vegetation cover in the study area. The results were used to analyze the changes in the maximum and minimum annual and monthly average flows. The efficiency of the model was evaluated by the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient (between 0.636 and 0.801) for peak flows and by the Nash-Sutcliffe log (between 0.682 and 0.863) for recession flows, indicating high correlation and low volume error (- 0.45 to - 8.20%). The greatest change in land use was the forest coverage reduction associated with agriculture land use. As a result, an increase in the average monthly flows and in the reference flow Q90 was verified. In some sub-basins, a significant modification in the reference Q90 flow and maximum flow was verified. The Mann-Whitney test showed that the results were accurate. The results indicated that changes in forest coverage and land use have an impact in the flow regime in the Ibicuí Watershed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soil physical-chemical changes in different land uses in a Tropical Cambisol at Apodi Plateau, Northeastern Brazil, were investigated between May 2017 and April 2018. Soil samples were collected at three soil layers (0–5, 5–15, and 15–25 cm) under three land uses: a 6-year agroecological farming system, a 10-year fruticulture farming system, and a 6-year conventional farming system. We evaluated: bulk density, soil porosity, weighted average diameter (WAD), geometric mean diameter (GMD), soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), P, and sum of bases. Soil quality index was built by considering four main functions: Water supply and storage, root growth capacity, nutrient cycling, and soil conservation. Our results emphasized the land use influence on the soil physical-chemical traits in a Tropical Cambisol. The PCA analyses showed that SOC, soil porosity, bulk density, WAD, GMD, soil pH, sum of bases, and soil P content were the main factors contributing to the data variance. We found the highest values of soil quality index in the conventional farming system (0.57 ± 0.03). The results highlight the importance to consider land uses that increase the sum of bases, WAD, GMD, and SOC content, and decrease bulk density. Our findings suggest that (1) a conventional farming system with liming and fertilizers' input positively changed soil physical-chemical traits, which in turn improved soil quality in a tropical Cambisol; and (2) by altering soil functions land uses may create a sustainable cycle into the soil profile thus promoting soil quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing is valuable for estimating aboveground biomass (AGB) stocks. However, its application in agricultural and pasture areas is limited compared with forest areas. This study quantifies AGB in agriculture–pasture mosaics within Brazil's Campo Maior Complex (CMC). The methodology employs remote sensing cloud processing and utilizes an estimator to incorporate vegetation indices. The results reveal significant changes in biomass values among land use and land cover classes over the past ten years, with notable variations observed in forest plantation, pasture, sugar cane, and soybean areas. The estimated AGB values range from 0 to 20 Mg.ha−1 (minimum), 53 to 419 Mg.ha−1 (maximum), and 19 to 57 Mg.ha−1 (mean). In Forest formation areas, AGB values range from approximately 0 to 278 Mg.ha−1, with an average annual value of 56.44 Mg.ha−1. This study provides valuable insights for rural landowners and government officials in managing the semiarid territory and environment. It aids in decision making regarding agricultural management, irrigation and fertilization practices, agricultural productivity, land use and land cover changes, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, conservation strategies, the identification of priority areas for environmental restoration, and the optimization of resource utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use is a driver for hydrological and soil erosion responses at the watershed scale. This study aimed to assess the hydrological and soil erosion processes in small watersheds under three different land uses, at three time scales. We investigated four small watersheds in southern Brazil: Agricultural North watershed (ANW), Agricultural South watershed (ASW), Eucalyptus watershed (EW), and Grassland watershed (GW). The SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model was used to simulate streamflow (SF) and sediment yield (SY) at monthly, daily and hourly time scales. EW had the lowest SF and SY, whereas ANW showed the highest SY with an increase of 90% and ASW had the highest SF with an increase of 70%. The SWAT model had a satisfactory performance in all time scales and watersheds for SF and SY (NSE and R2 ≥ 0.3 and Pbias ≤ ± 39%). Overall, land use has a major impact on hydrological and soil erosion responses, and the magnitude of these processes depends on the time scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions between land use and cover and a basin hydrological regime are complex and dynamics. The identification of trends and changes in rainfall and flow regimes in a region is relevant in water resources planning and management so that environmental, economic and social adversities are avoided. Thus, this study aims to identify possible trends in the historical series of rainfall and fluviometric stations in Rio das Mortes basin, Minas Gerais, Brazil, as well as to relate the modifications in the flow rate behaviour due to changes in land use and cover in the basin between the years of 1985 and 2017. For that, hydrological data were used from the Ibituruna-MG river station and 12 rainfall stations and orbital images from Landsat-5 and Sentinel satellites. Flow rate and precipitation behavior were performed using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test and the Pettitt's test, while the land use and cover classification was performed in an eCognition Developer® 64 environment. Significant trends were observed in the average of total annual rainfall series and decreasing trends in the average of monthly flow rate series of lowest runoff over the years 1925 to 2014. There were changes in land use and cover in the studied region, however, these were not significant enough to modify the hydrological regime of Rio das Mortes basin during the analysed period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Amazon region comprises the largest tropical forest on the planet and is responsible for absorbing huge amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. However, changes in land use and cover have contributed to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, especially CO2, and in endangered indigenous lands and protected areas in the region. The objective of this study was to detect changes in CO2 emissions and removals associated with land use and land cover changes in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) through the analysis of multispectral satellite images from 2009 to 2019. The Gross Primary Production (GPP) and CO2Flux variables were estimated by the MODIS sensor onboard Terra and Aqua satellite, representing carbon absorption by vegetation during the photosynthesis process. Atmospheric CO2 concentration was estimated from the GOSAT satellite. The variables GPP and CO2Flux showed the effective flux of carbon in the BLA to atmosphere, which were weakly correlated with precipitation (r = 0.191 and 0.133). The forest absorbed 211.05 TgC annually but, due to its partial conversion to other land uses, the loss of 135,922.34 km2 of forest area resulted in 5.82 TgC less carbon being absorbed. Pasture and agriculture, which comprise the main land conversions, increased by 100,340.39 km2 and absorbed 1.32 and 3.19 TgC less, and emitted close to twice more, than forest in these areas. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations increased from 2.2 to 2.8 ppm annually in BLA, with hotspots observed in the southeast Amazonia, and CO2 capture by GPP showed an increase over the years, mainly after 2013, in the north and west of the BLA. This study brings to light the carbon dynamics, by GPP and CO2Flux models, as related to the land use and land cover in one of the biggest world carbon reservoirs, the Amazon, which is also important to fulfillment of international agreements signed by Brazil to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and for biodiversity conservation and other ecosystem services in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation estimation is a challenging task, especially in regions where its spatial distribution is irregular and highly variable. This study evaluated the spatial distribution of annual rainfall in a semiarid Brazilian basin under different regimes and its impact on land use and land cover dynamics. Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) records and observed data from 40 weather stations over a time series of 55 years were used, in addition to the Standardized Precipitation Index. Spatiotemporal analysis was carried out based on geostatistics. Remote sensing images were also interpreted for different rainfall regimes using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Modified Normalized Difference Water Index. The Gaussian semivariogram model best represented the rainfall spatial structure, showing strong spatial dependence. Results indicated that rainfall amount in the basin significantly increases with elevation, as expected. There is high variation in the dynamics of water storage that can threaten water security in the region. Our findings point out that the application of geostatistics for mapping both the annual precipitation and the Standardized Precipitation Index provides a powerful framework to support hydrological analysis, as well as land use and land cover management in semiarid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected areas (PAs) help in strategies for maintaining biodiversity and inhibiting deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. However, there are few studies that evaluate the effectiveness of lands protected by states (or federation units). Our goal was to compare land use change over 35 years in state-level PAs with another area of protection, both in the Amazon of the Maranhão state, Brazil. We employed remote sensing techniques, the geographic information system (GIS), and statistical analysis with the use of analyses of covariance (ANCOVAS) to analyze the presence of the classes of land use and change in the PA. The results indicate that the state PAs were effective in preserving forest cover and decelerating grazing. The implications of the results are discussed in the context of supporting public policies at the state level for the protection of the Amazon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion of Brazilian savanna into exotic pastures leads to the loss of dung beetles and a decrease in their contribution to ecological functions. We hypothesized that the dung beetle communities from exotic pastures would show greater significant differences between climatic zones, when contrasted to communities from Brazilian savanna in the same region, since dung beetle assemblages in pastures are more simplified. We assessed which variables (purpose of production, type of management, percentage the habitat per buffer, soil penetration resistance, pasture area and herd size) affect more the dung beetle community in exotic pastures. We carried out this study in 48 areas of native Brazilian savannas and exotic pastures distributed across four bioclimatic zones: BZ1, hot with three dry months; BZ2, hot with 4–5 dry months; BZ3, sub‐hot with 4–5 dry months and BZ4, meso‐thermal with 4–5 dry months of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. In each BZ, six areas of Brazilian savannas and six areas of exotic pasture were selected. In the Brazilian savanna areas, the species richness, abundance and biomass of dung beetles did not differ between the bioclimatic zones, unlike the exotic pastures. The composition of the dung beetle community was different between land use systems and between bioclimatic zones; the interaction between the two factors was also significant. Our results provide evidence that dung beetle communities active in exotic pastures are more susceptible to climatic environmental variations than communities from more complex and stable habitats, such as savannas. Finally, the best model suggested that all the six variables combined explained about 91% of the total variability in species composition observed between sampling sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work performs an analysis of the spatial pattern of the coffee harvested area in the Rio de Janeiro state between 1988 and 2018. To relate changes in land cover and land use with the coffee land abandonment, geographically weighted regressions (GWR) were adopted with the rates of change in forest and pasture cover, and also with changes in the size of the cattle herd. The coffee-crop area evolution identifies three behaviors: the concentration of planted area in the northwest, with constant growth after the 1990s; a remaining area in the mountainous region; and the abandonment of coffee farms in the south. Although bivariate models can't explain the changes in land cover and land use, geographically weighted regressions point to a trend of replacing coffee cover with pasturelands in the south region of the state, while eventual changes for forest cover are more likely in other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioenergy could play a major role in decarbonizing energy systems in the context of the Paris Agreement. Large‐scale bioenergy deployment could be related to sustainability issues and requires major infrastructure investments. It, therefore, needs to be studied carefully. The Bioenergy and Land Optimization Spatially Explicit Model (BLOEM) presented here allows for assessing different bioenergy pathways while encompassing various dimensions that influence their optimal deployment. In this study, BLOEM was applied to the Brazilian context by coupling it with the Brazilian Land Use and Energy Systems (BLUES) model. This allowed investigating the most cost‐effective ways of attending future bioenergy supply projections and studying the role of recovered degraded pasture lands in improving land availability in a sustainable and competitive manner. The results show optimizing for limiting deforestation and minimizing logistics costs results in different outcomes. It also indicates that recovering degraded pasture lands is attractive from both logistics and climate perspectives. The systemic approach of BLOEM provides spatial results, highlighting the trade‐offs between crop allocation, land use and the logistics dynamics between production, conversion, and demand, providing valuable insights for regional and national climate policy design. This makes it a useful tool for mapping sustainable bioenergy value chain pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forestry promotion is one of the approaches to forestry production with an increasing tendency in Brazil. The objective of this work was to present an agroclimatic zoning (AGZ), based on environmental conditions necessary for the planting of four species of eucalyptus in the southern mesoregion of Bahia State, Brazil, on a surface of 54,642.35 km². AGZ was proposed for Eucalyptus grandis Hill, E. urophylla, E. camaldulensis and Eucalyptus urograndis (E. grandis X E. urophylla), using geographic information systems for crossing spatial variables of temperature, precipitation, water deficit, evapotranspiration, soils, altitude, slope, conservation units and land use. The region showed planting aptitude of 27.93, 11.87, 3.74 and 1.70%, for E. grandis, E. urophylla, E. camaldulensis and Eucalyptus urograndis, respectively. The AGZ is an important alternative to minimize, in the long term, the negative effects of a monoculture with a high rate of transpiration that could compromise environmental sustainability and reduce water availability in a region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thematic maps of land cover and use can assist in the environmental monitoring of semiarid regions, mainly due to the advent of climate change, such as drought, and pressures from anthropic activities, such as the advance of urban areas. The use of geotechnologies is key for its effectiveness and low operating cost. The objective was to evaluate and understand the spatiotemporal dynamics of the loss and gain of land cover and use in a region of the Brazilian semiarid region, and identify annual trends from changing conditions over 36 years (1985 to 2020), using cloud remote sensing techniques in Google Earth Engine (GEE). Thematic maps of land cover and land use from MapBiomas Brazil were used, evaluated by Mann–Kendall trend analysis. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was also determined from the digital processing of about 800 orbital images (1985 to 2020) from the Landsat series of satellites. The trend analysis for land cover and use detected, over time, the loss of forest areas and water bodies, followed by the advance of exposed soil areas and urban infrastructure. The modification of native vegetation directly influences water availability, and agricultural activities increase the pressure on water resources, mainly in periods of severe drought. The NDVI detected that the period from 2013 to 2020 was most affected by climatic variability conditions, with extremely low average values. Thematic maps of land cover and use and biophysical indices are essential indicators to mitigate environmental impacts in the Brazilian semiarid region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened habitats on Earth, due mainly to anthropogenic pollutants made up of complex mixtures. The Iguaçu River is world famous for the Iguaçu Falls and highlighted by its endemism. Unfortunately, it is considered the second most polluted urban river in Brazil. We aimed to perform an environmental evaluation of Neotropical streams in the Iguaçu River basin, using a multibiomarker approach from a land use and landscape perspective. A set of biomarkers in the fish Psalidodonbifasciatus was analyzed using an Integrated Biomarker Response (IBR) index and correlated with surrounding land uses. Agricultural and urban sites presented more alterations compared to references sites, with elevated protein carbonyls at agricultural sites, increased DNA damage and depletion of glutathione S-transferase at urban sites and decreased glutathione associated with higher histopathological indices at urban and agricultural sites. The IBR shows a consistent increase in negative effects in anthropized areas, with similar values at agricultural and urban sites. The multibiomarker approach, associated with a well-elaborated sample design and a statistical analysis, is an ideal method to obtain more conclusive results about the effects of human activities, revealing the effective result of exposure in the real world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loss of native vegetation cover in the watershed is known to affect stream fish communities. However, community response may not occur immediately after land cover change, and may become apparent only years later. In this study, we investigated how a c.a. 30-year (1985–2017) historical trajectory of native vegetation loss affected fish communities in 47 streams of southern Brazilian grasslands. We tested whether current species richness and composition would be more related to past or to recent natural vegetation cover. We then defined trajectories of vegetation loss and tested whether different attributes (frequency, magnitude and duration of disturbance) affected particular species and functional groups. We found that current species richness and composition were more related to past than to current vegetation cover. However, we also observed that responses of particular species and functional groups were dependent on specific trajectory attributes. We concluded that present fish community characteristics may respond not only to past watershed conditions but also to how watershed conditions have changed over the time. Exploring land use trajectories seems a promising approach for improving our understanding of landscape effects on stream ecosystems, as well as the predictability of present landscape management and planning on freshwater communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we explored the association between land use and fish species richness on 52 coastal lagoons in Southeast and South Brazil. We measured the proportion of agriculture and urbanization around lagoons over 26 years and used the coefficient of variation (CV) as a surrogate of the temporal land cover variability. We compiled species occurrences from primary data, from the literature and from museum records, and assigned each recorded species to different habitat use groups: benthic/bottom or water column, and littoral or limnetic zones. In the Southeast, where most lagoons are subject to marine influence, richness was negatively associated to agriculture and positively associated to urbanization. In the South, where freshwater lagoons predominate, richness was negatively associated to urbanization and positively associated to agriculture. The results suggest that fish communities from freshwater coastal lagoons are more sensitive to land use than brackish lagoons. Differently from brackish lagoons, that are colonized by both freshwater and marine species, freshwater lagoons rely on neighboring lagoons as species donors. However, this apparent resilience of the brackish lagoons must be regarded with caution, since the increase in marine connections due to artificial sandbar openings may impair freshwater species with time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many aquatic species have restricted dispersal capabilities, making them the most vulnerable organisms to climate change and land use change patterns. These factors deplete Nymphaea species' suitable habitats, threatening their populations and survival. In addition, the species are poorly documented, which may indicate how scarce they are or will become. Members of Nymphaea are ecologically important as well as having cultural and economic value, making them of conservation interest. Therefore, using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) approach, climatic variables, land use, and presence points were modeled for seven Nymphaea species in South America, using three general circulation models (CCSM4, HADGEM2-AO, and MIROC5) and in two representative concentration pathways (RCPs 4.5 and 8.5) and two scenarios (2050 and 2070). Our results indicated that mean diurnal range (bio2), precipitation of the wettest month (bio13), temperature seasonality (bio15), and land use (dom_lu) were the main influencing factors. For all species, suitable areas were concentrated east of Brazil, and they were variable in northern parts of the continent. Besides, inconsistent expansion and contraction of suitable habitats were noticed among the species. For example, N. amazonum, N. rudgeana, and N. lasiophylla future habitat expansions declined and habitat contraction increased, while for N. ampla and N. jamesoniana, both future habitat expansion and contraction increased, and for N. pulchella and N. rudgeana it varied in the RCPs. Moreover, the largest projected suitable habitats were projected outside protected areas, characterized by high human impacts, despite our analysis indicating no significant change between protected and unprotected areas in suitable habitat change. Finally, understanding how climate change and land use affect species distribution is critical to developing conservation measures for aquatic species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Our aim was to quantify the influence of climate and land use on major fires that occurred during the 2020 drought over the Brazilian Pantanal region. Location: Alto Paraguay Basin, central‐western flank of Brazil. Time period: 2003–2020. Methods: We calculated climatic and burned area anomalies and Spearman's correlation between precipitation and sea surface temperature (SST). We assessed water coverage to identify the impact of the 2020 drought. We produced fire recurrence maps, identified the areas that burned for the first time in 2020, and estimated the carbon loss. Lastly, we assessed the burned areas within land‐use classes and land tenure. Results: The anomalies showed that climatic variables in 2020 had an atypical behaviour, being hotter and drier than the historical average. The water surface area in the Pantanal has been decreasing annually from 2003, and in 2020 the reduction was 34% greater than the annual average. Burned areas in 2020 were 200% greater than the long‐term average, and 35% of the burned areas occurred for the first time in this year. We showed that 84% of these new fires occurred within natural vegetation, with 39% of the burned areas occurring in forests, an increase of 514%. Forest fires were responsible for 47% of the carbon loss in 2020. Finally, 70% of the fires in 2020 occurred within rural properties, 5% in indigenous lands and 10% in protected areas. Main conclusions: The unprecedented fires in 2020 were not only a result of atypical climate, but also a consequence of the intensification of fire‐related human activities. Rural properties play a major role in Pantanal fires, requiring law enforcement and a consistent plan for increasing the protection of the conservation areas. We argue that ineffective fire prevention and the lack of suppression strategies were also key in enhancing the magnitude of these fires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical forests such as the Atlantic Forest are under constant threats from the impact of human activities, mostly being caused by the loss of native forest areas for other land uses. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of changes in land use for pasture and cacao cultivation on the richness and composition of Odonata assemblages in comparison to native forest areas. We also evaluated the species as possible indicators of these different land uses. In total, 64 streams were sampled in southern Bahia, Brazil. A total of 84 species were recorded. The results indicated that changes in land use modify the richness and composition of Odonata assemblages. Regarding composition, our results indicated a difference among the assemblages in the three land use areas and that the native areas maintain more stable assemblages. According to the indicator species analysis, 13 species were recorded as possible bioindicators for different land uses. Changes in aquatic ecosystems and their surroundings caused by different land uses a select group of different species groups, modifying Odonata diversity among these areas. Notably, land uses that maintain a certain integrity of the environment, as in the case of cacao cultivation, are the best alternatives for conserving Odonata biodiversity in comparison with pasture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape change s driven by anthropogenic activities often have negative impacts on ecosystems, jeopardizing the provision of vital services that sustain biotic elements and wildlife. Predicting the effects of such transformations is crucial for developing strategies to mitigate ecological damage. This study explores the interaction of land use changes and habitat quality estimates in the Upper Paraguay River Basin in Brazil, using the InVEST Habitat Quality model to estimate spatiotemporal landscape trends and evaluate the potential impact of land use policies for the future. Under a business-as-usual scenario by 2050, potential land use changes are simulated for shaping habitat quality, habitat degradation, and habitat rarity estimates as landscape proxies for biodiversity conservation. Results show an extensive expansion of pastures through deforestation, leading to progressive habitat degradation with a significant decay in the predicted and observed habitat quality. The habitat quality index estimates show a spatial decrease from 0.78 to 0.57 for the 1989–2050 period. The same trend is observed in protected areas for the period 2019–2050, with an increase of anthropogenic land use and a decrease of the habitat quality from 0.80 to 0.57 in conservation units, and from 0.75 to 0.53 in indigenous lands. For improved conservation outcomes, this work introduces new insights for shaping environmental actions that can be flagged as sustainable land management practices and ecological perspectives towards spatial pressures at different scales. Therefore, government institutions responsible for the protection of conservation units and indigenous communities can be informed about potential land use impacts on their territories. The findings suggest that incorporating additional scenario trends and climate-related variables could be a valuable direction for future studies to extend further the modelling approaches explored in this work. • Landscape changes threaten biodiversity in Brazil's Upper Paraguay River Basin. • Habitat quality is projected to sharply decline by 2050. • Protected areas are predicted to lose 20% of natural land cover under a BAU scenario. • Conservation units and indigenous lands face high-risk from anthropogenic pressures. • A shift to sustainable and innovative agro-pastoral practices is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beef, among all foods, has the greatest environmental impact and is associated with several chronic diseases. Brazil is one of the largest consumers of meat in the world, on par with developed countries and, most of its greenhouse gas emissions stem from deforestation and agricultural activities. Therefore, this article aims to project the economic and environmental impacts of reducing beef consumption due to changes in household preferences and an increase in beef taxes, with and without a revenue neutral mechanism (subsidies applied to food, excluding meat). To analyze this, a dynamic interregional Computable General Equilibrium model was employed, incorporating a land use change module and accounting for substitution between different food items in both consumption and production structure across regions within the Brazilian Amazon, Matopiba, and the rest of Brazil. The results show that a 40% reduction in beef consumption distributed between 2022 and 2050 could prevent deforestation on an area of approximately 65,000 km2, potentially mitigating up to 2.8 GtCO₂e (a third of the world's potential mitigation from dietary changes according to the UN). In the scenario with subsidies, the reduction in deforestation is smaller due to incentives provided to certain commodities that use pasture. Preference changes could have a virtually zero impact on GDP by 2050. Conversely, increased beef taxes could result in an overall rise in costs, leading to a negative impact on exports and GDP (subsidies only attenuate). In all scenarios, regional impacts would be heterogeneous, particularly affecting regions highly dependent on the cattle and beef sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate variability, land use and land cover changes (LULCC) have a considerable impact on runoff–erosion processes. This study analyzed the relationships between climate variability and spatiotemporal LULCC on runoff–erosion processes in different scenarios of land use and land cover (LULC) for the Almas River basin, located in the Cerrado biome in Brazil. Landsat images from 1991, 2006, and 2017 were used to analyze changes and the LULC scenarios. Two simulations based on the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) were compared: (1) default application using the standard model database (SWATd), and (2) application using remote sensing multiple gridded datasets (albedo and leaf area index) downloaded using the Google Earth Engine (SWATrs). In addition, the SWAT model was applied to analyze the impacts of streamflow and erosion in two hypothetical scenarios of LULC. The first scenario was the optimistic scenario (OS), which represents the sustainable use and preservation of natural vegetation, emphasizing the recovery of permanent preservation areas close to watercourses, hilltops, and mountains, based on the Brazilian forest code. The second scenario was the pessimistic scenario (PS), which presents increased deforestation and expansion of farming activities. The results of the LULC changes show that between 1991 and 2017, the area occupied by agriculture and livestock increased by 75.38%. These results confirmed an increase in the sugarcane plantation and the number of cattle in the basin. The SWAT results showed that the difference between the simulated streamflow for the PS was 26.42%, compared with the OS. The sediment yield average estimation in the PS was 0.035 ton/ha/year, whereas in the OS, it was 0.025 ton/ha/year (i.e., a decrease of 21.88%). The results demonstrated that the basin has a greater predisposition for increased streamflow and sediment yield due to the LULC changes. In addition, measures to contain the increase in agriculture should be analyzed by regional managers to reduce soil erosion in this biome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future of land use and cover change in Brazil, particularly due to deforestation and forest restoration processes, is critical for the future of global climate and biodiversity, given the richness of its five biomes. These changes in Brazil depend on the interlink between global factors due to its role as one of the main exporters of commodities globally and the national to local institutional, socioeconomic, and biophysical contexts. Aiming to develop scenarios that consider the balance between global (e.g., GDP growth, population growth, per capita consumption of agricultural products, international trade policies, and climatic conditions) and local factors (e.g., land use, agrarian structure, agricultural suitability, protected areas, distance to roads, and other infrastructure projects), a new set of land-use change scenarios for Brazil were developed that aligned with the global structure Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and Representative Concentration Pathway (RCPs) developed by the global change research community. The narratives of the new scenarios align with SSP1/RCP 1.9 (Sustainable development scenario), SSP2/RCP 4.5 (Middle of the road scenario), and SSP3/RCP 7.0 (Strong inequality scenario). The scenarios were developed by combining the LuccME spatially explicit land change allocation modeling framework and the INLAND surface model to incorporate the climatic variables in water deficit. Based on detailed biophysical, socioeconomic, and institutional factors for each biome in Brazil, we have created spatially explicit scenarios until 2050, considering the following classes: forest vegetation, grassland vegetation, planted pasture, agriculture, a mosaic of small land uses, and forestry. The results aim to detail global models regionally. They could be used regionally to support decision-making and enrich the global analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caatinga biome, located in the Brazilian semi-arid region, is the most populous semi-arid region in the world, causing intensification in land degradation and loss of biodiversity over time. The main objective of this paper is to determine and analyze the changes in land cover and use, over time, on the biophysical parameters in the Caatinga biome in the semi-arid region of Brazil using remote sensing. Landsat-8 images were used, along with the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) in the Google Earth Engine platform, from 2013 to 2019, through spatiotemporal modeling of vegetation indices, i.e., leaf area index (LAI) and vegetation cover (VC). Moreover, land surface temperature (LST) and actual evapotranspiration (ETa) in Petrolina, the semi-arid region of Brazil, was used. The principal component analysis was used to select descriptive variables and multiple regression analysis to predict ETa. The results indicated significant effects of land use and land cover changes on energy balances over time. In 2013, 70.2% of the study area was composed of Caatinga, while the lowest percentages were identified in 2015 (67.8%) and 2017 (68.7%). Rainfall records in 2013 ranged from 270 to 480 mm, with values higher than 410 mm in 46.5% of the study area, concentrated in the northern part of the municipality. On the other hand, in 2017 the lowest annual rainfall values (from 200 to 340 mm) occurred. Low vegetation cover rate was observed by LAI and VC values, with a range of 0 to 25% vegetation cover in 52.3% of the area, which exposes the effects of the dry season on vegetation. The highest LST was mainly found in urban areas and/or exposed soil. In 2013, 40.5% of the region's area had LST between 48.0 and 52.0 °C, raising ETa rates (~4.7 mm day−1). Our model has shown good outcomes in terms of accuracy and concordance (coefficient of determination = 0.98, root mean square error = 0.498, and Lin's concordance correlation coefficient = 0.907). The significant increase in agricultural areas has resulted in the progressive reduction of the Caatinga biome. Therefore, mitigation and sustainable planning is vital to decrease the impacts of anthropic actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following research analyzed the interactions between climate change and land use in the Buritirana district, a farming region located at Jalapão gateway, Tocantins state, Brazil. This relatively small area gathers high-tech soybean production developed in recent years, cattle breeding, small family farming, and none associated producers. The study focused on two groups: on the one hand farmers of the agricultural settlements Sítio and Entre Rios and on the other large soybean producers. The database was obtained by the MapBioma project and the WorldClim collection. The images retrieved were processed to plot geographic illustrations and furthermore to elaborate and interpret linear regression. Such framework intended to provide more evidences about the future perspectives of agricultural production in tropical regions. The results revealed an annual increase of average temperature in the examined region, characterized by a strong expansion of soybean monoculture, between 2013 and 2018. However, based on statistical analysis, evidence of correlating soybean expansion to climate changes in the Buritirana region could not be confirmed. Nevertheless, spread of monoculture and reduction of native flora in the Jalapão region and surroundings should be considered with concern, especially for small rural familiar farmers and for wildlife as well, even after approval of the new Brazilian Forest Code in 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil use and management systems modify phosphorus (P) dynamics by changing the different P compartments. However, the interaction between land-use change and altitude is not clear. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of land use on P forms in different soil aggregate classes of Ultisols located at two altitudes. Soil samples were collected in four land-use systems (agroforestry system, secondary forest, pasture, and eucalyptus) located at two altitudes in the Atlantic Forest biome, Brazil. Phosphorus fractions were assessed using sequential fractionation. In general, recalcitrant forms represented about 70% in the agroforestry system, 66% in the eucalyptus, 65% in the pasture, and 57% in the secondary forest relative to the total P content of all land uses at both altitudes. The soil aggregate classes of smaller diameter presented higher P contents in all fractions. The smallest soil aggregate classes showed up to 65% more P than the classes with smaller diameters in the different land-use systems and altitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To explore spatiotemporal changes in Hyacinth Macaw Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus distribution and the impacts of land use change over 25 years, across its vast range in central/eastern South America. Location: Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, South America, covering almost 3 million km2. Methods: We use a novel, multi‐temporal species distribution model, to combine both year‐specific occurrence records and land use/cover data in a single model that is subsequently projected over a land cover time series. We investigate changes in geographic range over 25 years and potential drivers of range extent at multiple spatial scales (10 and 30 km) and time‐lags (current and 10 years previously). We also assess protected area coverage and impacts from degazettement within the remaining range and highlight priority areas to search for undiscovered populations. Results: The modelled range of the species increased by 75,000 km2 to over 500,000 km2 between 1995 and 2019, during which period agriculture and pasture increased by 600,000 km2 within the species' extent of occurrence. Habitat suitability was influenced most strongly by distribution of palms, forest cover and changes in pasture over 10 years and usually by predictors measured at larger spatial scales. Just 8% of the macaw's modelled range falls within protected areas, and more than 20,500 km2 of protected areas overlapping with the range have been degazetted in the last 40 years. We highlight key areas to search for undiscovered populations in under‐sampled and remote areas, especially led by community citizen science initiatives involving indigenous groups and protected area staff. Main conclusions: Novel modelling methods, combining multi‐temporal occurrence records and land cover data, appropriate for small sample sizes per year, have revealed habitat dynamics and changes to the range of this threatened species over 25 years. The method may have wide applicability for a range of species, including elusive and poorly studied species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To provide novel evidence on the average impact of climate and land use changes on habitat suitability for tropical plants and to test previous conclusions on the relative importance of these two drivers in shaping future availability of habitat for tropical plant species. Location: Brazil's Atlantic Forest domain. Time period: Plant occurrences recorded between 1960 and 2014. Baseline climate from 1960 to 2000 and land use from 2015. Projected scenarios of climate for 2041–2060 and land use for 2050. Major taxa studied: Angiosperms. Methods: We modelled the habitat suitability of 2,232 species of angiosperms from the Atlantic Forest domain, endemic to Brazil, and estimated how future climate and land use may affect species‐level habitat suitability under a moderate and a business‐as‐usual scenario for the year 2050. Results: Our results suggest that climate change alone will, surprisingly, have only a modest negative impact on the mean habitat suitability, decreasing it by 2% (median = −5 to −7%, variation associated with scenarios). Land use change alone had a more consistent negative impact on habitat suitability, causing mean and median reductions of 4 to 6%. When the effects of climate and land use are combined, the mean habitat suitability was reduced by 4% (median = −9 to −11%). Main conclusions: The combined impacts of climate and land use changes were substantial, although smaller than expected. Habitat suitability decreased for most species, but it increased substantially for some species, suggesting that the distribution of impacts across species is markedly right skewed. The impacts were typically detrimental to small‐ranged species and neutral or beneficial to widespread species. Land use change rather than climate change will likely cause more losses to the habitat of Atlantic Forest plant species within the next several decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between forest cover and streamflow of watersheds is complex and still controversial in the scientific literature. To investigate such relationship we propose an alternative method which requires the following information for each watershed: percentage of forest cover, annual rainfall, average specific streamflow (qave), and minimum mean specific streamflow in seven consecutive days (q7). As a case study, we analyzed a dataset composed by 25 watersheds located in the Espírito Santo State (ESS), Brazil. We conducted simple and multiple linear regression analyses as well as partial correlation analysis between the above parameters. To reduce the effect of heterogeneity of environmental factors, watersheds with similar characteristics in term of rainfall, drainage area, and both rainfall and drainage area were grouped by cluster analysis, and the above regression and correlation analysis was repeated on each group. Our results using the whole dataset showed that forest cover has a negative relationship with watershed streamflow. The analysis of homogeneous groups of watersheds showed that the average minimum streamflow during seven days (q7) was more sensitive to the presence of forest cover, showing a negative relationship, especially in watersheds with low annual rainfall, while in areas with high precipitation, the annual rainfall showed a strong influence on the hydrological responses of watersheds, masking the effect of forest cover. The proposed method may be easily extended to other areas, and allows the inclusion of other relevant environmental variables according to specific cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body size influences the effect of individuals and assemblages on ecosystem functioning and defines how they respond to ecosystem changes. We evaluated how body size structure of fish assemblages and functional groups respond to human modifications at catchment, riparian and local scales in 40 streams of the Pampa grasslands, southern Brazil. To describe body size structure, we calculated the mean, coefficient of variation, skewness, and kurtosis, using individual biomass data for the entire fish assemblages and separately by functional group. The results suggested that body size response depends on body size metrics, functional group, and the spatial scale of land use. From 11 functional groups, only five showed a clear response to land use. In general, most functional groups had a higher concentration of small sizes (left-skewed) in response to increased land use measured at distinct spatial scales (local, riparian, and catchment), and a greater concentration of sizes in a narrow and central distribution (higher kurtosis). However, the responses were complex and varied between the functional groups. We conclude that considering ecomorphological and trophic features separately by functional group and assessing multiple body size metrics contributed greatly to detecting the influence of land use on fish body size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private conservation lands are essential for protecting biodiversity, but few national‐level studies have assessed their coverage and the legal frameworks that support them. Here, we review the legal mechanisms enabling conservation on private lands in Brazil and evaluate these lands' potential to reinforce the national protected area system. We found that conserving native vegetation on private lands is the most important mechanism to protect biodiversity in five out of the six Brazilian biomes. Because Brazil has a law that mandates landowners to set aside conservation areas, remnants of native vegetation were protected rather than converted to other land uses in areas of old economic frontiers. These remnants can be the cornerstones of effective regional conservation systems. Still, upgrading these remnants to privately protected areas and integrating these privately protected areas into the national protected area system remains a challenge. We suggest that the Brazilian experience provides important lessons on how other countries can design innovative policies to recognize and expand private land conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Araguaia River floodplain is an important biogeographic boundary between the two largest South American biomes: the Cerrado (Brazilian Savanna) and the Amazon rainforest. The large-scale degradation due to land use conversion experienced in the Araguaia River watershed represents a potential source of mercury (Hg) transport to aquatic ecosystems. However, more information is needed about the dynamics of Hg distribution in savanna floodplains, including the Araguaia River floodplain. We analyzed total mercury (THg) concentrations in the bottom sediments of 30 lakes connected to the Araguaia River and four tributaries, aiming to evaluate the environment's integrity based on the geoaccumulation index (I geo) and the ecological risk index (ERI). The principal component analysis was applied to examine associations between Hg concentrations, environmental conditions, and land use intensity among lakes associated with different river systems. We used indicator cokriging to identify areas with a greater probability of Hg pollution and ecological risk associated with land use intensity. The land use data showed the predominance of areas used for pasture in the Araguaia River basin. THg concentrations in the sediments varied between 22.6 and 81.9 ng g−1 (mean: 46.5 ± 17.7 ng g−1). Sediments showed no significant pollution (I geo : 1.35 - 0.50; Classes 1 and 2) and low to considerable ecological risks (ERI: 23.5–85.1; Classes 1 to 3). THg in bottom sediments was associated with land use, water turbidity and electrical conductivity, and sediment organic matter. The indicator cokriging indicates a moderate to strong spatial dependence between land use intensity and Hg, confirming the contribution of anthropic sources to the increment of ecological risk but also the influence of extrinsic factors (such as environmental conditions, geology, and hydrology). Integrating sediment assessment and land use indices with geostatistical methods proved a valuable tool for identifying priority areas for Hg accumulation at a regional scale. • [THg] were determined in the bottom sediments of 30 savanna floodplain lakes. • [THg] in bottom sediments is related to land use intensity and organic matter. • The lakes present no significant pollution and low to moderate ecological risks. • A moderate to strong spatial dependence exists between Hg and land use intensity. • Indicator cokriging is an efficient method for identifying [THg] regional hotspots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing availability of spatially explicit, freely available land use and cover (LUC) time series worldwide. Because of the enormous amount of data this represents, the continuous updates and improvements in spatial and temporal resolution and category differentiation, as well as increasingly dynamic and complex changes made, manual data extraction and analysis is highly time consuming, and making software tools available to automatize LUC data assessment is becoming imperative. This paper presents a software developed in R, which combines LUC raster time series data and their transitions, calculates state-of-the-art LUC change indicators, and creates spatio-temporal visualizations, all in a coherent workflow. The functionality of the application developed is demonstrated using an LUC dataset of the Pantanal floodplain contribution area in Central Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to understand the response of the trophic state index (TSI) of a reservoir under different watershed land-use scenarios. A novel methodology was applied to the Verde River Basin in the south of Brazil, which is exploited by agricultural activity and has a reservoir for water supply. An ecohydrological model was used to calculate daily nutrient concentrations in the water system, which allowed the determination of the reservoir's TSI. The authors propose a new TSI known as TSImod, considering phosphorus, nitrogen, and chlorophyll in its determination. The results indicate that TSImod may be more appropriate for classifying highly impacted environments when compared to the index currently used in Brazil. The Verde River Reservoir was classified as mesotrophic under the current land-use scenario and eutrophic under the proposed scenarios. The framework developed in this study can be replicated in other watersheds to evaluate the impacts of land-use change on water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The largest and most dynamic agricultural frontier in Brazil is known as MATOPIBA, an area that covers part of the Cerrado biome. Within this region, Western Bahia stands out as a large producer of soy and cotton. There are no studies that quantify carbon stocks for different land uses and land cover types in Western Bahia, which hinders comprehension of the role of agricultural expansion in carbon dynamics and the development of sustainable agriculture policies. Here, we evaluate how the land use changes in this region have affected the carbon balance in the aboveground biomass (AGB), belowground biomass (BGB), and soil reservoirs. We collected soil samples for areas with different land uses and land cover types to estimate soil carbon stocks (SCS) and combined remote sensing results and modeling techniques to develop a historical reconstruction of spatial patterns of SCS, AGB, and BGB during the period 1990–2018. The replacement of areas from the forest formations class with pasture and rainfed agriculture reduced the 100 cm depth SCS (SCS100) by 37.3% (p = 0.031) and 30.3% (p = 0.053), respectively. By contrast, the conversion of pasture and rainfed agriculture to irrigated agriculture increased SCS100 by 34% (p = 0.034) and 26.5% (p = 0.022), respectively. Spatial changes in historical carbon stocks are strongly associated with land use changes that occurred between 1990 and 2018. We estimated a non-significant loss of 61.9 Tg-C (p = 0.726) from the total carbon stocks (calculated as the sum of AGB, BGB, and SCS) of which 80% of the losses came from soil stocks, 11% from BGB, and 8% from AGB. These findings reveal the need to monitor carbon stocks in sandy soils to reduce the uncertainties of estimates and support the development of effective sustainable agriculture policies. The best alternatives for reducing carbon losses in the Cerrado are to maintain natural forest cover and to recover soils through sustainable soil management, especially in pasturelands where soil carbon stocks are lowest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of Blue Carbon as an integral part of global climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies requires quantification of drivers and rates of organic carbon (OC) burial and storage. However, there is limited recognition of how land use impacts benthic assemblages, their bioturbation potential, and OC burial in mangrove forests and tidal flats. Here we evaluated the effects of mangrove deforestation on benthic bioturbation potential (BPc), sediment accretion rates (SARs), and OC and total nitrogen (TN) burial in mangrove soils and tidal flat sediments from three estuaries in tropical Brazil. SARs based on 210Pb dating varied significantly among undisturbed estuaries (2.1–18.6 mm yr−1) and the OC and TN burial rates were respectively 46% and 16% higher than global averages. The cleared mangrove sites had a twofold lower SAR, 40‐fold lower OC burial, and over 100‐fold lower TN burial when compared to undisturbed forests, revealing the pervasive impacts of land use. Variation in benthic assemblage structure and BPc among sites suggests that the composition and activity of macrofaunal communities may facilitate OC burial in some cases, yet the global extent and significance of bioturbation requires further study. Our work reveals a strong spatial variability in C burial in undisturbed mangrove forests and a decreased capacity of mangroves to accumulate C and sediments due to land use effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining linkages among multiple sustainable development outcomes is key for understanding sustainability transitions. Yet rigorous evidence on social and environmental outcomes of sustainable development policies remains scarce. We conduct a national-level analysis of Brazil’s flagship social protection program, Zero Hunger (ZH), which aims to reduce food insecurity and poverty. Using data from rural municipalities across Brazil and quasi-experimental causal inference techniques, we assess relationships between social protection investment and outcomes related to sustainable development goals (SDGs): "no poverty" (SDG 1), "zero hunger" (SDG 2), and "health and well being" (SDG 3). We also assess potential perverse outcomes arising from agricultural development impacting "climate action" (SDG 13) and "life on land" (SDG 15) via clearance of natural vegetation. Despite increasing daily per capita protein and kilocalorie production, summed ZH investment did not alleviate child malnutrition or infant mortality and negligibly influenced multidimensional poverty. Higher investment increased natural vegetation cover in some biomes but increased losses in the Cerrado and especially the Pampa. Effects varied substantially across subprograms. Conditional cash transfer (Bolsa Familia [BF]) was mainly associated with nonbeneficial impacts but increased protein production and improved educational participation in some states. The National Program to Strengthen Family Farming (PRONAF) was typically associated with increased food production (protein and calories), multidimensional poverty alleviation, and changes in natural vegetation. Our results inform policy development by highlighting successful elements of Brazil’s ZH program, variable outcomes across divergent food security dimensions, and synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development goals, including environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Aquatic ecosystems in southern Brazil are presently under great environmental pressure. Changes in land use result in negative impacts on the ecosystem, affecting the functioning of stream communities. Objective: To compare the benthic macroinvertebrate community richness, abundances and compositions in streams of three South Brazilian grassland landscapes and correlate community patterns with environmental and spatial variables. Methods: Fifteen streams along riparian forests were selected in three landscapes (mean geographical distance of 285.1 km) inserted in the Paraná and Uruguai river basins. Of the three landscapes, two are inserted in conservation units (State Park of Guartelá and Palmas Wildlife Refuge). Invertebrates were collected in 20 kick net points along 150 m of the streams between June and November 2015. Invertebrates were sorted in the laboratory with three sieves and were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. The taxa were classified in functional feeding groups of shredders/detritivores, predators, scrapers, collectors/filters and gatherers/collectors. For each stream, we measured the environmental variables width and velocity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature; and the relative cover of forest, grassland, plantation and silviculture in the catchments. Results: We found a total of 1 058 individuals, divided in 53 morphospecies and 34 families. Lower abundance of benthic macroinvertebrates was found in the northernmost landscape with higher temperature, and forest in the catchment. These streams were described mainly by predator groups, while streams inserted in the other two landscapes showed a more diverse guild composition of shredders/detritivores, gatherers/collectors, collectors/filterers, and scrapers. Geographical distance was the main factor influencing differences in community compositions among landscapes. Conclusions: Lower abundance of the northernmost landscape may be explained by (i) the low habitat heterogeneity due to dominance of sandy substrates, and by (ii) the anthropogenic land use of agriculture and extensive cattle breeding in the region that is ongoing and started before the creation of the conservation unit. Additionally, composition of macroinvertebrates may be correlated with environmental differences among landscapes that, in turn, are related to the geographical distance. Therefore, macroinvertebrate community responses may reflect different biota biogeographical histories that can also be associated with historical land use practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Atlantic rainforest of Brazil is one of the global terrestrial hotspots of biodiversity. Despite having undergone large scale deforestation, forest cover has shown signs of increases in the last decades. Here, to understand the degradation and regeneration history of Atlantic rainforest remnants near São Paulo, we combine a unique dataset of very high resolution images from Worldview-2 and Worldview-3 (0.5 and 0.3m spatial resolution, respectively), georeferenced aerial photographs from 1962 and use a deep learning method called U-net to map (i) the forest cover and changes and (ii) two pioneer tree species, Cecropia hololeuca and Tibouchina pulchra. For Tibouchina pulchra, all the individuals were mapped in February, when the trees undergo mass-flowering with purple and pink blossoms. Additionally, elevation data at 30m spatial resolution from NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and annual mean climate variables (Terraclimate datasets at ∼ 4km of spatial resolution) were used to analyse the forest and species distributions. We found that natural forests are currently more frequently found on south-facing slopes, likely because of geomorphology and past land use, and that Tibouchina is restricted to the wetter part of the region (southern part), which annually receives at least 1600 mm of precipitation. Tibouchina pulchra was found to clearly indicate forest regeneration as almost all individuals were found within or adjacent to forests regrown after 1962. By contrast, Cecropia hololeuca was found to indicate older disturbed forests, with all individuals almost exclusively found in forest fragments already present in 1962. At the regional scale, using the dominance maps of both species, we show that at least 4.3% of the current region's natural forests have regrown after 1962 (Tibouchina dominated, ∼ 4757 ha) and that ∼ 9% of the old natural forests have experienced significant disturbance (Cecropia dominated). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]