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Notions of animals as social subjects held by Amazonian Indians have played a central role in anthropology's ontological turn. Written as a reply to two critical responses to an earlier paper on human-animal relations, this essay explores the complex and often contradictory nature of ideas about animals and attitudes toward them held by both Amerindians and Euro-Americans. It suggests that, alongside mythology and shamanism, a further source of the Amerindians' ideas about animals as social subjects lies in their everyday interactions with animals, something they share in common with Welsh sheep farmers. This fits uneasily with Philippe Descola's contrast between animism and naturalism. The essay concludes by querying radical contrasts between "us" and "them." Such contrasts may have their heuristic, comparative, and rhetorical uses but tend to oversimplify complex ethnographic reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Amazon forest has the highest biodiversity on Earth. However, information on Amazonian vertebrate diversity is still deficient and scattered across the published, peer‐reviewed, and gray literature and in unpublished raw data. Camera traps are an effective non‐invasive method of surveying vertebrates, applicable to different scales of time and space. In this study, we organized and standardized camera trap records from different Amazon regions to compile the most extensive data set of inventories of mammal, bird, and reptile species ever assembled for the area. The complete data set comprises 154,123 records of 317 species (185 birds, 119 mammals, and 13 reptiles) gathered from surveys from the Amazonian portion of eight countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela). The most frequently recorded species per taxa were: mammals: Cuniculus paca (11,907 records); birds: Pauxi tuberosa (3713 records); and reptiles: Tupinambis teguixin (716 records). The information detailed in this data paper opens up opportunities for new ecological studies at different spatial and temporal scales, allowing for a more accurate evaluation of the effects of habitat loss, fragmentation, climate change, and other human‐mediated defaunation processes in one of the most important and threatened tropical environments in the world. The data set is not copyright restricted; please cite this data paper when using its data in publications and we also request that researchers and educators inform us of how they are using these data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Windthrows change forest structure and species composition in Central Amazon forests. However, the effects of widespread tree mortality associated with wind-disturbances on soil properties have not yet been described. In this study, we investigated short-term effects (seven years after disturbance) of a windthrow event on soil carbon stocks and concentrations in a Central Amazon terra firme forest. The soil carbon stock (averaged over a 0-30 cm depth profile) in disturbed plots (61.4 ± 4.18 Mg ha−1, mean ± standard error) was marginally higher (p = 0.009) than that from undisturbed plots (47.7 ± 6.95 Mg ha−1). The soil organic carbon concentration in disturbed plots (2.0 ± 0.08%) was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than that from undisturbed plots (1.36 ± 0.12%). Moreover, soil carbon stocks were positively correlated with soil clay content (r = 0.575 and p = 0.019) and with tree mortality intensity (r = 0.493 and p = 0.045). Our results indicate that large inputs of plant litter associated with large windthrow events cause a short-term increase in soil carbon content, and the degree of increase is related to soil clay content and tree mortality intensity. Higher nutrient availability in soils from large canopy gaps created by wind disturbance may increase vegetation resilience and favor forest recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on Sustainability Science Best Paper Awards 2017 given by the journal to research that covers current and future priorities for sustainability science. Topics include information on winning papers, such as one related to role of transdisciplinary research by Lotten Westberg; the "Human responses to social-ecological traps" by Wiebren Johannes Boonstra; and "Local ecological knowledge and incremental adaptation to changing flood patterns in the Amazon delta."

The Leptophlebiidae family of mayflies is diverse, with over 640 species and 140 genera worldwide. One of its subfamilies, Terpidinae, is restricted to the Neotropical region and consists of three genera, including Fittkaulus, which have four South American species. This paper redescribes the male imago and proposes a new synonym based on the rearing of nymphs identified as F. cururuensis collected in streams in the Caatinga and Amazon Forest regions of northern and northeastern Brazil. The male imago can be differentiate by having the following combination of characteristics: upper portions of eyes on short stalk; forewing with reddish brown maculae in costal, subcostal and radial sectors; abdomen whitish, with black stripes on posterior margin and dark brown maculae on lateral margins on terga I–VII; penis with proximal half fused; distal half divided, tubular and apically pointed, with latero-dorsal lobes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Amazon Forest, the largest contiguous tropical forest in the world, stores a significant fraction of the carbon on land. Changes in climate and land use affect total carbon stocks, making it critical to continuously update and revise the best estimates for the region, particularly considering changes in forest dynamics. Forest inventory data cover only a tiny fraction of the Amazon region, and the coverage is not sufficient to ensure reliable data interpolation and validation. This paper presents a new forest above-ground biomass map for the Brazilian Amazon and the associated uncertainty both with a resolution of 250 meters and baseline for the satellite dataset the year of 2016 (i.e., the year of the satellite observation). A significant increase in data availability from forest inventories and remote sensing has enabled progress towards high-resolution biomass estimates. This work uses the largest airborne LiDAR database ever collected in the Amazon, mapping 360,000 km2 through transects distributed in all vegetation categories in the region. The map uses airborne laser scanning (ALS) data calibrated by field forest inventories that are extrapolated to the region using a machine learning approach with inputs from Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR), vegetation indices obtained from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite, and precipitation information from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). A total of 174 field inventories geolocated using a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) were used to validate the biomass estimations. The experimental design allowed for a comprehensive representation of several vegetation types, producing an above-ground biomass map varying from a maximum value of 518 Mg ha−1, a mean of 174 Mg ha−1, and a standard deviation of 102 Mg ha−1. This unique dataset enabled a better representation of the regional distribution of the forest biomass and structure, providing further studies and critical information for decision-making concerning forest conservation, planning, carbon emissions estimate, and mechanisms for supporting carbon emissions reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the historical efforts to list and organize the taxonomic knowledge about the Brazilian ant fauna, the most diverse in the world, several gaps regarding species distribution data and sampling coverage persist. In an attempt to fill some of these gaps, we here apply a scientometric approach to provide an updated overview of the ants of Brazil based on formal publications on ant diversity in the Brazilian territory. In the last 50 years, ant diversity studies in Brazil revealed 1130 species, corresponding to around 70% of the species known to occur in the country. The Brazilian biomes with the highest number of described species recorded were, respectively, the Amazon Forest (716 species), Atlantic Forest (657 species), Cerrado (389 species), Caatinga (185 species), Pantanal (143 species), and Pampa (86 species). Considering the number and frequency of unidentified species, the genera Azteca, Hypoponera, Pheidole, and Solenopsis represent the main knowledge frontiers regarding taxonomic resolution, with more than 80% of their records associated with morphospecies codes in diversity studies in Brazil. Moreover, around 7.5% of the papers presented inconsistences in their species lists regarding the validity of taxonomic names, and we found studies for which some taxa records are geographically implausible. Besides demonstrating the importance of ecological publications to the ant diversity knowledge in Brazil, our findings highlight a strong sampling bias in ant occurrence data in the country, with species records unevenly distributed across Brazilian biomes. In short, our results constitute valuable information for future projects on ant taxonomy and surveying in Brazilian natural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Amazon is currently experiencing a rapid growth in the building of transport infrastructures. While national governments have portrayed infrastructure development as greatly enhancing economic and geographical integration, critical approaches largely describe such development as a destructive process of resource extraction and dispossession. While these views differ radically in relation to the ends and effects of current and future infrastructure projects, they both conceive infrastructure as reflective of an inexorable process of state and capitalist expansion region-wide. Less attention has been paid, however, to the ways in which this very process is conditioned, and sometimes hindered, by a wide array of normative, social and political (dis) orders. In this paper, I draw attention to the ever conflicting and contingent nature of infrastructure building through an ethnographic account of the land conflicts present in an ongoing road project in the Colombian region of Putumayo. Specifically, I look at the tensions and disputes arising from the project's attempts to make a target space and population legible in order to make them governable. By showing how such attempts have consistently failed and led the project into various states of suspension and uncertainty, the paper sheds light on the deep embedding of infrastructure in everyday dynamics of state-making and unmaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use change (LUC) is a main cause of global environmental change, and is an important activity to be studied. Our research aims to examine the current state of evidence on the link between LUC and human health in the Amazon region. We conducted a scoping review of literature in two research databases, resulting in 14 papers for analysis. Our analysis demonstrated a lack of clear definitions for LUC, a wide variety of negative health effects from LUC, the lack of qualitative articles, a lack of studies exploring the potential positive health effects of LUC, and the predominance of studies coming from the Brazilian Amazon. Our study validated the prevailing idea that LUC can lead to negative health consequences, if not managed properly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a thorough analysis of the scientific production in climate change and adaptation in Brazil. We conducted a bibliometric and bibliographic review to reveal and discuss how climate change research has been carried out. We compared a broader climate change research dataset with a more specific climate adaptation research dataset, to understand the main differences and convergence points, and how science conducted from a mitigation and adaptation perspective demonstrates potential to confront the climate change challenges and drivers in Brazil. Four main clusters of investigation within climate change were detected: (1) impacts on forest and plant development, (2) land use and ecology, (3) adaptation/governance, and (4) climate/atmospheric studies. Only about 5% of the total studies on climate change address adaptation, for which three main clusters of research were identified: (1) adaptation actions and policies; (2) urban environment, vulnerability, and health and (3) food and coastal impacts. Although there are strong research trends in climate change for the Amazon Forest, there was less evidence of studies concerning climate adaptation for this and other Brazilian biomes, smaller cities, rural and traditional communities, and poorer regions. Our results shed a light on the more commonly chosen research topics, their strongest points and potential gaps and trends. This can contribute to the scientific communication and implementation of climate actions in Brazil, and a better understanding of the climate science knowledge from the perspective of a middle-income country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This volume argues that looking at gardens through the lens of art and aesthetics generates new insights into the role that gardens have for those who make and depend on them. Drawing on some of the debates around the anthropology of art, we suggest that aesthetics provides a rich analytical perspective on the importance of gardens to many wider aspects of social life. We argue for the critical conceptual significance of gardens in Melanesia, and in Amazonia. In doing so, we foreground the importance of diversity in gardening: in plants and knowledge practices, and in the recognition of non-human beings and their collaboration with gardeners. This is, in part, a factor of the satisfactions that people find in growing beautiful and diverse gardens that link to myth, to history and to place. This introduction sets out these arguments and also provides a summary of each of the papers presented in the volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic Botany is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The modification of landscapes surrounding water bodies leads to changes in limnological characteristics and decreased aquatic biodiversity, such as fish and macroinvertebrates. Aquatic insects are sensitive to changes in aquatic ecosystems and quickly respond to those changes. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the relationship between the compositions of aquatic and semi-aquatic Heteroptera with environmental variables along an environmental gradient in streams at the headwaters of the Xingu River, Brazil. We collected samples from 12 streams belonging to the Suiá-Miçú river basin and tributaries of the Xingu River, in September (dry season), 2008. The Suiá-Miçú river is one of the tributaries on the right bank of the Xingu River, and it is located in the ecotone between the Cerrado and the Amazon rainforest in the area characterized as the "arc of deforestation". Insects were sampled in fixed 100 m transections and divided into 20 segments of 5 meters each. To assess the habitat integrity in each stream, the habitat integrity index (HII) was applied. The following environmental variables were measured: electrical conductivity, turbidity, depth, and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The ordering of species composition was performed with the principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), and the relationship between environmental variables and composition was performed using a Mantel test. Of the 263 individuals collected, distributed in 8 families, there were 20 genera, of these, 12 were from Nepomorpha and 8 from Gerromorpha. The most abundant genera were Limnocoris (n = 121) and Rhagovelia (n = 32). Naucoridae was the most diverse family. Together, the environmental variables explained ~50% of the species distribution (r = 0.49; p = 0.001). These results reinforce the efficacy of aquatic Heteroptera to monitor environmental conditions. Here, in particular, the responses of this group to variations in landscape metrics, environmental integrity, and water variables together demonstrate that it can be useful to indicate the quality of habitat in streams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Espaço do Currículo is the property of Revista Espaco do Curriculo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Social Research is the property of International Journal Labs and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper is based on ethnographic fieldwork among the Moré (Itene) who, together with Wari' and Oro Win, are the descendants of the last Chapacura speaking groups in Amazonia. I analyze, hunting story and elderly people stories (los cuentos) where the Moré explicitly conceptualize the notion of "the other side" as the realm of reality inhabited by non-human persons (the Deads, Spirits, Mothers of game, etc.). I focus on some topological aspects of Moré animism, such as conception of surface, boundary, space-time, distance markers, inside/outside distinctions. In conclusion I sketch some possible directions for further research in this topological framework for animism. I hope this paper can contribute to the renewed debate about animism in Amazonia and more broadly to the ontological turn in anthropology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arabela -- a group of Zaparoan origin from the Peruvian Amazonia -- often claim to adopt other (human and nonhuman) persons' ways of performing actions, referring to things and expressing emotions. They do it through a variety of speech acts -- from announcements of their own actions, to third-person comments about other people's actions, to exclamations -- and to accomplish various interactional ends (from avoidance to teasing). This paper shows that these different forms of enacting of others actualize a society consisting of human and nonhuman persons with different bodily ethograms, where relations between bodies and affects follow a scheme of familiarizing predation. Also, a specific concept of the Arabela agent emerges from this analysis, where the Other is individualized as a static ethogram of gestures and voices, while the speaking or acting subject has to prove his/her ability to singularize Others, using their presumably typical verbal expressions and actions. The ultimate goal of this paper is to stimulate reflection on the links between everyday interactions and ontologies in Amazonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Forestry Review is the property of Commonwealth Forestry Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence the facilities management (FM) in construction sites in the Brazilian Amazon. Design/methodology/approach: The study used structured questionnaires, with the participation of 136 facilities professionals in construction sites in the Brazilian Amazon. These sites were selected with help of 17 facilities managers. The survey achieved a total response rate of 76.5 per cent. The factorial analysis was performed after checking the adequacy of the sample to the technique. The results allowed the continuation of data processing and the use of exploratory factorial analysis to summarize the variables and identify the influencing factors. Findings: The results indicated five factors that influence the FM on construction sites in the Brazilian Amazon, namely: negotiation with local entities; weather; local suppliers; manpower; and logistical infrastructure. With the proper understanding of these factors, facilities professionals could plan actions to minimize negative impacts over the FM on construction sites. Research limitations/implications: The influence of factors on FM was studied from the professionals' viewpoint. It is possible that there are other perspectives or other influencing factors. However, this work is limited to the analysis of the variables that make up the five dimensions presented. Practical implications: Organizations and FM professionals might be interested in the results of this research to enhance the FM performance on the construction sites existed and to plan the implementation of the FM on upcoming construction sites. Originality/value: This paper is the first large research about FM in construction sites conducted in the Brazilian Amazon and serve as a basis to other research works that promote the development of FM in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the themes of language rights, language choice, and language risk to consider linguistic insecurity in the Northwest Amazon (Upper Negro river) region of Brazil. Because the region is home to a large number of languages (c. two dozen), the idea of preserving this diversity is a popular theme in discourses about language in the Upper Negro river. I argue that the ideologies underlying the goal of preserving 'diversity' as a concept are not, in fact, the same ones that have sustained the presence of these languages thus far, especially as concerns the Tukanoan languages of the Uaupés basin (Jackson, J. E. 1983. The Fish People: Linguistic Exogamy and Tukanoan Identity in Northwest Amazonia. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press). Paradoxically, the reification of 'diversity' as a characteristic of the Northwest Amazonian Indigenous population has tended to promote homogenisation among groups that have historically valued differentiation from one another. In examining ideologies and practices surrounding each of the three themes of this issue, I suggest that discourses of 'diversity', applied at the local level, can create complex outcomes for the languages they are used to promote. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their comments about our paper, the authors remark on two issues regarding our results relating to the MACCS-ATCOR Joint Algorithm (MAJA). The first relates to the sub-optimal performance of this algorithm under the conditions of our tests, while the second corresponds to an error in our interpretation of MAJA's bit mask. To answer the first issue, we acknowledge MAJA's capacity to improve its performance as the number of images increases with time. However, in our paper, we used the images we had available at the time we wrote our paper. Regarding the second issue, we misread the MAJA's bit mask and mistakenly labelled shadows as clouds. We regret our error and here we present the updated tables and images. We corrected our estimation and, consequently, there is an increment in MAJA's accuracy in the detection of clouds and cloud shadows. However, these increments are not enough to change the conclusion of our original paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although still the largest expanse of tropical rainforests in the world, the Amazon is suffering a declining capacity to deliver ecosystem services, to which the widespread use of fire is one of the main contributing factors. Even if fires directly affect the timber sector, most current logging practices often tend to increase rather than mitigate the problem. We argue that in order to involve the timber sector in fire mitigation policies in the Amazon it is crucial to assess the economic impact of fire on the sector. This paper describes EcoFire (Economic Cost of Fire), a spatially explicit model for valuing the economic losses to sustainable timber harvest operations in the Brazilian Amazon as a result of fire. To conduct this analysis, we have integrated a set of models that simulate the synergy between logging and fire spread and intensity. Our results show that fire affects roughly 2% of the timber production areas that would be harvested between 2012 and 2041. In burnt areas, fire causes losses on average of US$39 ± 2 ha/year (equivalent annual annuity), which represents a loss of 0.8% of expected rents. Yet losses can reach up to US$183 ± 30 ha/year in areas hit by recurrent fires that are near milling centres. The results indicate that some of the municipalities that are likely to accumulate most economic losses due to fire do not yet have local‐level fire mitigation programmes. We therefore conclude that spatially explicit valuations of the economic impact of fire can pinpoint priorities to better target fire action plans as well as to engage local actors in integrated fire management practices. Although fires directly affect the timber sector in the Brazilian Amazon, most current logging practices often tend to increase rather than mitigate the problem. We argue that in order to involve the timber sector in fire mitigation policies in the biome it is crucial to assess the economic impact of fire on the sector. This paper describes EcoFire, a spatially‐explicit model for valuing the economic losses by fire to sustainable timber harvest operations in the Brazilian Amazon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educating in and for diversity poses one of the greatest challenges in contemporary education that aims to be respectful of cultural diversity. This paper presents results of qualitative research that set out to design methodological guidelines for a phenomenology of intercultural initial education in the Venezuelan Amazon region. We approached the study of the social reality from the intersubjective link and the constructions of the subjects by using interviews and considering the social phenomenology proposed by Schütz. A methodological design allowed us to understand the socio-educational phenomenon being studied from a representation that is close to the reality lived by its protagonists and that was reflected in the categories of analysis that emerged, as well as their corresponding interpretations. This study is part of a broader research project that seeks to develop a theoretical approach to early childhood education in diverse socio-cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China‐France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSAT) was successfully launched on October 29, 2018, which carries two innovative payloads, that is, the surface waves investigation and monitoring (SWIM) instrument and the rotating fan‐beam scatterometer (RFSCAT). CFOSAT scatterometer (CSCAT) is dedicated to the monitoring of sea surface wind vectors and climate studies, but also for the applications over land and polar regions. CSCAT employs a "rotating fan‐beam" design rather than "pencil‐beam" approach and "fixed fan‐beam" approach adopted by the scatterometers in orbit before. In this paper, the data processing approach of CSCAT is described. The geolocation reference mapping model is employed in CSCAT slice geolocation. In noise processing, CSCAT adopts the method of weighted least squares polynomial surface fitting to conduct noise correction factor estimation adaptively. The attitude cube algorithm used for X integral factor computation is developed to obtain precise backscatter coefficients based on the radar equation. Because of the interdependency of the CSCAT data processing and the hardware configuration and onboard signal processing of the instrument, the instrument module configuration and signal processing design are also analyzed and presented comprehensively. Especially, the influence and compensation of Doppler frequency are introduced. The backscatter coefficient accuracy is estimated on the Amazon forest, and the results show that the backscatter coefficient accuracy of CSCAT on 25 × 25 km grids is less than 0.5 dB except that the near end and far end of the beam are slightly higher. The statistical results show the wind retrieval results meet the CFOSAT mission requirements. Key Points: The data preprocessing principle and algorithm of China‐France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSAT) rotating fan‐beam scatterometer are summarized comprehensivelyThe CFOSAT rotating fan‐beam scatterometer design and signal processing are summarized comprehensivelyThe backscatter coefficient measurement accuracy of CFOSAT are provided [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Forestry Review is the property of Commonwealth Forestry Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of RAP: Revista Brasileira de Administração Pública is the property of RAP: Revista Brasileira de Administracao Publica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Monitoring coherently the Amazon Water Cycle (WC) using satellite observations is crucial for climate and water resources studies. The SAtellite Water Cycle (SAWC) integration methodology is introduced to optimize the satellite datasets. In this paper, the WC budget is balanced simultaneously over 10 sub‐basins by constraining the horizontal water exchanges between them. Compared to an actual assimilation analysis, SAWC benefits from the use of water storage observations from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment. SAWC corrects the satellite evapotranspiration datasets that tend to under‐estimate the water‐limited evaporation over the central Amazon and to over‐estimate the energy‐limited evaporation over the northern Amazon. The SAWC precipitation estimates are evaluated against gauge measurements and show good overall results with a correlation varying from 0.94 to 0.99 and root‐mean‐square deviation between 16 and 41 mm/month (≃10% of precipitation estimate). Plain Language Summary: The Amazon basin is the major hydrological basin on Earth, but quantifying its various water stocks and fluxes by using satellite observation remains a true challenge. In order to obtain a better description of the water cycle, we propose here a new methodology that optimizes all the available satellite estimations. Compared to previous efforts, river discharge measurements are used to constrain the horizontal water exchanges among the sub‐basins. This methodology allows obtaining a more accurate and coherent quantification of the water cycle, at the regional scale. The optimized rainfall estimates show improvement compared to original datasets when evaluated against gauge measurements. The methodology corrects also the evapotranspiration season estimate that tends to under‐estimate the water‐limited evaporation over the central Amazon and to over‐estimate the energy‐limited evaporation over the northern Amazon. Key Points: A satellite‐data integration technique can exploit the water budget closure and water exchange between the sub‐basinsSatellite‐based precipitation data set is improved compared to in situ gaugesThe evapotranspiration estimates are improved by stressing the water or energy limitation regime over the amazon [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on ethnographic research conducted in the Ecuadorian Amazon, this paper seeks to reframe the industrial contamination problem. From critiques of neoliberalism to Marxist-oriented environment theories, industrial contamination is understood as asecondary effectof a larger problem of the capitalist system. There are at least four, often overlapping, ways of understanding the pervasiveness of the problem,via: (1) cost-benefit analyses, which determine it to be cheaper to remediate environmental damages than prevent them; (2) weak regulation, which shapes those cost-benefit analyses; (3) the externalisation of certain costs onto third (usually marginalised) parties; and (4) contradictions inherent to capital accumulation which promote the destruction of the very environmental conditions that capital depends on. Curiously, even where contamination is conceptualised as an inherent and necessary feature of capitalism, it appears as collateral damage, as the ‘unintentional by-product’ of something-other, rather than a ‘conscious imposition of “power over”’ a particular group of people (De Angelis, M. 2004. ‘Separating the Doing and the Deed: Capital and the Continuous Character of Enclosures’.Historical Materialism12:2, 57–87). This is curious because small farmers and indigenous people affected by a devastating oil-related disaster in Ecuador describe contamination otherwise – as a kind of targeted, chemical warfare against those living ‘in the way of’ extractive operations. Dealing with the narrative gap between those lived experiences of contamination and the expert discourses about it, this paper introduces the concept of an ‘incentive to contaminate’. By critically expanding the prevailing theories, the concept turns greater attention to the productive work that contamination does for the oil industry, thus challenging socio-legal categories of intent that impede environmental justice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposed and verified an optimal estimation method of satellite attitude deviation in orbit based on the frequency domain features of microwave remote sensing data from the Gaofen-3B (GF-3B) satellite. The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging results of the Amazon forest's strip pattern were obtained at different imaging incident angles of the GF-3B satellite. Then, the inversions of the Doppler center deviation of the SAR signal obtained the corresponding beam pointing errors at different imaging incident angles. Next, a three-degree-of-freedom nonlinear least square fitting model was established between the Doppler center deviation of the SAR signal and satellite attitude deviation. Combined with the measured SAR signals, satellite attitude deviations in different dimensions (pitch, yaw, and roll) were separated and estimated. On this basis, the GF-3B satellite proceeded with an on-orbit attitude correction test. The maximum Doppler center deviation at all imaging incident angles decreased from 400Hz to 46Hz, and the residual beam pointing errors were less than 0.01°. The proposed optimal estimation method can guarantee the on-orbit attitude deviation suppression and image quality improvement of the SAR satellites. • An optimal attitude deviations estimation method of SAR satellites is proposed based on the echo frequency domain features. • The fitting model of attitude deviations is established by combining microwave remote sensing imagery and orbit dynamics. • The proposed method has been used for the GF-3B satellite and verified by in-orbit imaging experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population growth and rising incomes have led to increasing global demand for meat products. Meeting this demand without converting remaining natural ecosystems or further degrading ecosystems is one of the largest global sustainability challenges. A critical step to overcoming this challenge is to increase the productivity of livestock grazing systems, which occupy the largest land area of any type of agriculture globally. Integrated crop−livestock systems (iCL), which re-couple crop and livestock production at the farm scale, have been considered a promising strategy to tackle this challenge by restoring degraded pasturelands and providing supplemental nutrition to livestock. However, few studies have analyzed the economic viability of such systems, especially in Brazil, an important player in global food systems. This paper presents an economic analysis of iCL in Mato Grosso, Brazil, the largest grain and beef producer in the country, which spans the ecologically diverse Amazon, Cerrado and Pantanal biomes. We compare the economic performance of an integrated soybean/corn and beef cattle system to a continuous crop (soybean/corn) system and a continuous livestock (beef cattle) production system from 2005 to 2012. We use empirical case study data to characterize a 'typical' farm for each production system within the study region. We find that the integrated crop−livestock system has a higher annual net present value (NPV) per hectare (ha) than continuous cropping or livestock under a range of discount rates. However, under a scenario of substantially higher crop prices, the continuous cropping outperforms iCL. While iCL is not feasible in all regions of the Amazon and Cerrado, our results indicate that in places where the biophysical and market conditions are suitable for production, it could be a highly profitable way to intensify cattle production and potentially spare land for other uses, including conservation. Nevertheless, additional credit and technical support may be needed to overcome high upfront costs and informational barriers to increase iCL areas as a sustainable development strategy for agriculture in the Amazon and Cerrado regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Interações is the property of Revista Interacoes and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Deforestation has a significant impact on the environment, accelerating global warming and causing irreversible damage to ecosystems. Large-scale deforestation monitoring techniques still mostly rely on statistical approaches and traditional machine learning models applied to multi-spectral, optical satellite imagery and meta-data like land cover maps. However, clouds often obstruct observations of land in optical satellite imagery, especially in the tropics, which limits their effectiveness. Moreover, statistical approaches and traditional machine learning methods may not capture the wide range of underlying distributions in deforestation data due to limited model capacity. To overcome these drawbacks, we apply an attention-based neural network architecture that learns to detect deforestation end-to-end from time series of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. Sentinel-1 C-Band SAR data are mostly independent of the weather conditions and our trained neural network model generalizes across a wide range of deforestation patterns of Amazon forests. We curate a new dataset, called BraDD-S1TS, comprising approximately 25,000 image sequences for deforested and unchanged land throughout the Brazilian Amazon. We experimentally evaluate our method on this dataset and compare it to state-of-the-art approaches. We find it outperforms still-in-use methods by 13.7 percentage points in intersection over union (IoU). We make BraDD-S1TS publicly available along with this publication to serve as a novel testbed for comparing different deforestation detection methods in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deforestation is a threat to biodiversity and the world's climate. As agriculture and mining areas grow, forest loss becomes unbearable for the environment. Consequently, monitoring deforestation is crucial for decision makers to create polices. The most reliable deforestation data about the Amazon forest is generated by the Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) through its PRODES project. This effort is labor and time intensive because it depends on visual interpretation from experts. Additionally, frequent Amazon's atmospheric phenomena, such as clouds, difficult image analysis which induces alternative approaches such as time series analysis. One way to increase the number of images of an area consists of using images from different satellites. NASA provides the Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) dataset solving spectral dissimilarities of satellite sensors. In this paper, the possibilities of HLS for forest monitoring are explored by applying two deforestation detection methods, Break Detection for Additive Season and Trend (BFAST) monitor and Random Forest, over four different vegetation indices, NDVI, EVI, GEMI and SAVI. The SAVI index used as input for BFAST monitor performed the best in this data setup with 95.23% for deforested pixel, 53.69% for non-deforested pixels. Although the HLS data is described as analysis ready, further pre-processing can enhance the outcome of the analysis. Especially, since the cloud and cirrus cover in the Amazon causes gaps in the dataset, a best pixel method is recommended to create patched images and thus a continuous time series as input for any land cover and land use classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Topoi: Revista de História is the property of TOPOI: Revista de Historia, Programa de Pos-graduacao em Historia Social da UFRJ and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A traditional feature selection of filters evaluates the importance of a feature by using a particular metric, deducing unstable performances when the dataset changes. In this paper, a new hybrid feature selection (called MFHFS) based on multi-filter weights and multi-feature weights is proposed. Concretely speaking, MFHFS includes the following three stages: Firstly, all samples are normalized and discretized, and the noises and the outliers are removed based on 10-folder cross validation. Secondly, the vector of multi-filter weights and the matrix of multi-feature weights are calculated and used to combine different feature subsets obtained by the optimal filters. Finally, a Q-range based feature relevance calculation method is proposed to measure the relationship of different features and the greedy searching policy is used to filter the redundant features of the temp feature subset to obtain the final feature subset. Experiments are carried out using two typical classifiers of support vector machine and random forest on six datasets (APS, Madelon, CNAE9, Gisette, DrivFace and Amazon). When the measurements of F1macro and F1micro are used, the experimental results show that the proposed method has great improvement on classification accuracy compared to the traditional filters, and it achieves significant improvements on running speed while guaranteeing the classification accuracy compared to typical hybrid feature selections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Colombia Internacional is the property of Universidad de los Andes and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Ecosystem Demography model version 2.2 (ED-2.2) is a terrestrial biosphere model that simulates the biophysical, ecological, and biogeochemical dynamics of vertically and horizontally heterogeneous terrestrial ecosystems. In a companion paper , we described how the model solves the energy, water, and carbon cycles, and verified the high degree of conservation of these properties in long-term simulations that include long-term (multi-decadal) vegetation dynamics. Here, we present a detailed assessment of the model's ability to represent multiple processes associated with the biophysical and biogeochemical cycles in Amazon forests. We use multiple measurements from eddy covariance towers, forest inventory plots, and regional remote-sensing products to assess the model's ability to represent biophysical, physiological, and ecological processes at multiple timescales, ranging from subdaily to century long. The ED-2.2 model accurately describes the vertical distribution of light, water fluxes, and the storage of water, energy, and carbon in the canopy air space, the regional distribution of biomass in tropical South America, and the variability of biomass as a function of environmental drivers. In addition, ED-2.2 qualitatively captures several emergent properties of the ecosystem found in observations, specifically observed relationships between aboveground biomass, mortality rates, and wood density; however, the slopes of these relationships were not accurately captured. We also identified several limitations, including the model's tendency to overestimate the magnitude and seasonality of heterotrophic respiration and to overestimate growth rates in a nutrient-poor tropical site. The evaluation presented here highlights the potential of incorporating structural and functional heterogeneity within biomes in Earth system models (ESMs) and to realistically represent their impacts on energy, water, and carbon cycles. We also identify several priorities for further model development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Neotropical termite genus Uncitermes Rocha & Cancello, 2012 was known from a single species, U. teevani (Emerson, 1925). In this paper a new species, Uncitermes almeriae sp. n., is described and illustrated from worker and soldier castes, along with observations on the Uncitermes nest. A distribution map with the occurrences of both species is presented. The new species is distinguished from its congener by the presence of short bristles covering the head capsule and frontal tube. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Natural Gas Industry is the property of Natural Gas Industry Journal Agency and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The concentration and spatial distribution of many potentially toxic elements (PTEs) have not been studied in the mining areas of tropical soils in the Amazon. The objective of this study was to evaluate the concentrations and spatial distribution of Al, Bi, Fe, Li, Sn, Sr, Te, Ti, and V in an area influenced by artisanal gold (Au) mining and chemical attributes related to soil fertility. Materials and methods: The study area is located in Serra Pelada, on the east bank of the Brazilian Amazon, in the state of Pará. A total of 104 soil samples were collected with different forms of use: residential areas, agricultural, forest, and mining areas. 0.5 g of soil previously sieved at 0.15 mm was weighed to determine the pseudo total contents of the PTEs. The soil was mixed to 9 mL of concentrated HNO3 and to 3 mL of concentrated HCl; then, this solution was digested in microwave according to the EPA method 3051A (Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste 1–30, 2007). The digested extracts were filtered on blue filter paper and diluted with ultrapure water to the final volume of 50 mL. The pseudo total contents of Al, Bi, Fe, Li, Sn, Sr, Te, Ti, and V were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Results and discussion: The pseudo total concentrations of Al, Bi, Fe, Li, Sn, Sr, Te, Ti, and V were high, considering the natural occurrence in the soils. The levels of Li, Sn, Sr, Te, and V did not differ between them as forms of soil use, while the levels of Al, Bi, Fe, and Ti were higher in residential and/or agricultural areas. The spatial distribution maps of the elements showed that the material removed from the pit is not a major source of contamination. In the residential areas, the exploitation of the Au in the backyards provided greater surface accumulation. The accumulated geography index shown by Bi, Li, Sn, Sr, and Te varied from moderately contaminated to highly contaminated. Conclusions: The pseudo total contents of the potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are high, characterizing a scenario of diffuse contamination and geoaccumulation of Bi, Li, Sn, Sr, and Te caused by anthropogenic activities. The mine pit opened during the initial exploration of the mine is not the only one contaminated by PTEs, the exploitation of tailings, backyards, and agricultural areas were other forms of environmental contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this paper is to examine how socio-ecological modeling efforts can use participatory visual methods to bridge cultural and linguistic differences among research participants and researchers. The growing number of case studies of indigenous communities highlights the need for methods that recognize and represent such communities' distinctive realities while also establishing alternative communication techniques to enhance the participatory process. Using the Rich Picture method as a first step in a participatory modeling effort in the Tumucumaque Complex, a multicultural indigenous reserve in the Brazilian Amazon, our research specifically investigates how young adults envision the "good life" in Tumucumaque, including their perceptions of the elements most central to indigenous lifeways as well as the perceived roles of traditional cultural materials and modern industrial technologies. Finally, we make a critical assessment of the Rich Picture method, elucidating both its strengths and weaknesses while also addressing the, often underestimated, complexity of modeling culture in socio-ecological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large‐scale restoration programmes in the tropics require large volumes of high quality, genetically diverse and locally adapted seeds from a large number of species. However, scarcity of native seeds is a critical restriction to achieve restoration targets.In this paper, we analyse three successful community‐based networks that supply native seeds and seedlings for Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado restoration projects. In addition, we propose directions to promote local participation, legal, technical and commercialisation issues for up‐scaling the market of native seeds for restoration with high quality and social justice.We argue that effective community‐based restoration arrangements should follow some principles: (i) seed production must be based on real market demand; (ii) non‐governmental and governmental organisations have a key role in supporting local organisation, legal requirements and selling processes; (iii) local ecological knowledge and labour should be valued, enabling local communities to promote large‐scale seed production; (iv) applied research can help develop appropriate techniques and solve technical issues.The case studies from Brazil and principles presented here can be useful for the up‐scaling restoration ecology efforts in many other parts of the world and especially in tropical countries where improving rural community income is a strategy for biodiversity conservation and restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Veterinaria Brasilica is the property of Acta Veterinaria Brasilica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research focuses on a mining frontier in the municipality of Canaã dos Carajás, located in the Brazilian Eastern Amazon. The method involved a combination of secondary data with field research. The latter is based on in-person interviews with a sample of 253 households. The paper analyzes the municipality and its inhabitant's socioeconomic situation and captures the views of residents about life in the town. The results showed that mining played an important role in increase of Canaã's income and exports, despite the late 2000s economic crises. Consequently, many socioeconomic indicators improved in Canaã. However, inequality increase and employment fall associated with S11D operation pose challenges to the municipality—currently and possibly in the future. Canaã expects high amounts of royalties of iron ore exploitation. These royalties can help the municipality's economy if the planning and political-institutional contexts are adequate. Field work dataset showed that Canaã's population is essentially migrant who arrived after 2004 seeking work and income opportunities, as an effect of mining growth. Nevertheless, people became more skeptical as a consequence of S11D operation and jobs loss, many businesses closure and drastic reduction of movement in the city. The results show the challenge to convert the increasing income from different stages of mining activity into permanently better and broader public services. This result is especially important in the studied case of a recent town located in the southeast Amazonia, whose dynamics are strongly linked to mining economics, and faces effects of changes in stages of large-scale mining projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the socioeconomic determinants of consumption of wild fish among the Kichwa and Shuar indigenous peoples in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The results of a random-effect linear model show that the consumption of wild fish is higher for households with younger heads that do not have off-farm work and reside far from urban centers, in communities with low population densities. Although various actors promoting aquaculture in the region often claim that it helps to relieve the pressure on wild fish stocks, no statistically significant effect of the consumption of cultivated fish on the consumption of wild fish could be shown. Thus, our analysis suggests that public policies and development interventions which increase access to off-farm employment can both improve local livelihoods and conserve biodiversity, but that the same affirmation cannot be made for the promotion of aquaculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on transactions of edible goods among the Menkü, an indigenous group of the southern Brazilian Amazon. The distribution cycles of killed game are described as a process of sharing by which the relationships of the giver to those around him are created and redefined. In this case sharing is characterized by the co-presence of donor and recipient. Furthermore sharing is conceived as a process which defines and confirms relations of affinity and alterity. It is argued that for the Menkü sharing is a multilateral process that depends on the complementarity of the sexes and the respective life phases of those involved. Transactions are revealed as an ambivalent process, which on the one hand contributes to the creation of good group morality, while on the other hand implying obligations towards the human and non-human worlds. Based on the notion of the high value of social cohesion, the article focuses on how transactions involving consumable goods are incorporated in an egalitarian community. Unlike monetary transactions non-monetary transactions involving edible goods are revealed as allowing multiple interactions to take place with the encompassing environment of the people, ancestors and spirits of the savannah and the forest. It is argued that the distribution and consumption of the components of a 'complete meal' are considered to express successful interactions between different social spheres as a prerequisite for permanent well-being among the Menkü. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I will explore how knowledge practices among the Runa of the Ecuadorian Amazon are informed by the specificity of local gender constructions. I will argue that while men learn to be ‘proper’ persons primarily through the ingestion of substances which penetrate inside their bodies and change them from the interior, women learn to become ‘proper’ Runa through imitating and reproducing specific movements. This difference in learning regimes, I argue, is based upon a priori conceptualisation of men and women as distinct kinds of beings. I argue that the Runa conceptualise as gender difference the way in which exteriority and interiority are played out in male and female persons. Unlike other Amazonian cases, women are understood by the Runa as ‘naturally’ predisposed to exteriority. This has important repercussions in the way cultural change is thought to affect women and men, especially in contrast to other Amazonian people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydropower has been the leading source of renewable energy across theworld, accounting for up to 71% of this supply as of 2016. This capacity was built up in North America and Europe between 1920 and 1970 when thousands of dams were built. Big dams stopped being built in developed nations, because the best sites for dams were already developed and environmental and social concerns made the costs unacceptable. Nowadays, more dams are being removed in North America and Europe than are being built. The hydropower industry moved to building dams in the developing world and since the 1970s, began to build even larger hydropower dams along the Mekong River Basin, the Amazon River Basin, and the Congo River Basin. The same problems are being repeated: disrupting river ecology, deforestation, losing aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity, releasing substantial greenhouse gases, displacing thousands of people, and altering people's livelihoods plus affecting the food systems, water quality, and agriculture near them. This paper studies the proliferation of large dams in developing countries and the importance of incorporating climate change into considerations of whether to build a dam along with some of the governance and compensation challenges. We also examine the overestimation of benefits and underestimation of costs along with changes that are needed to address the legitimate social and environmental concerns of people living in areas where dams are planned. Finally, we propose innovative solutions that can move hydropower toward sustainable practices together with solar, wind, and other renewable sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economistic approaches to the study of peasant livelihoods have considerable academic and policy influence, yet, we argue, perpetuate a partial misunderstanding - often reducing peasant livelihood to the management of capital assets by rational actors. In this paper, we propose to revitalize the original heterodox spirit of the sustainable livelihoods framework by drawing on Stephen Gudeman's work on the dialectic between use values and mutuality on the one hand, and exchange values and the market on the other. We use this approach to examine how historically divergent mutuality-market dialectics in different Amazonian regions have shaped greater prominence of either extractivism or agriculture in current livelihoods. We conclude that an approach centered on the mutuality-market dialectic is of considerable utility in revealing the role of economic histories in shaping differential peasant livelihoods in tropical forests. More generally, it has considerable potential to contribute to a much-needed re-pluralization of approaches to livelihood in academia and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]