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Abstract: Linked Open Science is an approach to solve challenges of an executable paper. It is a combination of four “silver bullets”: 1) publication of scientific data, metadata, results, and provenance information using Linked Data principles, 2) open source and web-based environments for executing, validating and exploring research, 3) Cloud Computing for effcient and distributed computing, and 4) Creative Commons for the legal infrastructure. We will use a realistic scientific research setting related to research on deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest to provide scenarios to illustrate the application of Linked Open Science. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Smoke stimulates seed germination of a range of species from ecosystems that may or may not be fire prone. We evaluated the effects of smoke-water on germination of ten tree species of economic value in the Amazon region. Two materials were burnt to produce smoke-water: germination paper and the wood of Cecropia palmata Willd. Seven dilutions of the solutions were tested. Seeds of nine forest trees were germinated under controlled laboratory conditions (25°C±2°C) in the laboratory. Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl., was tested in the nursery (approximately 25–36°C) because of its large seeds. Irrespective of the material burned, smoke-water significantly increased seed germination of three species: Cordia goeldiana Hub., Ochroma pyramidale (Cav. ex Lam.) Urb. and Jacaranda copaia (Aubl.) D. Don. and there was a significant inhibitory effect on Swietenia macrophylla King. Germination was accelerated by smoke in J. copaia, B. excelsa and Bellucia grossularioides (L.) Triana. The most pronounced effect was observed in B. excelsa, as the mean germination time of 108d (control) was reduced to 76d with smoke-water made from germination paper (dilution of 1:25) and to 61d with the one from Cecropia wood (dilution of 1:250). For five of the ten species studied, smoke-water either increased or accelerated seed germination, irrespective of the materials used for its production. Seeds with low vigour and prolonged germination time seemed to be more receptive to smoke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Large scale surveys of rain forest livelihoods open up new possibilities for understanding the role of forest resources in the well-being of forest peoples but often overlook the factors that influence the diverse economic foci of forest-based communities. In this paper we describe the Peruvian Amazon Rural Livelihoods and Poverty (PARLAP) Project which seeks to identify the factors that contribute to rural poverty among indigenous and folk peoples through the first large scale survey conducted in this data poor region. Our paper draws upon a community census undertaken in four major river sub-basins in eastern Peru (n = 919 communities) and asks the question, how do environmental and market factors influence the economic orientation of rain forest communities? Recognizing that standard approaches that explain activity choice by current conditions are problematic because of potential endogeneity, we propose a new analytical framework that examines how historical (initial) conditions determine current conditions and thus current economic activities. Our approach produces a rich array of results that point to the importance of initial environmental endowments and market access of communities in shaping their economic orientation, interacting in different ways depending on the key natural resource upon which they rely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper discusses the dynamics behind the establishment of scientific representations (e.g. reports, measurements, experiments) to the detriment of local representations (e.g. oral accounts, metaphors, symbols) in environmental policy-making in the Global South. To this end, the paper attempts to understand why local accounts of the Amazon in recent decades have gradually been replaced by satellite-based remote sensing (RS) technology in the region''s policy-making. RS technology is shown to provide representations that match policy-makers discourses as regards the importance of: visibility, since satellite images are believed to provide a transparent window from which the Amazon can be seen by policy-makers working from centres of power; comprehensiveness, since the data obtained through RS claims to represent the entire region; and determinacy, as forecasting and spatial correlation techniques establish deterministic links between particular factors (e.g. the presence of farmers, inflation) and environmental issues (e.g. increases in deforestation). From this examination, it is argued that rather than focusing on identifying the essential differences between local and scientific representation, more attention should be paid to how different kinds of representations are in harmony or conflict with historically rooted governance discourses. The article also indicates that in order to revalue local representations in environmental policy-making it is necessary to challenge particular discourses which are “taken-for-granted” in governance practices at the present time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Amazon rainforest is one of the world''s greatest natural wonders and holds great importance and significance for the world''s environmental balance. Around 60% of the Amazon rainforest is located in the Brazilian territory. The two biggest states of the Amazon region are Amazonas (the upper Amazon) and Pará (the lower Amazon), which together account for around 73% of the Brazilian Legal Amazon, and are the only states that are serviced by international airports in Brazil''s north region. The purpose of this paper is to model and forecast sustainable international tourism demand for the states of Amazonas, Pará, and the aggregate of the two states. By sustainable tourism is meant a distinctive type of tourism that has relatively low environmental and cultural impacts. Economic progress brought about by illegal wood extraction and commercial agriculture has destroyed large areas of the Amazon rainforest. The sustainable tourism industry has the potential to contribute to the economic development of the Amazon region without destroying the rainforest. The paper presents unit root tests for monthly and annual data, estimates alternative time series models and conditional volatility models of the shocks to international tourist arrivals, and provides forecasts for 2006 and 2007. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The project 'Tropical Biomass & Carbon' and its main product TB&C App is introduced. • TB&C App is an user-friendly tool that estimates C stored in forests of Brazil. • Model performance analysis proved reliability >95% of the TB&C App's models. • Carbon in Amazonian forests can be accurately and precisely estimated. • A dataset containing 64,000 plots with forest variables is delivered as supplement. This article introduces the Tropical Biomass & Carbon Application – the 'TB&C App', a web application available on the permanent link www.tropicalbiomass.com. The TB&C App requires as input attributes 'the smallest and largest diameters', 'number of trees ha−1', basal area ha−1, and 'parameters of the diameter (beta) distribution' describing stand structure. The App delivers outputs at two levels: (1) Stand level, including mean aboveground biomass (AGB) and carbon (AGC), in Mg ha−1, along with confidence intervals (CIs) as measures of uncertainty, and; (2) Tree level estimates, with AGB and diameter for every simulated tree. Phase 1 of the project TB&C comprises four Brazilian forest (and non-forest) formations: Campinarana, Floresta estacional, Floresta ombrofila , and Savana. This article aims to (i) describe the algorithm written for the TB&C App, and (ii) present results of Phase 1. This first phase counts on a standardized database of 1,428 trees with field-measured dry AGB, from plots across the different formations, which is the largest tree-biomass database compiled so far in Brazil. Model uncertainties were incorporated into the modeling process, allowing computation of CIs through an uncertainty approach. The total variance of residuals of AGB was also modeled, aiming at predicting CIs as a function of the quantity of AGB. An analysis of reliability of the equations implemented in the TB&C App indicates that more than 95% (n = 64,000) of the true AGB's fit into the CI outputted by the TB&C App. A comparison with other approaches in the literature shows significant agreement with previous estimates and more conservative estimates where previously-published estimates disagreed with the TB&C App. We cite as advantages of the TB&C App; (i) reliability of the outputs, (ii) a user-friendly layout, (iii) AGB and AGC estimates provided along with robust CIs, and (iv) estimates at the stand and tree levels with consistent totals. A biomass dataset containing information on 64,000 plots is also delivered as supplement of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper seeks to analyze local perspectives in Peruvian Amazon forest communities toward REDD and contrast those perspectives with current global and national REDD narratives. REDD is a global market-based approach to provide financial incentives for local actors to halt deforestation or to improve carbon stocks. To date, the REDD framework has not demonstrated that it is equipped to incorporate the diverse perspectives, potential interactions and uncertainties facing forest communities. We interviewed forest community members in the Amazonian state of Loreto, Peru, using “future scenarios” methods to elicit potential alternative narratives, both with and outside REDD. Indigenous voices reveal ambiguous attitudes toward REDD with regard to livelihoods, benefit distribution and the long-term impacts for communities and forests. They reveal considerable uncertainty about the future and lack of trust in governance regimes. Long-term community priorities were in generating work, providing educational opportunities for their children, and improving the quality of their forest. Conflict—within the community, with local loggers and with the recently established regional conservation area—was a prevalent theme. A REDD design that recognizes communities as active participants in global and national climate management and pays attention to local narratives will more likely generate the multiple benefits of healthy forests, strong communities and, ultimately, global climate change mitigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Kaolin is a clay mineral with several applications, especially as filler in the paper industry. Brazil has the largest kaolin processing plant in the world located in the Amazon region. Kaolin mining activities generate high volumes of waste, resulting in additional costs and environmental impacts, and therefore, new approaches for their reduction are necessary. This work elucidates, for the first time, the technological valorization of abundant Amazon Brazilian kaolin mining waste to synthesize pure-phase zeolitic material with the antibacterial application. For the synthesis optimization, it was evaluated the influence of the type of kaolin (natural or thermally treated at 600 °C), the crystallization period (4, 6 and 24 h), the suppression of aluminum source (sodium aluminate) and the zinc ion-exchanging procedure. The materials were characterized by various techniques including powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), aluminum nuclear magnetic resonance with magic-angle spinning (27Al MAS NMR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N 2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, chemical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results reveal that it is possible to direct the synthesis to the different zeolite structure with simple thermal treatment of the raw material, obtaining crystalline Linde Type A (LTA) or sodalite (SOD) zeolites using thermally treated or natural kaolin, respectively. Under the optimized synthesis conditions, the LTA zeolite was obtained after rapid crystallization in 6 h and without commercial aluminum supplementation. The Zn-exchanged LTA zeolites containing 4 and 7 wt% of Zn were applied as antibacterial materials. They presented growth inhibition zones between 7 and 8 mm for Gram-positive bacteria (Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica) while pure kaolin and LTA zeolite without Zn did not show antibacterial activity. These results offer new opportunities on the way that kaolin-mining industries manage their wastes. [Display omitted] • Pure kaolin led to obtaining pure-phase SOD-type zeolite. • Thermally treated kaolin led to obtaining pure-phase LTA-type zeolite. • The zinc-LTA exhibited activity against gram-positive bacteria (L monocytogenes and S. aureus). • The zinc-LTA exhibited activity against gram-negative bacteria (E.coli and S. choleraesuis). • The zinc-LTA exhibited growth inhibition zones between 7 and 8 mm for all studied bacteria. Abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the dynamics of land-use in the Brazilian Amazon using a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model. A fixed effect panel data specification is used to control for the heterogeneity in the data. Meanwhile, spatial autocorrelation is also diagnosed by a statistical methodology that allows us to split the model in subsamples (clusters) of more homogenous municipalities. The clustering analysis shows that there are three clusters whose land-use patterns are strongly different in an economical point of view. The first cluster identifies municipalities dedicated to logging, natural resources exploitation and slash-and-burn cultures; the second cluster shows a more diversified agriculture; while the third cluster presents very developed intensive agriculture municipalities. Another contribution of this article relies on the assessment of contemporaneous causal relation among distinct land-uses areas. This new approach allows us to evaluate the dynamics relations arisen from unexpected innovations in the process of soil occupation. The impulse response functions (IRF) and the forecast error variance decompositions (FEVD) generate the following results: (1) in the opposition direction of previous studies, we find that the demand for cropping does not require to clear new areas of forest.; (2) contrary to previous studies we do not find indication that cattle ranching is the primary driver of deforestation; (3) the impact of a shock of pasture land on itself is virtually null at the initial stages, but increases over time, not requiring to clear extra areas of forest land but rather competing with crop land; (4) it seems that if not for all the Amazon Basin, at least in one cluster, cattle ranching and cropping could be competitive activities; and (5) we find out that in the long run pasture innovation is responsible for the major percent of the forecast error concern all land uses. It probably means that the destiny of distinct categories of land, in cluster one, is endogenously determine by activities connected to cattle. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyzes the impact of agricultural technical efficiency on the propensity of farmers to convert natural land into agricultural plots, i.e., to deforest, in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA). A two-step econometric approach is adopted. A bootstrapped translog stochastic frontier that is a posteriori checked for functional consistency is used to assess technical efficiency and these estimates are put into a land-use model to assess the impact of productivity on deforestation. Analysis of agricultural census tract data suggests that technical efficiency has a U-shaped effect: both less and more efficient farms use more land for their agricultural activities and so have a positive effect on deforestation. However, the majority of farms in the BLA are on the ascendant slope, so that efficiency implies more deforestation in the BLA. The poor environmental valuation of the Brazilian forest, the uneven land distribution, and the problem of the de facto openly accessed forested and “unproductive” lands in the BLA could explain the U-shaped effect of technical efficiency on the conversion of forested land into agricultural land. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper focuses on supplying electrical power for remote communities of the Brazilian Amazon using regional biomass, specifically palm oil biomass, as a primary energy source. The use of Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) as fuel, is indicated for isolated communities, where the hydro plants or the installation of transmissions line are impracticable. The use of vegetable oils produced in the communities, is a solution when an adequate infrastructure to extracting the oil is available. Brazil is able to use an enormous diversity of vegetable oils, due to a great variety of plants, and the favorable climatic conditions. Technical, economic, environmental and social aspects are analyzed in order to provide a basis for electrical power supply viability in these communities. A case study is presented focused on a typical Brazilian Amazon community located in the State of Pará in order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed viability strategy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The process of human occupation in Brazilian Amazonia is heterogeneous in space and time. The goal of this paper is to explore intra-regional differences in land-use determining factors. We built spatial regression models to assess the determining factors of deforestation, pasture, temporary and permanent agriculture in four space partitions: the whole Amazon; the Densely Populated Arch (southern and eastern parts of the Amazon), where most deforestation has occurred; Central Amazon, where the new frontiers are located; and Occidental Amazon, still mostly undisturbed. Our land-use data combines deforestation maps derived from remote sensing and 1996 agricultural census. We compiled a spatially explicit database with 50 socio-economic and environmental potential factors using 25km×25km regular cells. Our results show that the concentrated deforestation pattern in the Arch is related to the diffusive nature of land-use change, proximity to urban centers and roads, reinforced by the higher connectivity to the more developed parts of Brazil and more favorable climatic conditions, expressed as intensity of the dry season. Distance to urban centers was used as a proxy of accessibility to local markets, and was found to be as important as distance to roads in most models. However, distance to roads and to urban centers does not explain intra-regional differences, which were captured by other factors, such as connection to national markets and more favorable climatic conditions in the Arch. Agrarian structure results show that areas in which the land structure is dominated by large and medium farms have a higher impact on deforestation and pasture extent. Temporary and permanent agriculture patterns were concentrated in areas where small farms are dominant. We conclude that the heterogeneous occupation patterns of the Amazon can only be explained when combining several factors related to the organization of the productive systems, such as favorable environmental conditions and access to local and national markets. Agrarian structure and land-use analysis reinforced this conclusion, indicating the heterogeneity of land-use systems by type of actor, and the influence of the agrarian structure on land-use patterns across the region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Mapping aboveground forest biomass is of fundamental importance for estimating CO2 emissions due to land use and land cover changes in the Brazilian Amazon. However, existing biomass maps for this region diverge in terms of the total biomass estimates derived, as well as in the spatial patterns of mapped biomass. In addition, no regional or location-specific measure of reliability accompanies most of these maps. In this study, 330 one-hectare plots from the RADAMBRASIL survey, acquired over and along areas adjacent to the state of Rondônia, were used to generate a biomass map over the entire region using geostatistics. The RADAMBRASIL samples were used to generate a biomass map, along with a measure of reliability for each biomass estimate at each location, using kriging with external drift with elevation, vegetation type and soil texture considered as biomass predictor variables. Cross-validation was performed using the sample plots to compare the performance of kriging against a simple biomass estimation using the sample mean. Overall, biomass varied from 225 to 486Mgha−1, with a local standard deviation ranging from 62 to 202Mgha−1. Large uncertainty values were obtained for regions with low sampling density, in particular in savanna areas. The geostatistical method adopted in this paper has the potential to be applied over the entire Brazilian Amazon region to provide more accurate local estimates of biomass, which would aid carbon flux estimation, along with measures of their reliability, and to identify areas where more sampling efforts should be concentrated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes a methodology to assess the evidence of human presence and human activities in the Brazilian Amazonia region using DMSP/OLS night-time satellite sensor imagery. It consists on exploring the potential of the sensor data for regional studies analysing the correlation between DMSP night-time light foci and population, and the correlation between DMSP night-time light foci and electrical power consumption. In the mosaic of DMSP/OLS night-time light imagery from September 1999, 248 towns were detected from a total of 749 municípios in Amazonia. It was found that the night-time light foci were related to human presence in the region, including urban settlements, mining, industries, and civil construction, observed in ancillary Landsat TM and JERS imagery data. The analysis considering only the state of Pará revealed a linear relation (R2=0.79) between urban population from the 1996 census data and DMSP night-time light foci. Similarly, electrical power consumption for 1999 was linearly correlated with DMSP night-time light foci. Thus the DMSP/OLS imagery can be used as an indicator of human presence in the analysis of spatial–temporal patterns in the Amazonia region. These results are very useful considering the continental dimension of Amazonia, the absence of demographic information between the official population census (every 10 years), and the dynamics and complexity of human activities in the region. Therefore DMSP night-time light foci are a valuable data source for global studies, modelling, and planning activities when the human dimension must be considered throughout Amazonia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]