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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]

This paper examines demographic events in the context of population structure and genetic relationships in groups of wild moustached tamarins (Saguinus mystax). We used a combination of long-term behavioral observations and genetic data from a total of eight groups from a population in northeastern Peruvian Amazonia. The mean group size was 6.0 (range=4–9), including 2.5 adult males and 1.8 adult females. Within-group relatedness was generally high (r=0.3), and most nonbreeding individuals were either natal or closely related to the respective same-sex breeder. The mean annual persistence of adults in the groups was 70% and 68% for males and females, respectively, and the reproductive tenure of one breeding pair lasted for at least 6 years. Migrations predominantly occurred after stability-disrupting events such as the immigration of new individuals and/or the loss of breeding individuals, or when groups were rather large. Migrations of both breeding and nonbreeding males and females occurred. Our results show that the hypothesis of Ferrari and Lopes Ferrari [Folia Primatologica 52:132–147, 1989] that tamarins live in smaller and less stable groups with lower relatedness compared to marmosets does not generally hold true. In contrast, we found that tamarin groups can consist of predominantly related individuals, and are stable as well. It is also apparent that a single demographic event can produce a chain of subsequent complex demographic changes. Am. J. Primatol. 64:425–449, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Podzol-ferralsol soil systems cover great areas in Amazonia and in other equatorial regions, they are an end-member of old equatorial landscape evolution, are frequently associated with kaolin deposits and store and export large amounts of carbon. Their biogeochemistry was usually inferred from soil mineralogy and from spring or river water properties. This paper presents a database for groundwaters sampled in situ in a typical podzol-ferralsol soil catena from the Alto Rio Negro region, Brazil; the sampling periods allowed to sample under high- and low-level water-table conditions. The compositions of the groundwaters percolating the soil system are consistent with the currently observed mineral and organic paragenesis. The acidity and the site density of the dissolved organic matter (DOM) produced and circulating in the podzol white sand horizons are similar to what was observed in acid podzolic temperate zone. The aggressiveness of the white sand groundwater with regard to secondary minerals favours the podzol development at the expense of the ferralsolic or kaolin material. Some DOM is able to percolate in depth through clayey material with concentrations up to 9.7mgCl-1 (4.0 on average). This DOM is characterized by high site densities indicating a large proportion of small carboxylic acids. In the deep kaolin and in the ferralsolic horizons, the Si and Al content of the groundwater is controlled by gibbsite and kaolinite precipitation/dissolution and by quartz dissolution. The mobility of Fe, mainly transported as Fe2+, is sensitive to small variations in EH. The bleaching of the deep kaolin at the upper part of the slopes is favoured by the high content of small carboxylic compounds and by the redox conditions of the solutions issuing from the podzolic horizons. The transfer of Al and Fe result in the precipitation of Al-nodules in slope horizons and of Fe-oxides in the upper downslope horizon. It can be inferred that thick bleached kaolin are likely everywhere presently active giant podzols are close to a slope gradient sufficient to allow deep percolation of groundwater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characterization of leaf phenology in tropical forests is of major importance and improves our understanding of earth-atmosphere-climate interactions. The availability of satellite optical data with a high temporal resolution has permitted the identification of unexpected phenological cycles, particularly over the Amazon region. A primary issue in these studies is the relationship between the optical reflectance of pixels of 1 km or more in size and ground information of limited spatial extent. In this paper, we demonstrate that optical data with high to very-high spatial resolution can help bridge this scale gap by providing snapshots of the canopy that allow discernment of the leafphenological stage of trees and the proportions of leaved crowns within the canopy. We also propose applications for broad-scale forest characterization and mapping in West Central Africa over an area of 141 000km² . Eleven years of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) data were averaged over the wet and dry seasons to provide a dataset of optimal radiometric quality at a spatial resolution of 250 m. Sample areas covered at a very-high (GeoEye) and high (SPOT-5) spatial resolution were used to identify forest types and to quantify the proportion of leaved trees in the canopy. The dry season EVI was positively correlated with the proportion of leaved trees in the canopy. This relationship allowed the conversion of EVI into canopy deciduousness at the regional level. On this basis, ecologically important forest types could be mapped, including young secondary, open Marantaceae, Gilbertiodendron dewevrei and swamp forests. We show that in west central African forests, a large share of the variability in canopy reflectance, as captured by the EVI, is due to variation in the proportion of leaved trees in the upper canopy, thereby opening new perspectives for biodiversity and carbon-cycle applications. [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 nutrient-rich waters of the Amazon River Plume (ARP) support dense blooms of diatom-diazotroph assemblages (DDA) that introduce large quantities of new nitrogen to the planktonic ecosystem and, unlike other nitrogen-fixers, are likely to directly fuel vertical carbon flux. To investigate the factors controlling DDA blooms, we develop a five phytoplankton (cyanobacteria, diatoms, unicellular microbial diazotrophs, DDA, and Trichodesmium), two zooplankton model and embed it within a 1/6° resolution physical model of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic. The model generates realistic DDA blooms in the ARP and also exhibits basin-wide primary production, nitrogen fixation, and grazing rates consistent with observed values. By following ARP water parcels with synthetic Lagrangian drifters released at the river mouth we are able to assess the relative impacts of grazing, nutrient supply, and physical forcing on DDA bloom formation. DDA bloom formation is stimulated in the silica-rich water of the ARP by decreases in grazing pressure when mesozooplankton (which co-occur in high densities with coastal diatom blooms) concentrations decrease. Bloom termination is driven primarily by silica limitation of the DDA. In agreement with in situ data, this net growth niche for DDA exists in a salinity range from ~ 20-34 PSU, although this co-occurrence is coincidental rather than causative. Because net growth rates are relatively modest, bloom formation in ARP water parcels depends critically on the time spent in this ideal habitat, with high DDA biomass only occurring when water parcels spent > 23 days in the optimal habitat niche. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The success of PCR technique depends on many factors, such as high quality DNA pellets obtained from blood samples, good reagents and adequate conditions of amplification. Taking these limitations into account, a retrospective epidemiological study for malaria diagnosis was conducted in a mesoendemic area in the Brazilian Amazon. Methods: A nested PCR protocol with DNA extracted from two blood storage devices obtained from Giemsa-stained thick blood smears and filter-papers was used for malaria diagnosis. The extracted DNA was used as a template to amplify approximately 100 bp species-specific sequences of the small subunit of the ribosomal RNA (18S SSU rRNA) of Plasmodium sp. The prevalence of single and mixed infections was examined in a cross-sectional survey carried out among 369 miners living in the district of Apiacás, Mato Grosso State. The parasitemia levels detected by microscopic examination were compared to the PCR results. Results: DNA samples isolated from blood on filter-paper allowed the detection and identification of Plasmodium in 165 (44.7%) of the 369 individuals evaluated, while only 62 (16.8%) had positive results using DNA obtained from thick smears, a similar rate observed by microscopic examination. The sensitivities of PCR using DNA from blood smears and filter-papers were 65% and 73.0%, respectively. Low parasite infections (below 20 parasites/μL blood) were not detected when thick blood smears were used as a DNA source. Conclusions: Although the blood preserved as thick blood smears provides an alternative and useful tool for malaria molecular diagnosis, its relatively poor performance at low level parasitemias impairs the correct determination of malaria prevalence in epidemiological studies. However, the results obtained in the present study confirm that the use of filter-paper to collect blood is useful for field studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing demand for information on forest productivity has increased the number of permanent monitoring plots across the Amazon. Those plots, however, do not comprise the whole diversity of forest types in the Amazon. The complex effects of soil, climate and hydrology on the productivity of seasonally waterlogged interfluvial wetland forests are still poorly understood. The presented study is the first field-based estimate for tree ages and wood biomass productivity in the vast interfluvial region between the Purus and Madeira rivers. We estimate stand age and wood biomass productivity by a combination of tree-ring data and allometric equations for biomass stocks of eight plots distributed along 600 km in the Purus-Madeira interfluvial area that is crossed by the BR-319 highway. We relate stand age and wood biomass productivity to hydrological and edaphic conditions. Mean productivity and stand age were 5.6±1.1Mgha-1 yr-1 and 102±18 yr, respectively. There is a strong relationship between tree age and diameter, as well as between mean diameter increment and mean wood density within a plot. Regarding the soil hydromorphic properties we find a positive correlation with wood biomass productivity and a negative relationship with stand age. Productivity also shows a positive correlation with the superficial phosphorus concentration. In addition, superficial phosphorus concentration increases with enhanced soil hydromorphic condition. We raise three hypotheses to explain these results: (1) the reduction of iron molecules on the saturated soils with plinthite layers close to the surface releases available phosphorous for the plants; (2) the poor structure of the saturated soils creates an environmental filter selecting tree species of faster growth rates and shorter life spans and (3) plant growth on saturated soil is favored during the dry season, since there should be low restrictions for soil water availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a multitude of threats to water security in the Peruvian Amazon using the WaterWorld policy support system. WaterWorld is a spatially explicit, physically-based globally-applicable model for baseline and scenario water balance that is particularly well suited to heterogeneous environments with little locally available data (e.g. ungauged basins) and which is delivered through a simple web interface, requiring little local capacity for use. The model is capable of producing a hydrological baseline representing the mean water balance for 1950-2000 and allows for examining impacts of population, climate and land use change as well as land and water management interventions on hydrology. This paper describes the application of WaterWorld to the Peruvian Amazon, an area that is increasingly under pressure from deforestation and water pollution as a result of population growth, rural to urban migration and oil and gas extraction, potentially impacting both water quantity and water quality. By applying single and combined scenarios of: climate change, deforestation around existing and planned roads, population growth and rural-urban migration, mining and oil and gas exploitation, we explore the potential combined impacts of these multiple changes on water resources in the Peruvian Amazon and discuss the likely pathways for adaptation to and mitigation against their worst effects. See Mulligan et al. (2013) for a similar analysis for the entire Amazon Basin. [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."

Current methods for modelling burnt area in Dynamic Global Vegetation Models involve complex fire spread calculations, which rely on many inputs, including fuel characteristics, wind speed and countless parameters. They are therefore susceptible to large uncertainties through error propagation. Using observed fractal distributions of fire scars in Brazilian Amazonia, we propose an alternative burnt area model for tropical forests, with fire counts as sole input and few parameters. Several parameterizations of two possible distributions are calibrated at multiple spatial resolutions using a satellite-derived burned area map, and compared. The tapered Pareto model most accurately simulates the total area burnt (only 3.5 km2 larger than the recorded 16 387 km²) and its spatial distribution. When tested pan-tropically using MODIS MCD14ML fire counts, the model accurately predicts temporal and spatial fire trends, but produces generally higher estimates than the GFED3.1 burnt area product, suggesting higher pan-tropical carbon emissions from fires than previously estimated. [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]

High-resolution mapping of tropical forest carbon stocks can assist forest management and improve implementation of large-scale carbon retention and enhancement programs. Previous high-resolution approaches have relied on field plot and/or Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) samples of aboveground carbon density, which are typically upscaled to larger geographic areas using stratification maps. Such efforts often rely on detailed vegetation maps to stratify the region for sampling, but existing tropical forest maps are often too coarse and field plots too sparse for high resolution carbon assessments. We developed a top-down approach for high-resolution carbon mapping in a 16.5 million ha region (>40 %) of the Colombian Amazon -- a remote landscape seldom documented. We report on three advances for large-scale carbon mapping: (I) employing a universal approach to airborne LiDAR-calibration with limited field data; (ii) quantifying environmental controls over carbon densities; and (iii) developing stratification- and regression-based approaches for scaling up to regions outside of LiDAR coverage. We found that carbon stocks are predicted by a combination of satellite-derived elevation, fractional canopy cover and terrain ruggedness, allowing upscaling of the LiDAR samples to the full 16.5 million ha region. LiDAR-derived carbon mapping samples had 14.6% uncertainty at 1 ha resolution, and regional maps based on stratification and regression approaches had 25.6% and 29.6% uncertainty, respectively, in any given hectare. High-resolution approaches with reported local-scale uncertainties will provide the most confidence for monitoring changes in tropical forest carbon stocks. Improved confidence will allow resource managers and decisionmakers to more rapidly and effectively implement actions that better conserve and utilize forests in tropical regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

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]

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 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]

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]

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]

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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]

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]

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]

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]

Here we offer a brief introduction to this special issue on argument-encoding systems of the little-known languages of Bolivian Amazonia, a region extremely rich linguistically. After providing some information on the sociolinguistic settings and the history of linguistic research in this area, we focus on the domain of argument-encoding systems in those languages and show how very diverse types of systems are found in languages spoken in very close proximity, including hierarchical/inverse cross-referencing systems, ergative systems, and split-intransitive systems. We also point to a number of typologically and theoretically interesting phenomena found in these languages, such as fluid transitivity. double-object ditransitive constructions, and rare valency-changing derivations such as multiple applicatives and sociative causatives. [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]

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 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.)

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.)

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]

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.)

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]

This article reviews the main themes-we are here; this is who we are; insurgent citizenship; Amazon Nation-elaborated in this collection of papers on new Amazonian geographies, and extends their implications to ideas about governmentality and regional identity. The article contextualizes the papers in this issue through understanding Amazonia's role in the structuring of the contemporary Brazilian state through resistance to conventional modernist authoritarian development planning, and the creation of current places and politics through the assertion of new forms of citizenship, identity, governance and the rise of socio-environmentalisms as part of a new 'statecraft' from below. Modern Amazonia has reasserted itself by developing a set of alternative epistemes and practices which can be seen, in their language and ideologies, to invoke the idea of the 'Amazon nation.' This article emphasizes the cultural underpinnings of these processes in a contested Amazon that is now a major supplier of global agricultural commodities in its deforested landscapes, and pivotal for local livelihoods and planetary environmental services in its forested ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common stereotypes of a homogeneous Amazonia belie the complexity and diversity of peoples and landscapes across the region. Although often invisible to the outside world, diverse peoples-indigenous, traditional, migrant, urban dwellers and others-actively construct their identities and shape cultural and political landscapes in diverse ways throughout the region. This volume combines political ecology, with its emphasis on identity, politics, and social movements, with insights from cultural geography's focus on landscapes, identities and livelihoods, to explore the changing nature of Amazonian development. These papers focus on indigenous identity and cosmology; changing livelihoods and identities; and transboundary landscapes. They highlight the diversity of proactive, place-based social and political actors who increasingly raise their voices to contest and engage with Amazon development policies. Based on their history, social values, and livelihood practices, such groups propose alternative ways of understanding and managing Amazonian landscapes. [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]

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.)

The Amazon River, its huge basin, and the changes in biological processes that are rapidly occurring in this region are unquestionably of global significance. Hence, Global Change Biology is delighted to host a special thematic issue devoted to the Large-scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazônia (LBA), which is a multinational, interdisciplinary research program led by Brazil. The goal of LBA is no less modest than its subject: to understand how Amazônia functions as a regional entity in the Earth system and how these functions are changing as a result of ongoing changes in land use. This compilation of 26 papers resulting from LBA-related research covers a broad range of topics: forest stocks of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N); fluxes of greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds from vegetation, soils and wetlands; mapping and modeling land-use change, fire risk, and soil properties; measuring changes caused by logging, pasturing and cultivating; and new research approaches in meteorology to estimate nocturnal fluxes of C from forests and pastures. Some important new synthesis can be derived from these and other studies. The aboveground biomass of intact Amazonian forests appears to be a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), while the wetlands and soils are a net source of atmospheric methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), respectively. Land-use change has, so far, had only a minor effect on basin-wide emissions of CH4 and N2O, but the net effect of deforestation and reforestation appears to be a significant net release of CO2 to the atmosphere. The sum of the 100-year global warming potentials (GWP) of these annual sources and sinks of CH4, N2O, and CO2 indicate that the Amazonian forest-river system currently may be nearly balanced in terms of the net GWP of these biogenic atmospheric gases. Of course, large uncertainties remain for these estimates, but the papers published here demonstrate tremendous progress, and also large remaining hurdles, in narrowing these uncertainties in our understanding of how Amazônia functions as a regional entity in the Earth system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important goal of regional development in the Brazilian Amazon was to enhance social welfare and alleviate dire poverty in other parts of the country by providing land to the poor. Nevertheless, both poverty and landlessness have persisted despite development policies that distributed billions of dollars on highway construction, loans, and outright subsidies. Inequitable land distribution has been held as a prime factor in land conflict across the country. Although episodes of conflict over land are common in Brazilian history, this paper focuses on agrarian issues that arose with the opening of the Amazon frontier in the 1970s. The paper presents a political economy approach that considers the role of hierarchical forces interacting across spatial scales, in creating conditions ripe for land conflict at the local level. The premise is that the Brazilian government, intending to bring about economic and social development, promoted contradictory strategies creating land scarcity. These strategies led to expansion of large ranching operations, creation of conservation units, and demarcation of indigenous reserves, which constrained the pool of land available for small farmer settlement. Empirical analysis employing regression and spatial statistics is used to test the proposed model, advancing previous efforts by applying spatial regression, incorporating improved indicators of conflict and explanatory variables generated by a Geographic Information System (GIS). The findings provide support for some elements of the argument, demonstrating statistically significant relationships between land conflict and land concentration, cattle ranching, and road construction. Finally, a case study analysis of a county in the heart of the land conflict zone is provided, illustrating the interaction of scalar forces, and the articulation of land conflict at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the current relevance of the set of variables reported in the literature as driving deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. The analysis uses a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model adapted to capture regional economic structures and the environmental processes specific to tropical areas. The paper compares the impact on deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon of changes in real exchange rate; modifications in agricultural tax and support policies, reductions in transportation costs arising from investment in infrastructure in the Amazon, changes in land tenure regimes; and technological change in agriculture affecting productivity and agronomic sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]