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Windthrow (i.e., trees broken and uprooted by wind) is a major natural disturbance in Amazon forests. Images from medium-resolution optical satellites combined with extensive field data have allowed researchers to assess patterns of windthrow tree-mortality and to monitor forest recovery over decades of succession in different regions. Although satellites with high spatial-resolution have become available in the last decade, they have not yet been employed for the quantification of windthrow tree-mortality. Here, we address how increasing the spatial resolution of satellites affects plot-to-landscape estimates of windthrow tree-mortality. We combined forest inventory data with Landsat 8 (30 m pixel), Sentinel 2 (10 m), and WorldView 2 (2 m) imagery over an old-growth forest in the Central Amazon that was disturbed by a single windthrow event in November 2015. Remote sensing estimates of windthrow tree-mortality were produced from Spectral Mixture Analysis and evaluated with forest inventory data (i.e., ground true) by using Generalized Linear Models. Field measured windthrow tree-mortality (3 transects and 30 subplots) crossing the entire disturbance gradient was 26.9 ± 11.1% (mean ± 95% CI). Although the three satellites produced reliable and statistically similar estimates (from 26.5% to 30.3%, p < 0.001), Landsat 8 had the most accurate results and efficiently captured field-observed variations in windthrow tree-mortality across the entire gradient of disturbance (Sentinel 2 and WorldView 2 produced the second and third best results, respectively). As expected, mean-associated uncertainties decreased systematically with increasing spatial resolution (i.e., from Landsat 8 to Sentinel 2 and WorldView 2). However, the overall quality of model fits showed the opposite pattern. We suggest that this reflects the influence of a relatively minor disturbance, such as defoliation and crown damage, and the fast growth of natural regeneration, which were not measured in the field nor can be captured by coarser resolution imagery. Our results validate the reliability of Landsat imagery for assessing plot-to-landscape patterns of windthrow tree-mortality in dense and heterogeneous tropical forests. Satellites with high spatial resolution can improve estimates of windthrow severity by allowing the quantification of crown damage and mortality of lower canopy and understory trees. However, this requires the validation of remote sensing metrics using field data at compatible scales.

Brazil has a vast reserve of natural forests that belong to the state; hence, the state is responsible for supplying native wood to the market. However, the management in public forests has only begun recently; thus, much research is needed to know about its profitability. This study analyzed the financial feasibility of public forest management by addressing the following aspects: state concession, federal concession, and community forest management. We used the Net Present Value, Annual Equivalent Value, and Average Cost of Production methods to assess financial feasibility and applied the Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the probability of occurrence of NPV values. Community forest management showed profitability and a low occurrence of positive NPV values. The initial subsidies and the absence of royalty payments contributed to their good financial performance. The state and federal forest concessions showed financial unfeasibility and a low probability of profitability, which were justified by a low harvested volume of forest management, a high number of hollow individuals with small dimensions, poor volume estimates, and a high occurrence of species with low commercial values. Financial viability is a critical aspect of public forest management, and the achievement of good results depends on the consideration of several factors and aspects of public forests. Characteristics such as species composition, the distance between the managed areas, and the place of consumption must be considered. Areas that are not financially viable in the current period can be considered for future management and maintenance.

Amazon forests account for ~25% of global land biomass and tropical tree species. In these forests, windthrows (i.e., snapped and uprooted trees) are a major natural disturbance, but the rates and mechanisms of recovery are not known. To provide a predictive framework for understanding the effects of windthrows on forest structure and functional composition (DBH ≥10 cm), we quantified biomass recovery as a function of windthrow severity (i.e., fraction of windthrow tree mortality on Landsat pixels, ranging from 0%-70%) and time since disturbance for terra-firme forests in the Central Amazon. Forest monitoring allowed insights into the processes and mechanisms driving the net biomass change (i.e., increment minus loss) and shifts in functional composition. Windthrown areas recovering for between 4-27 years had biomass stocks as low as 65.2-91.7 Mg/ha or 23%-38% of those in nearby undisturbed forests (~255.6 Mg/ha, all sites). Even low windthrow severities (4%-20% tree mortality) caused decadal changes in biomass stocks and structure. While rates of biomass increment in recovering vegetation were nearly double (6.3 ± 1.4 Mg ha-1  year-1 ) those of undisturbed forests (~3.7 Mg ha-1  year-1 ), biomass loss due to post-windthrow mortality was high (up to -7.5 ± 8.7 Mg ha-1  year-1 , 8.5 years since disturbance) and unpredictable. Consequently, recovery to 90% of "pre-disturbance" biomass takes up to 40 years. Resprouting trees contributed little to biomass recovery. Instead, light-demanding, low-density genera (e.g., Cecropia, Inga, Miconia, Pourouma, Tachigali, and Tapirira) were favored, resulting in substantial post-windthrow species turnover. Shifts in functional composition demonstrate that windthrows affect the resilience of live tree biomass by favoring soft-wooded species with shorter life spans that are more vulnerable to future disturbances. As the time required for forests to recover biomass is likely similar to the recurrence interval of windthrows triggering succession, windthrows have the potential to control landscape biomass/carbon dynamics and functional composition in Amazon forests.

Amazon forests account for ~25% of global land biomass and tropical tree species. In these forests, windthrows (i.e., snapped and uprooted trees) are a major natural disturbance, but the rates and mechanisms of recovery are not known. To provide a predictive framework for understanding the effects of windthrows on forest structure and functional composition (DBH ≥10 cm), we quantified biomass recovery as a function of windthrow severity (i.e., fraction of windthrow tree mortality on Landsat pixels, ranging from 0%-70%) and time since disturbance for terra-firme forests in the Central Amazon. Forest monitoring allowed insights into the processes and mechanisms driving the net biomass change (i.e., increment minus loss) and shifts in functional composition. Windthrown areas recovering for between 4-27 years had biomass stocks as low as 65.2-91.7 Mg/ha or 23%-38% of those in nearby undisturbed forests (~255.6 Mg/ha, all sites). Even low windthrow severities (4%-20% tree mortality) caused decadal changes in biomass stocks and structure. While rates of biomass increment in recovering vegetation were nearly double (6.3 ± 1.4 Mg ha- 1  year- 1 ) those of undisturbed forests (~3.7 Mg ha- 1  year- 1 ), biomass loss due to post-windthrow mortality was high (up to -7.5 ± 8.7 Mg ha- 1  year- 1 , 8.5 years since disturbance) and unpredictable. Consequently, recovery to 90% of "pre-disturbance" biomass takes up to 40 years. Resprouting trees contributed little to biomass recovery. Instead, light-demanding, low-density genera (e.g., Cecropia, Inga, Miconia, Pourouma, Tachigali, and Tapirira) were favored, resulting in substantial post-windthrow species turnover. Shifts in functional composition demonstrate that windthrows affect the resilience of live tree biomass by favoring soft-wooded species with shorter life spans that are more vulnerable to future disturbances. As the time required for forests to recover biomass is likely similar to the recurrence interval of windthrows triggering succession, windthrows have the potential to control landscape biomass/carbon dynamics and functional composition in Amazon forests.

The identification of tree species in the field is often a subjective process and misidentifications cause many problems for forest management in the Amazon Forest. Near infrared spectra from dried leaves of herbarium specimens are able to distinguish species in tropical forests. However, toolsto improve species identification directly in the field are needed. In this study, we tested whether spectral reflectance of bark tissues (rhytidome and phloem) collected with a portable spectrometer in the field can be used for the discrimination of tree species. Spectral data was collected for 254 trees of 8 families, 10 genera and 11 species from terra firme forests in Central Amazon with an ASD field spectrometer. Data consisted of reflectance values within 350–2500 nm wavelengths. We compared the rate of correct species recognition for different datasets using linear discriminant models. The rate of correct species assignment using this technique was 98% when using spectra from the inner bark (phloem) and 94% with outer bark (rhytidome) spectra. We suggest that the application of this technique can improve the quality of species identification directly during field inventories, fostering better forest management practices.

The policy of payments for environmental services is implemented in public policies in Brazil, and there are many efforts to increase projects that subsidize rural producers, combining payments with incentives for good agricultural practices that promote these services. Thinking about ways to add these values in projects to restore degraded areas is an opportunity to generate monetary benefits for producers and attractiveness for stakeholders, aiming to increase investments in projects of this nature and gain scale in the restoration of these areas. In this way, this study evaluated the financial viability of a project to implement 16.9 hectares of agroforestry systems in agrarian reform settlements located in the Descoberto HydrographicBasin near Brasília, Federal District, and the proposition of a scenario of payment for environmental services associated with adoption of this agricultural practice by producers. The results were promising for both investors and farmers, as demonstrated by the financial analysis criteria (NPV: USD 63,097.49, IRR: 71%, simple payback: 3 years). The PES scenario was even more attractive, proving to be an encouraging increase for the adoption of this practice by producers.

Purpose: This article reports on the effectiveness of a novel tablet-based approach to phonological intervention and compares it to a traditional tabletop approach, targeting children with phonologically based speech sound disorders (SSD). Method: Twenty-two Portuguese children with phonologically based SSD were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 interventions, tabletop or tablet (11 children in each group), and received intervention based on the same activities, with the only difference being the delivery. All children were treated by the same speech-language pathologist over 2 blocks of 6 weekly sessions, for 12 sessions of intervention. Participants were assessed at 3 time points: baseline; pre-intervention, after a 3-month waiting period; and post-intervention. Outcome measures included percentage of consonants correct, percentage of vowels correct, and percentage of phonemes correct. A generalization of target sounds was also explored. Results: Both tabletop and tablet-based interventions were effective in improving percentage of consonants correct and percentage of phonemes correct scores, with an intervention effect only evident for percentage of vowels correct in the tablet group. Change scores across both interventions were significantly greater after the intervention, compared to baseline, indicating that the change was due to the intervention. High levels of generalization (60% and above for the majority of participants) were obtained across both tabletop and tablet groups. Conclusions: The software proved to be as effective as a traditional tabletop approach in treating children with phonologically based SSD. These findings provide new evidence regarding the use of digital materials in improving speech in children with SSD.

RESUMO O presente artigo configura-se como um estudo teórico-conceitual que integra duas pesquisas desenvolvidas, respectivamente, em nível de doutorado e de pós-doutorado em Educação. O texto tem por objetivo compreender a inclusão e o letramento digital do idoso, a partir da perspectiva da educação ao longo da vida, fundamentada na acepção humanista do conceito. O exponencial avanço tecnológico e o crescimento da população de pessoas idosas no Brasil e no mundo tornam pungente a necessidade de discutir a inclusão digital dessa faixa etária, bem como a ideia de uma educação que perdure durante todo o processo de viver. A inclusão digital impacta diretamente o pleno exercício da cidadania dos sujeitos sociais contemporâneos, uma vez que as linguagens hipermidiáticas do ciberespaço permeiam várias práticas sociais. Nesse contexto, o artigo propõe uma discussão entre quatro conceitos, a saber: aprendizagem ao longo da vida, inclusão digital, letramento digital e empoderamento (na acepção freiriana do termo). Considera-se que a inclusão digital é uma das facetas da inclusão social do idoso, pelo seu relevante papel na conquista da sua autonomia e do pleno exercício da cidadania. Os conceitos ora apresentados – letramento digital do idoso, aprendizagem ao longo da vida e empoderamento – buscam fornecer argumentos conceituais para melhor compreender as possíveis contribuições da inclusão digital, em uma sociedade marcada pelo fortalecimento das linguagens hipermidiáticas junto às práticas sociais contemporâneas. Palavras-chave: Idoso. Inclusão Digital. Letramento Digital. Educação ao Longa da Vida. Empoderamento. ABSTRACT This article is configured as a theoretical-conceptual study, which integrates two researchers developed at the doctoral and post-doctoral level in Education. The text aims to understand digital literacy from the perspective of lifelong education, based on the humanistic perspective of the concept. The exponential technological advance and the growth of the population of elderly people in Brazil and in the world make the need to discuss the digital inclusion of this age group, as well as the idea of an education that lasts throughout the process of living. Digital inclusion directly impacts the full exercise of citizenship by contemporary social subjects, since the hypermedia languages of cyberspace permeate a lot of social practices. In this context, the article seeks discussion between four concepts: lifelong learning, digital inclusion, digital literacy and empowerment (in the freiriana sense of the term). It is considered that digital inclusion is understood as one of the facets of the social inclusion of the elderly, due to its relevant role, in the achievement of their autonomy and their full exercise of citizenship. The concepts presented here - digital literacy of the elderly, lifelong learning and empowerment - seek to provide conceptual arguments to better understand the possible contributions of digital inclusion, in a society marked by the strengthening of hypermedia languages along with contemporary social practices. Keywords: Elderly. Digital inclusion. Digital Literacy. Lifelong Education. Empowerment.