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Learning to question is essential for determining pathways of conservation and development in southwestern Amazonia during a time of rapid global environmental change. Teaching such an approach in graduate science programs in regional universities can be done using play-acting and simulation exercises. Multiple working hypotheses help students learn to question their own research results and expert witnesses. The method of successive approximations enables students to question the results of complex calculations, such as estimates of forest biomass. Balloons and rolls of toilet paper provide means of questioning two-dimensional representations of a three-dimensional Earth and the value of pi. Generation of systematic errors can illustrate the pitfalls of blind acceptance of data. While learning to question is essential, it is insufficient by itself; students must also learn how to be solutionologists in order to satisfy societal demands for solutions to environmental problems. A little irreverence can be an excellent didactic tool for helping students develop the skills necessary to lead conservation and development efforts in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco 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.)

Despite extensive research on unsaturated soil behavior in recent decades, the field of transportation engineering still lacks technically and economically feasible methods for identifying expansive soils along roads, particularly in regions with limited laboratory infrastructure that are distant from developed areas in Brazil. This situation is particularly evident in the state of Acre, located in the southwest of the Brazilian Amazon, where the subgrade predominantly consists of fine, plastic soils and faces challenges of limited availability of crushed stone and high precipitation levels. The volumetric variation of expansive soils in Acre has resulted in significant financial losses and has affected the lives of the local population. This paper proposes a simplified method for the preliminary identification of expansive clays, which is based on geotechnical characterization tests that can be performed at local laboratories. The proposed method utilizes the correlation between the plasticity index (PI) and silt/clay content to determine ranges that express the highest probability of occurrence of soils susceptible to shrink-swell behavior. This method was developed by correlating geotechnical parameters of 321 samples from EMBRAPA's SiSolos database with a geotechnical database of 100 local samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Biology is the property of Instituto Internacional de Ecologia 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.)

Amazon tropical forests and the semiarid Northeast Brazil (NEB) region have registered very severe droughts during the last two decades, with a frequency that may have exceeded natural climate variability. Severe droughts impact the physiological response of Amazon forests, decreasing the availability to absorb atmospheric CO2, as well as biodiversity and increasing risk of fires. Droughts on this region also affect population by isolating them due to anomalous low river levels. Impacts of droughts over NEB region are related to water and energy security and subsistence agriculture. Most drought episodes over Amazonia and NEB are associated with El Niño (EN) events, anomalous warming over the Tropical North Atlantic (TNA), and even an overlapping among them. However, not all the dry episodes showed a large‐scale pattern linked to a canonical EN event or warm TNA episodes. For instance, dry episodes linked to EN events present distinct spatial patterns of precipitation anomalies depending on EN type (Central‐Pacific vs. Eastern‐Pacific EN), and NEB region experienced a severe drought in 2012 that is not attributed to EN or warm TNA events. Even in the case of the strong EN in 2015/16, some regional impacts have not been explained by EN contribution. This paper discusses the effects of CP and EP EN events, and the role of warm TNA events on tropical Walker and Hadley circulation leading to drought over Amazonia and NEB regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

This research aims to contribute to the discussion of ceramic objects found at the Monte Castelo shellmound, an archaeological site located at south-west Amazonia, Brazil. This paper provides the results of a preliminary characterization of eighty-four pottery samples using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and dating by thermoluminescence (TL). The results showed the existence of three different chemical groups whose dates range from 3000 to 1500 BP. confirming changes in clay sources during that period. These results agree with previous studies about the technological changes and continuities in the Bacabal phase, one of the oldest ceramic cultures of South America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Copyright of Journal of Latin American Studies is the property of Cambridge University Press 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.)

Based on the ethnographic example of the Panara, a Ge-group in central Brazil, this paper examines the significance of vision and visibility. For Ge-speaking groups it has been suggested that while hearing and speaking are socially privileged faculties, contributing to the mature status of an individual, seeing has been considered to be an anti-social faculty and is largely associated with the exercise of negative mystical power. While not wishing to deny the appropriateness of this association, I argue that seeing and being seen, as well as the particular visual qualities of phenomena play an important role in an Amazonian lived world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios y Perspectivas en Turismo is the property of Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Turisticos 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 aims to calculate and to analyze a rural development index for the municipalities of Pará state, Brazil. The index was calculated by the factor analysis method. The variables used in the model were retrieved from the 2000 and 2010 population census; Human Development Atlas - UNDP (2013), and census of agriculture (2006). The results unveiled that most of the municipalities of Para presented low rural development index values. The greater is the isolation and the difficulty to access the areas, the worse it is the infrastructure found in those rural areas. Colonization of new areas was not followed by the implementation of services and the required infrastructure to provide life quality for both native and the migratory population that installed in the rural areas of Para state, Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We investigated a likely scenario of COVID-19 spreading in Brazil through the complex airport network of the country, for the 90 days after the first national occurrence of the disease. After the confirmation of the first imported cases, the lack of a proper airport entrance control resulted in the infection spreading in a manner directly proportional to the amount of flights reaching each city, following the first occurrence of the virus coming from abroad. Methodology: We developed a Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model divided in a metapopulation structure, where cities with airports were demes connected by the number of flights. Subsequently, we further explored the role of the Manaus airport for a rapid entrance of the pandemic into indigenous territories situated in remote places of the Amazon region. Results: The expansion of the SARS-CoV-2 virus between cities was fast, directly proportional to the city closeness centrality within the Brazilian air transportation network. There was a clear pattern in the expansion of the pandemic, with a stiff exponential expansion of cases for all the cities. The more a city showed closeness centrality, the greater was its vulnerability to SARS-CoV-2. Conclusions: We discussed the weak pandemic control performance of Brazil in comparison with other tropical, developing countries, namely India and Nigeria. Finally, we proposed measures for containing virus spreading taking into consideration the scenario of high poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Brazilian social context, characterized by the enormous ethnic-racial, cultural, religious, and identity diversity, where occurs certain invisibility of the Jews in the national culture and especially in the Amazonian society, it is relevant to research the presence of Jews in Brazil. As in other parts of the country, Amazon was also marked by the arrival of this ethnic-religious community. To understand their historical trajectory, identity, symbolic representations, religious traditions, and practices requires a multidisciplinary approach involving the history, sociology, anthropology, theology, and religious studies. From a literature review, the objective of this paper is to understand the coexistence, the articulation with the local religiosity, and the strengthening of the cultural elements that permeate the Jewish identity and the meaning that the Amazonian populations attribute to the culture, symbols and religious rites of the Yehudei Amazonya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fronteira: Revista de Iniciacao Cientifica em Relacoes Internacionais is the property of Instituto de Ciencias Sociais, Departmento de Relacoes Internacionais, PUC Minas 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 Revista FSA is the property of Revista FSA (Faculdade Santo Agostinho) 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.)

Current paper analyzes the southern frontier of the state of Pará and the northern territory of the state of Maranhão, Brazil, close to the river Turiaçu and assesses its importance for the displacement of people and goods during Portuguese colonial rule and in the post-1822 Independence years. The paper investigates the strategic and political relevance of the frontier for travel and transport, correspondence and transport of goods within the context of the Brazilian Indigenes, merchants and the Portuguese and Brazilian governments. The conflicts between inhabitants and settlers are highlighted in the essay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An established body of literature documents current changes in rural livelihoods, agricultural practices, and agrobiodiversity patterns in smallholder communities across the globe. Contributing to this literature, this paper documents change in agricultural practices and agrobiodiversity patterns in a tidal floodplain settlement in Amapá, Brazil, where in recent years farmers increasingly devote their attention to the production of açaí fruits, an important regional crop with strong local, national and international markets. Research results indicate that farmers are abandoning subsistence production in annual fields to make room for açaí-dominated agroforests. At the same time, farmers are diversifying home gardens, and as a result conserve a portion of the crop diversity once maintained in annual fields in these areas. Agrobiodiversity documented in home gardens is much higher than previously recorded in the study area, and is equal or higher than previously reported in home gardens in other less-market integrated Amazonian communities. Research points to the need for innovative methods to document agrobiodiversity patterns in today’s modifying landscapes and for the historical analysis of such patterns to avoid presumptions that observed changes are unilateral and unidirectional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main pioneer frontier considered by geographers is the Amazonian pioneer frontier. The occupation of the Brazilian territory has been carried out through successive economic cycles. Currently, the expansion of soybean crops in Amazonia is considered as the last economic cycle involving new migrations to still unexplored areas. Mapping this frontier is necessary in order to better understand its drivers and think about efficient land use policies to struggle its progress. In this paper, we propose an innovative methodology for mapping the agricultural frontier in the Amazonian state of Mato Grosso (Brazil) using satellite data acquired during the 2000-2006 period. We assume that the frontier evolves through successive land-use stages such as wildlands, non-croplands, extensive croplands and intensive croplands areas. The transitions between two stages can then be monitored through land-use change analysis. A particular emphasis is given on three land-use transitions named 'deforestation', 'economic' and 'intensification sub-frontiers'. In order to adapt this model for the use of remote sensing data, we defined (1) a relevant spatial scale corresponding to an agrarian locality, (2) relevant indices to qualify the land-use types and (3) rules applied on land-use types to define the frontier's location. Our results highlight the dynamic of the agricultural frontier towards northern areas. We identified four main agricultural regions with different levels of agricultural intensification. We finally discuss these results with respect to governmental policies and economics for a better understanding of the frontier's dynamic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cattle ranchers are often presented as the wealthy, violent, and environmentally destructive villains of Amazonia. Ranchers in the state of Acre, Brazil, are viewed in a particularly negative light, due to their perceived association with the assassination of 'rainforest martyr' Chico Mendes in 1988. The objective of this paper is to increase our understanding of this enigmatic, powerful group through an ethnographic description of ranchers in relation to features of their villain label: elite status and environmental destruction. Drawing on 18 months of fieldwork with Acrean ranchers and other rural groups, I analyze the ways in which the ranchers conform to and challenge classification as an elite group in relation to economic and political power, describe how rancher status is constructed and expressed in social situations, and compare the extent to which other rural social groups agree with perceptions of the ranchers. Understanding the ranchers' perspective, especially with regard to environmental debates, requires an examination of how they perceive their work in relation to history and ideology, and how they have adapted the term to defend their interests and engage current political debates centered on environmental preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the relations between men's sacred music played on kagutu flutes and women's tolo songs among the Carib-speaking Kuikuro of Central Brazil. The research for this paper is part of a multi-year documentation of the Upper Xingu Carib language being done by the Kuikuro themselves, with non-indigenous researchers serving as consultants. The men's kagutu flutes and their music are regarded as highly powerful and potentially dangerous, and women are strictly forbidden from seeing these musical instruments. Women's tolo songs are said to "imitate" the melodies of the men's flute music, yet this process of "imitation" is full of irony and tricksterish deceit, especially when women are singing of their lovers. Women say that they are "lying" when they are singing tolo. Building on Ellen Basso and Bruna Franchetto's works on the indigenous concept of auN (deceitful speech), the paper explores asymmetries and complementarity between genders through analysis of the musical and poetic dimensions of relations between the music of men's sacred kagutu flute and women's tolo singing. Sound is a crucial link not only between humans and spirit-beings but also between male andfemale social domains. Kagutu and tolo form a trans-ritual system in which a relation between spirits and men and women is established. While kagutu music is conceived as afaithful and subo rdinate reproduction ofitseke (spirit-being) songs by men, tolo songs, by means of their creative poetics and musical power's bring women into a kind of competitive relation with itseke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Brasileira de Biociencias is the property of Revista Brasileira de Biociencias 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 rain forest may undergo significant change in response to future climate change. To determine the likelihood and causes of such changes, the authors analyzed the output of 24 models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) and a dynamic vegetation model, Vegetation-Global-Atmosphere-Soil (VEGAS), driven by these climate output. Their results suggest that the core of the Amazon rain forest should remain largely stable because rainfall in the core of the basin is projected to increase in nearly all models. However, the periphery, notably the southern edge of Amazonia and farther south into central Brazil (SAB), is in danger of drying out, driven by two main processes. First, a decline in precipitation of 11%% during the southern Amazonia's dry season (May-September) reduces soil moisture. Two dynamical mechanisms may explain the forecast reduction in dry season rainfall: 1) a general subtropical drying under global warming when the dry season southern Amazon basin is under the control of subtropical high pressure and 2) a stronger north-south tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature gradient and, to a lesser degree, a warmer eastern equatorial Pacific. The drying corresponds to a lengthening of the dry season by approximately 10 days. The decline in soil moisture occurs despite an increase in precipitation during the wet season, because of nonlinear responses in hydrology associated with the decline in dry season precipitation, ecosystem dynamics, and an increase in evaporative demand due to the general warming. In terms of ecosystem response, higher maintenance cost and reduced productivity under warming may also have additional adverse impact. Although the IPCC models have substantial intermodel variation in precipitation change, these latter two hydroecological effects are highly robust because of the general warming simulated by all models. As a result, when forced by these climate projections, a dynamic vegetation model VEGAS projects an enhancement of fire risk by 20%%-30%% in the SAB region. Fire danger reaches its peak in Amazonia during the dry season, and this danger is expected to increase primarily because of the reduction in soil moisture and the decrease in dry season rainfall. VEGAS also projects a reduction of about 0.77 in leaf area index (LAI) over the SAB region. The vegetation response may be partially mediated by the CO2 fertilization effect, because a sensitivity experiment without CO2 fertilization shows a higher 0.89 decrease in LAI. Southern Amazonia is currently under intense human influence as a result of deforestation and land-use change. Should this direct human impact continue at present rates, added pressure to the region's ecosystems from climate change may subject the region to profound changes in the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Patrimônio e Memória is the property of Centro de Documentacao e Apoio a Pesquisa 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.)

Recent discussions on REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, plus conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks) have raised optimism about reducing carbon emissions and deforestation in tropical countries. If approved under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), REDD+ mechanisms may generate a substantial influx of financial resources to developing countries. Some authors argue that this money could reverse the ongoing process of decentralization of forest policies that has spread through a large number of developing countries in the past two decades. Central states will be accountable for REDD+ money, and may be compelled to control and keep a significant share of REDD+ funds. Supporters of decentralization argue that centralized implementation of REDD+ will be ineffective and inefficient. In this paper, I examine the relation between subnational governments and REDD+ in Brazil. Data show that some state governments in the Brazilian Amazon have played a key role in creating protected areas (PAs) after 2003, which helped decrease deforestation rates. Governors have different stimuli for creating PAs. Some respond to the needs of their political constituency; others have expectations to boost the forest sector so as to increase fiscal revenues. Governors also have led the discussion on REDD+ in Brazil since 2008. Considering their interests and political power, REDD+ is unlikely to curb decentralization in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Patrimônio e Memória is the property of Centro de Documentacao e Apoio a Pesquisa 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 Brazilian Journal of Applied Economics / Economía Aplicada is the property of FEA-RP, Universidade de Sao Paulo 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 present paper describes the contentious process of settlement formation of a particular type of land reform settlement, which we call "spontaneous" direct action land reform. In addition, the paper place the settlement formation process within a land cover and land use framework by describing the underlying processes that lead to spontaneous settlement formation in terra devoluta in the Brazilian Amazon. The paper concludes with policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we describe band-recovery data from 90 ospreys (Pandion haliaetus), banded in North America and recovered in Brazil between 1937 and 2006. Data were obtained from the Bird Banding Laboratory (US Geological Survey, USA) and from the Centro Nacional de Pesquisa para Conservacao das Aves Silvestres (IBAMA, Brazil). The majority of ospreys were banded near the coast in Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. The birds were mainly recovered in Brazilian Amazonian states of Amazonas and Para, near large rivers. The bulk of recoveries were of birds shot less than one year after banding. Distances from banding and recovery sites were between 4191 and 7722 km. Elapsed time between banding and recapture were between 50 and 9752 days. We described in this study one of the oldest band returns, and we report the first osprey band recoveries for four Brazilian States (Paraiba, Ceara, Rondonia, and Tocantins). The importance of Brazil for ospreys, mainly Amazonian sites, needs to be emphasized in educational programs and considered in international conservation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore the relationship between indigenous populations and urban spaces through a case study centrered on the Marubo, a Panoan-speaking people of the Vale do Javari indigenous reservation (Amazonas state, Brazil). The paper investigates the shamanistic and mythological backgrounds mobilized in the comprehension of cities, spacial displacements and relations with alterity. Through the recent contributions of lowland south-american ethnology, this study offers parameters to the analysis of conceptual problems related to the crossing of indigenous and non-indigenous pressupositions about territories, change and difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociología del Trabajo is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid 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 Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural 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 Biotropica is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Environmental destruction caused by fires threatens to forever change the ecological composition of tropical rainforests. Researchers have addressed the role of drought and logging on fire propagation and the ecological consequences of fires. Nevertheless, little is known about its human dimensions. This lack of information is of concern because it represents a real and important gap in our own understanding about a major global change factor. This paper attempts to partly redress this shortcoming by presenting a pilot study that considers the importance of farming systems and social capital to the mitigation or exacerbation of fire in Amazonia. The paper explores the theoretical connection between social capital and fire contagion, and presents results from a pilot study examining such links. This study combines satellite data analysis and data on community organization derived from household surveys in the municipio of Uruará in the State of Pará, Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We summarize early research on land-cover, land-use, and biophysical properties of vegetation from the Large Scale Biosphere Atmosphere (LBA) experiment in Amazoˆnia. LBA is an international research program developed to evaluate regional function and to determine how land-use and climate modify biological, chemical and physical processes there. Remote sensing has played a fundamental role in LBA in research planning, land-cover mapping and in long-term monitoring of changes in land-cover and land-use at multiple scales. This special issue includes 12 papers that cover a range in spatial scales from regional mapping to local scales that cover only a portion of a Landsat scene. Several themes dominate, including land-cover mapping with an emphasis on wetlands and second-growth forest, evaluation of pasture sustainability and forest degradation and the impact of land-cover change on stream chemistry. New techniques introduced include automated Monte Carlo unmixing (AutoMCU) and several new approaches for mapping land-cover. A diversity of sensors are utilized, including ETM+, IKONOS, SPOT-4, Airborne P-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and L-band SAR. Census data are fused with an existing land-cover map to generate spatially explicit estimates of land-use from historical data. Several papers include important, new field measures of species composition, forest structure and biomass in mature forest and secondary succession. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The division between rural and urban sectors of the landscape in many parts of the world is increasingly blurred. House-lot or homegardens offer a perspective on understanding rural-urban linkages since they are frequently a landscape feature in both settings and the exchanges of their products link the two. House-lot gardens are an under-researched component of the agricultural repertoires of smallholders in many parts of the world. Urban house-lot gardens in particular, have until recently not received much attention despite their critical importance to urban livelihoods. This paper presents findings from research on house-lot gardens in rural and urban zones of Santarém, Pará, Brazil, one of Amazonia's largest municipalities. The research demonstrates that garden products are important for household subsistence, but even more importantly product exchanges between rural and urban kin households help sustain critical social networks that subsidize urban life. Gardens are a link between urban and rural settings as products, germplasm, and household members move between the two. People are urban and rural at the same time which demonstrates that households can be multi-local. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil's Tucuruí Dam provides valuable lessons for improving decision-making on major public works in Amazonia and elsewhere. Together with social impacts, which were reviewed in a companion paper, the project's environmental costs are substantial. Monetary costs include costs of construction and maintenance and opportunity costs of natural resources (such as timber) and of the money invested by the Brazilian government. Environmental costs include forest loss, leading to both loss of natural ecosystems and to greenhouse gas emissions. Aquatic ecosystems are heavily affected by the blockage of fish migration and by creation of anoxic environments. Decay of vegetation left in the reservoir creates anoxic water that can corrode turbines, as well as producing methane and providing conditions for methylation of mercury. Defoliants were considered for removing forest in the submergence area but plans were aborted amid a public controversy. Another controversy surrounded impacts of defoliants used to prevent regrowth along the transmission line. Mitigation measures included archaeological and faunal salvage and creation of a “gene bank” on an island in the reservoir. Decision-making in the case of Tucuruí was virtually uninfluenced by environmental studies, which were done concurrently with construction. The dam predates Brazil's 1986 requirement of an Environmental Impact Assessment. Despite limitations, research results provide valuable information for future dams. Extensive public-relations use of the research effort and of mitigation measures such as faunal salvage were evident. Decision-making was closely linked to the influence of construction firms, the military, and foreign financial interests in both the construction project and the use of the resulting electrical power (most of which is used for aluminum smelting). Social and environmental costs received virtually no consideration when decisions were made, an outcome facilitated by a curtain of secrecy surrounding many aspects of the project. Despite improvements in Brazil's system of environmental impact assessment since the Tucuruí reservoir was filled in 1984, many essential features of the decision-making system remain unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scenario of deforestation in the Amazon may change with the reconstruction of Highway BR-319, a long-distance road that will expand the region's agricultural frontier towards the north and west of the Western Amazon, stretches that until then have extensive areas of primary forest due to the hard access. We simulate the deforestation that would be caused by the reconstruction and paving of Highway BR-319 in Brazil's state of Amazonas for the period from 2021 to 2100. The scenarios were based on the historical dynamics of deforestation in the state of Amazonas (business as usual, or BAU). Two deforestation scenarios were developed: (a) BAU_1, where Highway BR-319 is not reconstructed, maintaining its current status, and (b) BAU_2, where the reconstruction and paving of the highway will take place in 2025, favoring the advance of the deforestation frontier to the northern and western portion of the state of Amazonas. In the scenario where the highway reconstruction is foreseen (BAU_2), the results show that deforestation increased by 60% by 2100 compared to the scenario without reconstruction (BAU_1), demonstrating that paving would increase deforestation beyond the limits of the highway's official buffer area (40 km). The study showed that protected areas (conservation units and indigenous lands) help to maintain forest cover in the Amazon region. At the same time, it shows how studies like this one can help in decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By focusing on the case of the Gurupí River region on the border between the Brazilian states of Maranhão and Pará, this paper will argue for the importance of territoriality and geography in the strategies of fugitive slave communities both before and after abolition. Quilombo inhabitants (quilombolas) in Pará accumulated a knowledge of the land, access to gold deposits, and renowned skill in gold extraction. These assets became a valuable currency and source of political power in their dealings with political and economic actors. Such contacts were crucial for the quilombolas to maintain a certain territorial and political autonomy after abolition. The activities of quilombolas shaped the geographical and political landscape of many rural communities in Brazil well after the abolition of slavery, and they continued to challenge extractive capitalism in defense of their traditional territory. The example of the Gurupí River suggests the importance of understanding the politics of rural black communities through a careful consideration of the role of space and geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amazonia in contemporary academic as well as public discourse is often placed in opposition to modernity, its peoples and environment represented as offering an alternative to modern ways of seeing and being in the world. Through a contemporary and historical consideration of the Brazilian Amazonian town of Belterra, this paper questions such a perspective by emphasizing the complexity of local social and environmental realities as well as the form that outside, modern interventions have taken in the region. The identities of neo-Amazonian populations are also discussed, both in relation to their relative invisibility in anthropological theory and wider political narratives as well as the manner in which their indigeneity is now emerging in local contexts. Overall it is argued that paying attention to social and environmental complexity as well as the hybrid social and cultural forms of the region may offer hope for a shared social and environmental future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that the discourse of palm oil production for biodiesel constitutes a frontier ideology. Around it, the representation of space endowed with comparative advantages is reedited. To do so, it is based on data from the United States Department of Agriculture, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels, the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, and in company reports, as well as interviews with company representatives. In addition to the introduction and conclusion, in the first part examines the palm oil production, consumption and global trade, indicating that it is destined to the food, cosmetics and hygiene industry. The second shows the new frontier ideology promoted by palm oil at the beginning of the 21st century, highlighting the analytical pertinence of this category to interpret territorial dynamics of the Amazonia agrarian space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Amazon forest in the state of Maranhão ensures ecosystem services that directly and indirectly affect the life quality of its population and economy, via hydrologic and climatic regulation, among other benefits. Currently, only 25% of the original forest cover (24.7 thousand km 2 ) remains while illegal deforestation persists in a violent process that provokes visible social, economic and environmental harm. Simultaneously, Maranhão has seen record levels of burning, faces a water shortage and fights against the worst social and economic indicators in the country. Conversely, secondary vegetation covers 19.9 thousand km 2 (27% of deforested area) and is completely unprotected. Contrary to the international commitments assumed by Brazil to combat deforestation and restore forests, some of the political representatives of Maranhão have sought legal mechanisms to further diminish forest cover in public and private areas. To promote the conservation and restoration of Maranhão Amazon Forest, a multi-institutional network of researchers was established in 2015. This viewpoint paper aims to draw attention to this endangered region of the Brazilian Amazon and give science-oriented recommendations to policy makers in order to avoid more setbacks. We argue that Maranhão state must urgently establish a policy of Zero Deforestation, protect secondary forests and comply with the national forest restoration policy, thus ensuring long-term economic sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Copyright of Ambiente & Sociedade is the property of Nepam Unicamp 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 Brazilian Journalism Research is the property of Sur le journalisme, About journalism, Sobre jornalismo 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.)

Artibeus amplus Handley, 1987 is a little-known bat species endemic to northern South America. There are confirmed records of the species for Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname. In this study, we report the occurrence of A. amplus in Brazil based on the collection of two specimens captured in the municipalities of Cantá and Caracaraí in the state of Roraima. We also found a museum specimen from the state of Amazonas. The specimens were identified based on morphology and mitochondrial Cytochrome b gene analysis. After this contribution, the number of bat species in Brazil is 182. Surveys in other areas in the north of the country, such as the state of Pará, in addition to a comprehensive review of museum specimens, is needed to investigate the distribution of the species in areas where it has not been found yet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil hosts a wide range of Odonata species, including many hitherto undescribed ones, especially in remote and unexplored regions where logistics are difficult. The northwestern Brazilian Amazon is an example of this situation, and many locations still need to be sampled there and have their taxonomic inventories compiled. Against this background, this study aimed to survey the Odonata species in the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, located in the extreme northwest of the Western Amazon. The survey was conducted at 11 water bodies, where 67 Odonata species were recorded, including four new records for the state of Amazonas and seven new records for Brazil. Pioneering studies like this are important for enhancing our understanding of the region's biodiversity and contribute to conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rodriguésia is the property of Revista Rodriguesia 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.)