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Changing environmental conditions, including those caused by human activities, reshape biological communities through both loss of native species and establishment of non-native species in the altered habitats. Dynamic interactions with the abiotic environment impact both immigration and initial establishment of non-native species into these altered habitats. The repeated emergence of disease systems in urban areas worldwide highlights the importance of understanding how dynamic migratory processes affect the current and future distribution and abundance of pathogens in urban environments. In this study, we examine the pattern of invasion of Trypanosoma cruzi—the causative agent of human Chagas disease—in the city of Arequipa, Peru. Phylogenetic analyses of 136 T. cruzi isolates from Arequipa and other South American locations suggest that only one T. cruzi lineage established a population in Arequipa as all T. cruzi isolated from vectors in Arequipa form a recent monophyletic group within the broader South American phylogeny. We discuss several hypotheses that may explain the limited number of established T. cruzi lineages despite multiple introductions of the parasite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The environmental sustainability of Brazilian public forests under a concession regime has been the subject of controversy, highlighting the need for effective and continuous monitoring. This study evaluated the performance of stakeholders and efficiency of environmental monitoring of state forest concessions in the Eastern Amazon. Monitoring was evaluated based on compliance with the rules by public and private stakeholders and on their satisfaction perception. Forest monitoring efficiency and governance was analysed using international guidelines for concessions adapted to the local reality. Monitoring and forest governance were evaluated as partially satisfactory, with asymmetric performance among stakeholders. The robust legal and procedural framework in Brazil confers security to the forest concession regime. However, key elements such as field inspections, communication, transparency, and accountability need to be improved for effective environmental monitoring in state concessions. Safeguarding public forests under concessions, typically in remote areas and with weak institutions, would at least require the use of remote monitoring technologies and standardized administrative and accountability procedures. • We assessed the environmental monitoring (EM) of state forest concessions in Brazil. • The performance of stakeholders in EM was asymmetrical. • EM showed 50% of compliance with international guidelines and impacted forest governance. • Brazil's strong legal framework must be accompanied by standardized procedures and accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halving carbon emissions from tropical deforestation by 2020 could help bring the international community closer to the agreed goal of <2 degree increase in global average temperature change and is consistent with a target set last year by the governments, corporations, indigenous peoples' organizations and non-governmental organizations that signed the New York Declaration on Forests ( NYDF). We assemble and refine a robust dataset to establish a 2001-2013 benchmark for average annual carbon emissions from gross tropical deforestation at 2.270 Gt CO2 yr−1. Brazil did not sign the NYDF, yet from 2001 to 2013, Brazil ranks first for both carbon emissions from gross tropical deforestation and reductions in those emissions - its share of the total declined from a peak of 69% in 2003 to a low of 20% in 2012. Indonesia, an NYDF signatory, is the second highest emitter, peaking in 2012 at 0.362 Gt CO2 yr−1 before declining to 0.205 Gt CO2 yr−1 in 2013. The other 14 NYDF tropical country signatories were responsible for a combined average of 0.317 Gt CO2 yr−1, while the other 86 tropical country non-signatories were responsible for a combined average of 0.688 Gt CO2 yr−1. We outline two scenarios for achieving the 50% emission reduction target by 2020, both emphasizing the critical role of Brazil and the need to reverse the trends of increasing carbon emissions from gross tropical deforestation in many other tropical countries that, from 2001 to 2013, have largely offset Brazil's reductions. Achieving the target will therefore be challenging, even though it is in the self-interest of the international community. Conserving rather than cutting down tropical forests requires shifting economic development away from a dependence on natural resource depletion toward recognition of the dependence of human societies on the natural capital that tropical forests represent and the goods and services they provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we argue that a faster and more cost-effective way to reduce deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon would be the immediate allocation of ca. 70 million hectares of still undesignated public forestlands to conservation and social use. Currently, this massive block of forests is not under effective supervision by a designated public agency, increasing the risk of continued land grabbing and predatory use. These undesignated public lands accounted for 25% of recent deforestation, emitting 200 million tons of CO 2 . Under the current scenario of deforestation growth in the region, the immediate allocation of undesignated forestlands to conservation or social use by the government will reduce the availability of unsupervised public land, increase forest protection and, therefore, decrease deforestation and carbon emissions. Additionally, the action would send an unmistakable sign to the international community of Brazil's will to increase governance of its large share of the Amazon forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Undesignated public forests (50 Mha) in the Brazilian Amazon have no tenure status. • They are the target of land grabbing, speculation and exploitation of natural resources. • 2.6 million hectares (5%) had been deforested by 2018. • 11.6 million hectares (23 %) have been illegally registered as "private property". • Recent policy changes urge for immediate actions toward rainforest protection. The Brazilian Amazon has 49.8 million hectares (Mha) of public forestlands not allocated by the federal or state governments to a specific tenure status: the so called undesignated public forests (UPF). Historically, these public forests have been vulnerable to land grabbers and land speculation. Here, we highlighted the imminent threat in UPF by quantifying their accumulated deforestation, all of which is illegal, for the period 1997–2018 and the potential illegal occupation. Based on the available government database, we found that 2.6 Mha of UPF had already been deforested by 2018 resulting in an emission of 1.2 billion tons of CO 2 (Gt CO 2). The accumulated deforestation was 5.4 times higher in federal UPF than in state UPF. Moreover, a total of 11.6 Mha of UPF have already been illegally registered as "private property" in the Brazilian Environmental Rural Registry (CAR), 70 % of these areas located in state UPF. If legalized as private proprieties, the carbon emissions resulting from additional deforestation will be roughly between 1.2 and 3.0 Gt CO 2. The seriousness and precariousness of protection of Brazilian Amazon UPF, the rapid conversion of forests outside these areas and increased flexibility in land policies - calls for the immediate designation of these areas to some form of conservation, as to avoid irreparable damage to the world's largest rainforest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The first time all official Brazilian land tenure data have been integrated into a single map. • For the whole country, 36% of lands are public, 44% are private, and 17% are unregistered or with unknown tenure. From the public, 6% are undesignated. • Large properties is the single category which occupies the largest area of Brazil. • Overlaps among land tenure categories sum 50% of the registered territory. • Our findings expose both uncertainties and fragilities in Brazilian land tenure. Land tenure in many parts of Brazil remains uncertain and controversial. These problems have recently been exacerbated by changes in the legal framework regulating protected areas and the land market. A particular challenge facing attempts to improve land tenure security and governance in Brazil is the lack of a single, integrated assessment of all types of lands. Here we address this problem and present a first, integrated map of Brazilian land tenure encompassing all official data sources pertaining to both public and private lands. Of the total (8.5 million km2) 36.1% of all lands are public (with 6.4% officially undesignated), 44.2% are private, and 16.6% are unregistered or with unknown tenure. Strikingly, overlaps among land tenure categories sum to 50% of the registered territory of Brazil. A clearer understanding of uncertainties in land tenure, and the spatial distribution of those uncertainties can help guide research and public policies focused on minimizing land conflicts and strengthening governance and territorial planning to improve economic, environmental and social outcomes from land use in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]