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The role of fluvial sediment supply and river-mouth hydrology in the dynamics of the muddy, Amazon-dominated Amapá-Guianas coast, South America: A three-point research agenda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anthony, Edward J.; Gardel, Antoine; Proisy, Christophe; Fromard, François; Gensac, Erwan; Peron, Christina; Walcker, Romain; Lesourd, Sandric

2013-07-01

The morphology and sediment dynamics of the 1500 km-long coast of South America between the mouths of the Amazon and the Orinoco Rivers are largely dependent on the massive suspended-sediment discharge of the Amazon, part of which is transported alongshore as mud banks. These mud banks have an overwhelming impact on the geology, the geomorphology, the ecology and the economy of this coast. Although numerous field investigations and remote sensing studies have considerably enhanced our understanding of the dynamics of this coast over the last three decades, much still remains to be understood of the unique functional mechanisms and processes driving its evolution. Among the themes that we deem as requiring further attention three come out as fundamental. The first concerns the mechanisms of formation of individual mud banks from mud streaming on the shelf off the mouth of the Amazon. An unknown quantity of the fluid mud generated by offshore estuarine front activity is transported shoreward and progressively forms mud banks on the Amapá coast, Brazil. The volume of each mud bank can contain from the equivalent of the annual mud supply of the Amazon to several times this annual sediment discharge. The mechanisms by which individual banks are generated from the Amazon turbidity maximum are still to be elucidated. Areas of research include regional mesoscale oceanographic conditions and mud supply from the Amazon. The second theme is that of variations in rates of migration of mud banks, which influence patterns of coastal accretion. Research emphasis needs to be placed on the analysis of both regional meteorological-hydrodynamic forcing and distant Atlantic forcing, as well as on the hydrology of the large rivers draining the Guyana Shield. The rivers appear to generate significant offshore deflection of mud banks in transit alongshore, through a hydraulic-groyne effect. This may favour both muddy accretion on the updrift coast and downdrift mud liquefaction with probably lessened muddy deposition. The third theme concerns sand supply by the Guiana Shield rivers. The rare sand deposits are important in providing sites for human settlements and routes and for nesting by marine turtles. The limited presence of sand bodies on this coast may reflect 'mud blanketing', a hypothesis that requires verification through high-resolution seismic analyses of shelf deposits and coring operations. The large Guiana Shield rivers, especially in Surinam and Guyana, have supplied sand for the construction of significant bands of cheniers, probably enhanced by the afore-mentioned downdrift hydraulic-groyne effect on hindered mud deposition. In all the three themes of this future research agenda, two central elements are the sediment input of the rivers of the Amazon basin, starting with the massive mud supply from the Amazon catchment itself, followed by sand inputs by the Guiana Shield rivers and their river-mouth effects on mud banks.
Beyond harm’s reach? Submersion of river turtle nesting areas and implications for restoration actions after Amazon hydropower development

PubMed Central

Michalski, Fernanda; Gibbs, James P.

2018-01-01

The global expansion of energy demands combined with abundant rainfall, large water volumes and high flow in tropical rivers have led to an unprecedented expansion of dam constructions in the Amazon. This expansion generates an urgent need for refined approaches to river management; specifically a move away from decision-making governed by overly generalized guidelines. For the first time we quantify direct impacts of hydropower reservoir establishment on an Amazon fresh water turtle. We conducted surveys along 150 km of rivers upstream of a new dam construction during the low water months that correspond to the nesting season of Podocnemis unifilis in the study area. Comparison of nest-areas before (2011, 2015) and after (2016) reservoir filling show that reservoir impacts extend 13% beyond legally defined limits. The submerged nesting areas accounted for a total of 3.8 ha of nesting habitat that was inundated as a direct result of the reservoir filling in 2016. Our findings highlight limitations in the development and implementation of existing Brazilian environmental impact assessment process. We also propose potential ways to mitigate the negative impacts of dams on freshwater turtles and the Amazonian freshwater ecosystems they inhabit. PMID:29333347
Beyond harm's reach? Submersion of river turtle nesting areas and implications for restoration actions after Amazon hydropower development.

PubMed

Norris, Darren; Michalski, Fernanda; Gibbs, James P

2018-01-01

The global expansion of energy demands combined with abundant rainfall, large water volumes and high flow in tropical rivers have led to an unprecedented expansion of dam constructions in the Amazon. This expansion generates an urgent need for refined approaches to river management; specifically a move away from decision-making governed by overly generalized guidelines. For the first time we quantify direct impacts of hydropower reservoir establishment on an Amazon fresh water turtle. We conducted surveys along 150 km of rivers upstream of a new dam construction during the low water months that correspond to the nesting season of Podocnemis unifilis in the study area. Comparison of nest-areas before (2011, 2015) and after (2016) reservoir filling show that reservoir impacts extend 13% beyond legally defined limits. The submerged nesting areas accounted for a total of 3.8 ha of nesting habitat that was inundated as a direct result of the reservoir filling in 2016. Our findings highlight limitations in the development and implementation of existing Brazilian environmental impact assessment process. We also propose potential ways to mitigate the negative impacts of dams on freshwater turtles and the Amazonian freshwater ecosystems they inhabit.
Balancing conservation and economic sustainability: the future of the Amazon timber industry.

PubMed

Merry, Frank; Soares-Filho, Britaldo; Nepstad, Daniel; Amacher, Gregory; Rodrigues, Hermann

2009-09-01

Logging has been a much maligned feature of frontier development in the Amazon. Most discussions ignore the fact that logging can be part of a renewable, environmentally benign, and broadly equitable economic activity in these remote places. We estimate there to be some 4.5 +/- 1.35 billion m(3) of commercial timber volume in the Brazilian Amazon today, of which 1.2 billion m(3) is currently profitable to harvest, with a total potential stumpage value of $15.4 billion. A successful forest sector in the Brazilian Amazon will integrate timber harvesting on private lands and on unprotected and unsettled government lands with timber concessions on public lands. If a legal, productive, timber industry can be established outside of protected areas, it will deliver environmental benefits in synergy with those provided by the region's network of protected areas, the latter of which we estimate to have an opportunity cost from lost timber revenues of $2.3 billion over 30 years. Indeed, on all land accessible to harvesting, the timber industry could produce an average of more than 16 million m(3) per year over a 30-year harvest cycle-entirely outside of current protected areas-providing $4.8 billion in returns to landowners and generating $1.8 billion in sawnwood sales tax revenue. This level of harvest could be profitably complemented with an additional 10% from logging concessions on National Forests. This advance, however, should be realized only through widespread adoption of reduced impact logging techniques.
Balancing Conservation and Economic Sustainability: The Future of the Amazon Timber Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merry, Frank; Soares-Filho, Britaldo; Nepstad, Daniel; Amacher, Gregory; Rodrigues, Hermann

2009-09-01

Logging has been a much maligned feature of frontier development in the Amazon. Most discussions ignore the fact that logging can be part of a renewable, environmentally benign, and broadly equitable economic activity in these remote places. We estimate there to be some 4.5 ± 1.35 billion m3 of commercial timber volume in the Brazilian Amazon today, of which 1.2 billion m3 is currently profitable to harvest, with a total potential stumpage value of 15.4 billion. A successful forest sector in the Brazilian Amazon will integrate timber harvesting on private lands and on unprotected and unsettled government lands with timber concessions on public lands. If a legal, productive, timber industry can be established outside of protected areas, it will deliver environmental benefits in synergy with those provided by the region’s network of protected areas, the latter of which we estimate to have an opportunity cost from lost timber revenues of 2.3 billion over 30 years. Indeed, on all land accessible to harvesting, the timber industry could produce an average of more than 16 million m3 per year over a 30-year harvest cycle—entirely outside of current protected areas—providing 4.8 billion in returns to landowners and generating 1.8 billion in sawnwood sales tax revenue. This level of harvest could be profitably complemented with an additional 10% from logging concessions on National Forests. This advance, however, should be realized only through widespread adoption of reduced impact logging techniques.
Condition and fate of logged forests in the Brazilian Amazon.

Treesearch

Gregory P. Asner; Eben N. Broadbent; Paulo J. C. Oliveira; Michael Keller; David E. Knapp; Jose N. M. Silva

2006-01-01

The long-term viability of a forest industry in the Amazon region of Brazil depends on the maintenance of adequate timber volume and growth in healthy forests. Using extensive high-resolution satellite analyses, we studied the forest damage caused by recent logging operations and the likelihood that logged forests would be cleared within 4 years after timber harvest....
Hydrologic resilience and Amazon productivity.

PubMed

Ahlström, Anders; Canadell, Josep G; Schurgers, Guy; Wu, Minchao; Berry, Joseph A; Guan, Kaiyu; Jackson, Robert B

2017-08-30

The Amazon rainforest is disproportionately important for global carbon storage and biodiversity. The system couples the atmosphere and land, with moist forest that depends on convection to sustain gross primary productivity and growth. Earth system models that estimate future climate and vegetation show little agreement in Amazon simulations. Here we show that biases in internally generated climate, primarily precipitation, explain most of the uncertainty in Earth system model results; models, empirical data and theory converge when precipitation biases are accounted for. Gross primary productivity, above-ground biomass and tree cover align on a hydrological relationship with a breakpoint at ~2000 mm annual precipitation, where the system transitions between water and radiation limitation of evapotranspiration. The breakpoint appears to be fairly stable in the future, suggesting resilience of the Amazon to climate change. Changes in precipitation and land use are therefore more likely to govern biomass and vegetation structure in Amazonia.Earth system model simulations of future climate in the Amazon show little agreement. Here, the authors show that biases in internally generated climate explain most of this uncertainty and that the balance between water-saturated and water-limited evapotranspiration controls the Amazon resilience to climate change.
Coarse woody debris in undisturbed and logged forests in the eastern Brazilian Amazon.

Treesearch

Michael Keller; Michael Palace; Gregory P. Asner; Rodrigo Jr. Pereira; Jose Natalino M. Silva

2004-01-01

Coarse woody debris (CWD) is an important component of the carbon cycle in tropical forests. We measured the volume and density of fallen CWD at two sites, Cauaxi and Tapajós in the Eastern Amazon. At both sites we studied undisturbed forests (UFs) and logged forests 1 year after harvest. Conventional logging (CL) and reduced impact logging (RIL) were...
The economic value of the climate regulation ecosystem service provided by the Amazon rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heil Costa, Marcos; Pires, Gabrielle; Fontes, Vitor; Brumatti, Livia

2017-04-01

The rainy Amazon climate allowed important activities to develop in the region as large rainfed agricultural lands and hydropower plants. The Amazon rainforest is an important source of moisture to the regional atmosphere and helps regulate the local climate. The replacement of forest by agricultural lands decreases the flux of water vapor into the atmosphere and changes the precipitation patterns, which may severely affect such economic activities. Assign an economic value to this ecosystem service may emphasize the significance to preserve the Amazon rainforest. In this work, we provide a first approximation of the quantification of the climate regulation ecosystem service provided by the Amazon rainforest using the marginal production method. We use climate scenarios derived from Amazon deforestation scenarios as input to crop and runoff models to assess how land use change would affect agriculture and hydropower generation. The effects of forest removal on soybean production and on cattle beef production can both be as high as US 16 per year per ha deforested, and the effects on hydropower generation can be as high as US 8 per year per ha deforested. We consider this as a conservative estimate of a permanent service provided by the rainforest. Policy makers and other Amazon agriculture and energy businesses must be aware of these numbers, and consider them while planning their activities.
Carbon Emissions from Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Potter, C.; Klooster, S.; Genovese, V.

2009-01-01

A simulation model based on satellite observations of monthly vegetation greenness from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was used to estimate monthly carbon fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems of Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado regions over the period 2000-2002. The NASA-CASA (Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach) model estimates of annual forest production were used for the first time as the basis to generate a prediction for the standing pool of carbon in above-ground biomass (AGB; gC/sq m) for forested areas of the Brazilian Amazon region. Plot-level measurements of the residence time of carbon in wood in Amazon forest from Malhi et al. (2006) were interpolated by inverse distance weighting algorithms and used with CASA to generate a new regional map of AGB. Data from the Brazilian PRODES (Estimativa do Desflorestamento da Amazonia) project were used to map deforested areas. Results show that net primary production (NPP) sinks for carbon varied between 4.25 Pg C/yr (1 Pg=10(exp 15)g) and 4.34 Pg C for the region and were highest across the eastern and northern Amazon areas, whereas deforestation sources of CO2 flux from decomposition of residual woody debris were higher and less seasonal in the central Amazon than in the eastern and southern areas. Increased woody debris from past deforestation events was predicted to alter the net ecosystem carbon balance of the Amazon region to generate annual CO2 source fluxes at least two times higher than previously predicted by CASA modeling studies. Variations in climate, land cover, and forest burning were predicted to release carbon at rates of 0.5 to 1 Pg C/yr from the Brazilian Amazon. When direct deforestation emissions of CO2 from forest burning of between 0.2 and 0.6 Pg C/yr in the Legal Amazon are overlooked in regional budgets, the year-to-year variations in this net biome flux may appear to be large, whereas our model results implies net biome fluxes had actually been relatively consistent from year to year during the period 2000-2002. This is the first study to use MODIS data to model all carbon pools (wood, leaf, root) dynamically in simulations of Amazon forest deforestation from clearing and burning of all kinds.
Geochemistry of the Amazon Estuary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smoak, Joseph M.; Krest, James M.; Swarzenski, Peter W

2006-01-01

The Amazon River supplies more freshwater to the ocean than any other river in the world. This enormous volume of freshwater forces the estuarine mixing out of the river channel and onto the continental shelf. On the continental shelf, the estuarine mixing occurs in a very dynamic environment unlike that of a typical estuary. The tides, the wind, and the boundary current that sweeps the continental shelf have a pronounced influence on the chemical and biological processes occurring within the estuary. The dynamic environment, along with the enormous supply of water, solutes and particles makes the Amazon estuary unique. This chapter describes the unique features of the Amazon estuary and how these features influence the processes occurring within the estuary. Examined are the supply and cycling of major and minor elements, and the use of naturally occurring radionuclides to trace processes including water movement, scavenging, sediment-water interaction, and sediment accumulation rates. The biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, and the significances of the Amazon estuary in the global mass balance of these elements are examined.
Characterization of Terrestrial Water Dynamics in the Congo Basin Using GRACE and Satellite Radar Altimetry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Hyongki; Beighley, R. Edward; Alsdorf, Douglas; Jung, Hahn Chul; Shum, C. K.; Duan, Jianbin; Guo, Junyi; Yamazaki, Dai; Andreadis, Konstantinos

2011-01-01

The Congo Basin is the world's third largest in size (approx.3.7 million sq km), and second only to the Amazon River in discharge (approx.40,200 cu m/s annual average). However, the hydrological dynamics of seasonally flooded wetlands and floodplains remains poorly quantified. Here, we separate the Congo wetland into four 3deg 3deg regions, and use remote sensing measurements (i.e., GRACE, satellite radar altimeter, GPCP, JERS-1, SRTM, and MODIS) to estimate the amounts of water filling and draining from the Congo wetland, and to determine the source of the water. We find that the amount of water annually filling and draining the Congo wetlands is 111 cu km, which is about one-third the size of the water volumes found on the mainstem Amazon floodplain. Based on amplitude comparisons among the water volume changes and timing comparisons among their fluxes, we conclude that the local upland runoff is the main source of the Congo wetland water, not the fluvial process of river-floodplain water exchange as in the Amazon. Our hydraulic analysis using altimeter measurements also supports our conclusion by demonstrating that water surface elevations in the wetlands are consistently higher than the adjacent river water levels. Our research highlights differences in the hydrology and hydrodynamics between the Congo wetland and the mainstem Amazon floodplain.
Characterization of Terrestrial Water Dynamics in the Congo Basin Using GRACE and Satellite Radar Altimetry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Lyongki; Beighley, R. Edward; Alsdorf, Douglas; Jung, Hahn Chul; Shum, C. K.; Duan, Jianbin; Guo, Junyi; Yamazaki, Dai; Andreadis, Konstantinos

2011-01-01

The Congo Basin is the world's third largest in size (approximately 3.7 million km^2), and second only to the Amazon River in discharge (approximately 40,200 cms annual average). However, the hydrological dynamics of seasonally flooded wetlands and floodplains remains poorly quantified. Here, we separate the Congo wetland into four 3 degree x 3 degree regions, and use remote sensing measurements (i.e., GRACE, satellite radar altimeter, GPCP, JERS-1, SRTM, and MODIS) to estimate the amounts of water filling and draining from the Congo wetland, and to determine the source of the water. We find that the amount of water annually filling and draining the Congo wetlands is 111 km^3, which is about one-third the size of the water volumes found on the mainstem Amazon floodplain. Based on amplitude comparisons among the water volume changes and timing comparisons among their fluxes, we conclude that the local upland runoff is the main source of the Congo wetland water, not the fluvial process of river-floodplain water exchange as in the Amazon. Our hydraulic analysis using altimeter measurements also supports our conclusion by demonstrating that water surface elevations in the wetlands are consistently higher than the adjacent river water levels. Our research also highlights differences in the hydrology and hydrodynamics between the Congo wetland and the mainstem Amazon floodplain.
Methane and carbon dioxide production in soils flooded by the Belo Monte hydropower reservoir in the Amazon Basin, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawakuchi, H. O.; Bertassoli, D. J., Jr.; Silveira, A. M.; Bozi, B. S.; de Jesus, J. S.; Sawakuchi, A. O.; Ward, N. D.; Bastviken, D.; Krusche, A. V.; Richey, J. E.

2016-12-01

The Xingu River, one of the major tributary of the Amazon River, was recently impounded by the Belo Monte dam, a massive and controversial hydropower plant that will become the third biggest power station in generating capacity of the world. Given the limited data associated with greenhouse gas emissions from reservoirs in the Amazon basin, the impacts of hydroelectric expansion in this region to the global carbon budget remains unclear. Here, we used a bottom-up assessment to quantify a fraction of the possible emissions associated with the Belo Monte reservoir. Eighteen soil samples were collected before the impoundment from seven different locations and depths in areas that were going to be permanently flooded by the reservoir (forests and pasturelands). Soil samples were split in triplicates and incubated in anoxic conditions during two phases totaling 160 days of anoxic incubation in order to quantify the potential methane and carbon dioxide production through time. Our results showed that pasturelands soil presented higher potential production of both gases in relation to the soils from forested areas, reaching up to 0.072 mg CH4 g-¹d-1 and 0.078 mg CO2 g-¹d-1 during the first period of 65 days in the first phase of incubations. Significant differences in production were also noted through soil depth and time. In several areas, the first 15 cm of soil generated 99% of the methane volume that was being produced in the 60 cm sampled profile. The first 65 days of the second phase of incubations showed production that was 35% (CH4) and 44% (CO2) lower than the same period in the first stage. Extrapolations towards the total flooded area demonstrates that 27.3-43.3 ton CH4 d-1 may be generated from flooded soils in the Belo Monte reservoir during only the first several months of flooding, maintaining significant production rates during upcoming months as long as favorable conditions are maintained.
Migration Within the Frontier: The Second Generation Colonization in the Ecuadorian Amazon

PubMed Central

Carr, David L.; Bilsborrow, Richard E.

2009-01-01

Since the 1970s, migration to the Amazon has led to a growing human presence and resulting dramatic changes in the physical landscape of the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon frontier, including considerable deforestation. Over time, a second demographic phenomenon has emerged with the children of the original migrants leaving settler farms to set out on their own. The vast majority have remained in the Amazon region, some contributing to further changes in land use via rural-rural migration to establish new farms and others to incipient urbanization. This paper uses longitudinal, multi-scale data on settler colonists between 1990 and 1999 to analyze rural-rural and rural-urban migration among second-generation colonists within the region. Following a description of migrants and settlers in terms of their individual, household and community characteristics, a multinomial discrete-time hazard model is used to estimate the determinants of out-migration of the second generation settlers to both urban and rural areas. We find significant differences in the determinants of migration to the two types of destinations in personal characteristics, human capital endowments, stage of farm and household lifecycles, migration networks, and access to community resources and infrastructure. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy implications of migrants' choice of rural versus urban destinations. PMID:19657471
Green Ocean Amazon 2014/15 High-Volume Filter Sampling: Atmospheric Particulate Matter of an Amazon Tropical City and its Relationship to Population Health Field Campaign Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Machado, C. M.; Santos, Erickson O.; Fernandes, Karenn S.

Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, is developing very rapidly. Its pollution plume contains aerosols from fossil fuel combustion mainly due to vehicular emission, industrial activity, and a thermal power plant. Soil resuspension is probably a secondary source of atmospheric particles. The plume transports from Manaus to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility ARM site at Manacapuru urban pollutants as well as pollutants from pottery factories along the route of the plume. Considering the effects of particulate matter on health, atmospheric particulate matter was evaluated at this site as partmore » of the ARM Facility’s Green Ocean Amazon 2014/15 (GoAmazon 2014/15) field campaign. Aerosol or particulate matter (PM) is typically defined by size, with the smaller particles having more health impact. Total suspended particulate (TSP) are particles smaller than 100 μm; particles smaller than 2.5 μm are called PM2.5. In this work, the PM2.5 levels were obtained from March to December of 2015, totaling 34 samples and TSP levels from October to December of 2015, totaling 17 samples. Sampling was conducted with PM2.5 and TSP high-volume samplers using quartz filters (Figure 1). Filters were stored during 24 hours in a room with temperature (21,1ºC) and humidity (44,3 %) control, in order to do gravimetric analyses by weighing before and after sampling. This procedure followed the recommendations of the Brazilian Association for Technical Standards local norm (NBR 9547:1997). Mass concentrations of particulate matter were obtained from the ratio between the weighted sample and the volume of air collected. Defining a relationship between particulate matter (PM2.5 and TSP) and respiratory diseases of the local population is an important goal of this project, since no information exists on that topic.« less
Genotoxic potential generated by biomass burning in the Brazilian Legal Amazon by Tradescantia micronucleus bioassay: a toxicity assessment study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The Brazilian Amazon has suffered impacts from non-sustainable economic development, especially owing to the expansion of agricultural commodities into forest areas. The Tangará da Serra region, located in the southern of the Legal Amazon, is characterized by non-mechanized sugar cane production. In addition, it lies on the dispersion path of the pollution plume generated by biomass burning. The aim of this study was to assess the genotoxic potential of the atmosphere in the Tangará da Serra region, using Tradescantia pallida as in situ bioindicator. Methods The study was conducted during the dry and rainy seasons, where the plants were exposed to two types of exposure, active and passive. Results The results showed that in all the sampling seasons, irrespective of exposure type, there was an increase in micronucleus frequency, compared to control and that it was statistically significant in the dry season. A strong and significant relationship was also observed between the increase in micronucleus incidence and the rise in fine particulate matter, and hospital morbidity from respiratory diseases in children. Conclusions Based on the results, we demonstrated that pollutants generated by biomass burning in the Brazilian Amazon can induce genetic damage in test plants that was more prominent during dry season, and correlated with the level of particulates and elevated respiratory morbidity. PMID:21575274
Condition and fate of logged forests in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Asner, Gregory P; Broadbent, Eben N; Oliveira, Paulo J C; Keller, Michael; Knapp, David E; Silva, José N M

2006-08-22

The long-term viability of a forest industry in the Amazon region of Brazil depends on the maintenance of adequate timber volume and growth in healthy forests. Using extensive high-resolution satellite analyses, we studied the forest damage caused by recent logging operations and the likelihood that logged forests would be cleared within 4 years after timber harvest. Across 2,030,637 km2 of the Brazilian Amazon from 1999 to 2004, at least 76% of all harvest practices resulted in high levels of canopy damage sufficient to leave forests susceptible to drought and fire. We found that 16+/-1% of selectively logged areas were deforested within 1 year of logging, with a subsequent annual deforestation rate of 5.4% for 4 years after timber harvests. Nearly all logging occurred within 25 km of main roads, and within that area, the probability of deforestation for a logged forest was up to four times greater than for unlogged forests. In combination, our results show that logging in the Brazilian Amazon is dominated by highly damaging operations, often followed rapidly by deforestation decades before forests can recover sufficiently to produce timber for a second harvest. Under the management regimes in effect at the time of our study in the Brazilian Amazon, selective logging would not be sustained.
Condition and fate of logged forests in the Brazilian Amazon

PubMed Central

Asner, Gregory P.; Broadbent, Eben N.; Oliveira, Paulo J. C.; Keller, Michael; Knapp, David E.; Silva, José N. M.

2006-01-01

The long-term viability of a forest industry in the Amazon region of Brazil depends on the maintenance of adequate timber volume and growth in healthy forests. Using extensive high-resolution satellite analyses, we studied the forest damage caused by recent logging operations and the likelihood that logged forests would be cleared within 4 years after timber harvest. Across 2,030,637 km2 of the Brazilian Amazon from 1999 to 2004, at least 76% of all harvest practices resulted in high levels of canopy damage sufficient to leave forests susceptible to drought and fire. We found that 16 ± 1% of selectively logged areas were deforested within 1 year of logging, with a subsequent annual deforestation rate of 5.4% for 4 years after timber harvests. Nearly all logging occurred within 25 km of main roads, and within that area, the probability of deforestation for a logged forest was up to four times greater than for unlogged forests. In combination, our results show that logging in the Brazilian Amazon is dominated by highly damaging operations, often followed rapidly by deforestation decades before forests can recover sufficiently to produce timber for a second harvest. Under the management regimes in effect at the time of our study in the Brazilian Amazon, selective logging would not be sustained. PMID:16901980
Experiences Building Globus Genomics: A Next-Generation Sequencing Analysis Service using Galaxy, Globus, and Amazon Web Services

PubMed Central

Madduri, Ravi K.; Sulakhe, Dinanath; Lacinski, Lukasz; Liu, Bo; Rodriguez, Alex; Chard, Kyle; Dave, Utpal J.; Foster, Ian T.

2014-01-01

We describe Globus Genomics, a system that we have developed for rapid analysis of large quantities of next-generation sequencing (NGS) genomic data. This system achieves a high degree of end-to-end automation that encompasses every stage of data analysis including initial data retrieval from remote sequencing centers or storage (via the Globus file transfer system); specification, configuration, and reuse of multi-step processing pipelines (via the Galaxy workflow system); creation of custom Amazon Machine Images and on-demand resource acquisition via a specialized elastic provisioner (on Amazon EC2); and efficient scheduling of these pipelines over many processors (via the HTCondor scheduler). The system allows biomedical researchers to perform rapid analysis of large NGS datasets in a fully automated manner, without software installation or a need for any local computing infrastructure. We report performance and cost results for some representative workloads. PMID:25342933

Experiences Building Globus Genomics: A Next-Generation Sequencing Analysis Service using Galaxy, Globus, and Amazon Web Services.

PubMed

Madduri, Ravi K; Sulakhe, Dinanath; Lacinski, Lukasz; Liu, Bo; Rodriguez, Alex; Chard, Kyle; Dave, Utpal J; Foster, Ian T

2014-09-10

We describe Globus Genomics, a system that we have developed for rapid analysis of large quantities of next-generation sequencing (NGS) genomic data. This system achieves a high degree of end-to-end automation that encompasses every stage of data analysis including initial data retrieval from remote sequencing centers or storage (via the Globus file transfer system); specification, configuration, and reuse of multi-step processing pipelines (via the Galaxy workflow system); creation of custom Amazon Machine Images and on-demand resource acquisition via a specialized elastic provisioner (on Amazon EC2); and efficient scheduling of these pipelines over many processors (via the HTCondor scheduler). The system allows biomedical researchers to perform rapid analysis of large NGS datasets in a fully automated manner, without software installation or a need for any local computing infrastructure. We report performance and cost results for some representative workloads.
Surface Freshwater Storage and Variability in the Amazon Basin from Multi-Satellite Observations, 1993-2007

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Papa, Fabrice; Frappart, Frederic; Guntner, Andreas; Prigent, Catherine; Aires, Filipe; Getirana, Augusto; Maurer, Raffael

2013-01-01

The amount of water stored and moving through the surface water bodies of large river basins (river, floodplains, wetlands) plays a major role in the global water and biochemical cycles and is a critical parameter for water resources management. However, the spatio-temporal variations of these freshwater reservoirs are still widely unknown at the global scale. Here, we propose a hypsographic curve approach to estimate surface freshwater storage variations over the Amazon basin combining surface water extent from a multi-satellite-technique with topographic data from the Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) from Advance Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). Monthly surface water storage variations for 1993-2007 are presented, showing a strong seasonal and interannual variability, and are evaluated against in situ river discharge and precipitation. The basin-scale mean annual amplitude of approx. 1200 cu km is in the range of previous estimates and contributes to about half of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) total water storage variations. For the first time, we map the surface water volume anomaly during the extreme droughts of 1997 (October-November) and 2005 (September-October) and found that during these dry events the water stored in the river and flood-plains of the Amazon basin was, respectively, approx. 230 (approx. 40%) and 210 (approx. 50%) cu km below the 1993-2007 average. This new 15year data set of surface water volume represents an unprecedented source of information for future hydrological or climate modeling of the Amazon. It is also a first step toward the development of such database at the global scale.
Basin-Wide Amazon Forest Tree Mortality From a Large 2005 Storm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Negron Juarez, R. I.; Chambers, J. Q.; Guimaraes, G.; Zeng, H.; Raupp, C.; Marra, D. M.; Ribeiro, G.; Saatchi, S. S.; Higuchi, N.

2010-12-01

Blowdowns are a recurrent characteristic of Amazon forests and are produced, among others, by squall lines. Squall lines are aligned clusters (typical length of 1000 km, width of 200 km) of deep convective cells that produce heavy rainfall during the dry season and significant rainfall during the wet season. These squall lines (accompanied by intense downbursts from convective cells) have been associated with large blowdowns characterized by uprooted, snapped trees, and trees being dragged down by other falling trees. Most squall lines in Amazonia form along the northeastern coast of South America as sea breeze-induced instability lines and propagate inside the continent. They occur frequently (~4 times per month), and can reach the central and even extreme western parts of Amazonia. Squall lines can also be generated inside the Amazon and propagate toward the equator. In January 2005 a squall line propagated from south to north across the entire Amazon basin producing widespread forest tree mortality and contributed to the elevated mortality observed that year. Over the Manaus region (3.4 x104 km2), disturbed forest patches generated by the squall produced a mortality of 0.3-0.5 million trees, equivalent to 30% of the observed annual deforestation reported in 2005 over the same area. The elevated mortality observed in the Central Amazon in 2005 is unlikely to be related to the 2005 Amazon drought since drought did not affect Central or Eastern Amazonia. Assuming a similar rate of forest mortality across the basin, the squall line could have potentially produced tree mortality estimated at 542 ± 121 million trees, equivalent to 23% of the mean annual biomass accumulation estimated for these forests. Our results highlight the vulnerability of Amazon trees to wind-driven mortality associated with convective storms. This vulnerability is likely to increase in a warming climate with models projecting an increase in storm intensity.
Using Python to generate AHPS-based precipitation simulations over CONUS using Amazon distributed computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machalek, P.; Kim, S. M.; Berry, R. D.; Liang, A.; Small, T.; Brevdo, E.; Kuznetsova, A.

2012-12-01

We describe how the Climate Corporation uses Python and Clojure, a language impleneted on top of Java, to generate climatological forecasts for precipitation based on the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) radar based daily precipitation measurements. A 2-year-long forecasts is generated on each of the ~650,000 CONUS land based 4-km AHPS grids by constructing 10,000 ensembles sampled from a 30-year reconstructed AHPS history for each grid. The spatial and temporal correlations between neighboring AHPS grids and the sampling of the analogues are handled by Python. The parallelization for all the 650,000 CONUS stations is further achieved by utilizing the MAP-REDUCE framework (http://code.google.com/edu/parallel/mapreduce-tutorial.html). Each full scale computational run requires hundreds of nodes with up to 8 processors each on the Amazon Elastic MapReduce (http://aws.amazon.com/elasticmapreduce/) distributed computing service resulting in 3 terabyte datasets. We further describe how we have productionalized a monthly run of the simulations process at full scale of the 4km AHPS grids and how the resultant terabyte sized datasets are handled.
Dependence of hydropower energy generation on forests in the Amazon Basin at local and regional scales.

PubMed

Stickler, Claudia M; Coe, Michael T; Costa, Marcos H; Nepstad, Daniel C; McGrath, David G; Dias, Livia C P; Rodrigues, Hermann O; Soares-Filho, Britaldo S

2013-06-04

Tropical rainforest regions have large hydropower generation potential that figures prominently in many nations' energy growth strategies. Feasibility studies of hydropower plants typically ignore the effect of future deforestation or assume that deforestation will have a positive effect on river discharge and energy generation resulting from declines in evapotranspiration (ET) associated with forest conversion. Forest loss can also reduce river discharge, however, by inhibiting rainfall. We used land use, hydrological, and climate models to examine the local "direct" effects (through changes in ET within the watershed) and the potential regional "indirect" effects (through changes in rainfall) of deforestation on river discharge and energy generation potential for the Belo Monte energy complex, one of the world's largest hydropower plants that is currently under construction on the Xingu River in the eastern Amazon. In the absence of indirect effects of deforestation, simulated deforestation of 20% and 40% within the Xingu River basin increased discharge by 4-8% and 10-12%, with similar increases in energy generation. When indirect effects were considered, deforestation of the Amazon region inhibited rainfall within the Xingu Basin, counterbalancing declines in ET and decreasing discharge by 6-36%. Under business-as-usual projections of forest loss for 2050 (40%), simulated power generation declined to only 25% of maximum plant output and 60% of the industry's own projections. Like other energy sources, hydropower plants present large social and environmental costs. Their reliability as energy sources, however, must take into account their dependence on forests.
Pathogenesis of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus in Mice and Development of a Second Generation Vaccine

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-31

equine encephalitis in the Amazon region of Peru ." Am J Trop Med Hyg 76(2): 293-298. Alsharifi, M., Y. Furuya, et al. (2009). "Intranasal flu...the Amazon River Basin. The strains in these groups are highly divergent, polyphyletic, co- circulating, geographically-associated, and primarily...well understood and serological associations with wild birds, ground-dwelling rodents , marsupials, and reptiles have been reported (Monath, Sabattini
Development of Data-Assimilation-Quality MODIS and MISR Over Ocean Aerosol Products

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

fires to rainforests in order to clear land for agricultural purposes (Koren et al., 2004). During the Northern Hemisphere summer (June, July...atmosphere and dissipate clouds (Koren et al., 2004). Other studies have found that biomass-burning-generated aerosols over the Amazon basin could...Remer, and J. V. Martins, (2004), Measurement of the Effect of Amazon Smoke on Inhibition of Cloud Formation, Science 27 February 2004:Vol. 303. no
Sedative Effects of Intranasal Midazolam Administration in Wild Caught Blue-fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva) and Orange-winged Amazon (Amazona amazonica) Parrots.

PubMed

Schaffer, Débora P H; de Araújo, Nayone L L C; Raposo, Ana Cláudia S; Filho, Emanoel F Martins; Vieira, João Victor R; Oriá, Arianne P

2017-09-01

Safe and effective sedation protocols are important for chemical restraint of birds in clinical and diagnostic procedures, such as clinical evaluations, radiographic positioning, and blood collection. These protocols may reduce stress and ease the management of wild-caught birds, which are susceptible to injury or death when exposed to stressful situations. We compare the sedative effect of intranasal midazolam in wild-caught blue-fronted (Amazona aestiva) and orange-winged (Amazona amazonica) Amazon parrots. Ten adult parrots of each species (n = 20), of unknown sex, weighing 0.337 ± 0.04 (blue-fronted) and 0.390 ± 0.03 kg (orange-winged), kg were used. Midazolam (2 mg/kg) was administered intranasally and the total volume of the drug was divided equally between the 2 nostrils. Onset time and total sedation time were assessed. Satisfactory sedation for clinical evaluation was induced in all birds. Onset time and total sedation times were similar in both species: 5.36 ± 1.16 and 25.40 ± 5.72 minutes, respectively, for blue-fronted Amazons and 5.09 ± 0.89 and 27.10 ± 3.73 minutes, respectively, for orange-winged Amazons. A total of 15 animals showed absence of vocalization, with moderate muscle relaxation and wing movement upon handling, and 2 animals presented with lateral recumbence, with intense muscle relaxation and no wing movement, requiring no restraint. Three blue-fronted Amazons had no effective sedation. Intranasally administered midazolam at a dose of 2 mg/kg effectively promoted sedative effects with a short latency time and fast recovery in wild-caught parrots.
Dependence of hydropower energy generation on forests in the Amazon Basin at local and regional scales

PubMed Central

Stickler, Claudia M.; Coe, Michael T.; Costa, Marcos H.; Nepstad, Daniel C.; McGrath, David G.; Dias, Livia C. P.; Rodrigues, Hermann O.; Soares-Filho, Britaldo S.

2013-01-01

Tropical rainforest regions have large hydropower generation potential that figures prominently in many nations’ energy growth strategies. Feasibility studies of hydropower plants typically ignore the effect of future deforestation or assume that deforestation will have a positive effect on river discharge and energy generation resulting from declines in evapotranspiration (ET) associated with forest conversion. Forest loss can also reduce river discharge, however, by inhibiting rainfall. We used land use, hydrological, and climate models to examine the local “direct” effects (through changes in ET within the watershed) and the potential regional “indirect” effects (through changes in rainfall) of deforestation on river discharge and energy generation potential for the Belo Monte energy complex, one of the world’s largest hydropower plants that is currently under construction on the Xingu River in the eastern Amazon. In the absence of indirect effects of deforestation, simulated deforestation of 20% and 40% within the Xingu River basin increased discharge by 4–8% and 10–12%, with similar increases in energy generation. When indirect effects were considered, deforestation of the Amazon region inhibited rainfall within the Xingu Basin, counterbalancing declines in ET and decreasing discharge by 6–36%. Under business-as-usual projections of forest loss for 2050 (40%), simulated power generation declined to only 25% of maximum plant output and 60% of the industry’s own projections. Like other energy sources, hydropower plants present large social and environmental costs. Their reliability as energy sources, however, must take into account their dependence on forests. PMID:23671098
GoAmazon2014/15. Oxidation Flow Reactor Final Campaign Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jimenez, J. L.; Day, D. A.; Hu, W.

The primary goal of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) field campaign was to measure and mechanistically understand the formation of particle number and mass in a region affected by large tropical rainforest biogenic emissions and sometimes anthropogenic influence from a large urban center. As part of the two intensive operational periods (IOPs) and in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Harvard, the Jimenez Group proposed to deploy a High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS), Thermal Denuder (TD), Scanning Mobility Particle Size (SMPS), two oxidation flow reactors (OFR; including supporting O 3, CO/CO 2/CH 4, RH analyzers), and amore » high volume filter sampler (MCV) for the measurement of gas and aerosol chemical, physicochemical, and volatility properties. The two IOPs were conducted during the wet season (February to March, 2014) and dry season (August to October, 2014). This proposal was part of a collaborative proposal involving other university and government laboratories.« less
Ecosystem heterogeneity and diversity mitigate Amazon forest resilience to frequent extreme droughts.

PubMed

Longo, Marcos; Knox, Ryan G; Levine, Naomi M; Alves, Luciana F; Bonal, Damien; Camargo, Plinio B; Fitzjarrald, David R; Hayek, Matthew N; Restrepo-Coupe, Natalia; Saleska, Scott R; da Silva, Rodrigo; Stark, Scott C; Tapajós, Raphael P; Wiedemann, Kenia T; Zhang, Ke; Wofsy, Steven C; Moorcroft, Paul R

2018-05-22

The impact of increases in drought frequency on the Amazon forest's composition, structure and functioning remain uncertain. We used a process- and individual-based ecosystem model (ED2) to quantify the forest's vulnerability to increased drought recurrence. We generated meteorologically realistic, drier-than-observed rainfall scenarios for two Amazon forest sites, Paracou (wetter) and Tapajós (drier), to evaluate the impacts of more frequent droughts on forest biomass, structure and composition. The wet site was insensitive to the tested scenarios, whereas at the dry site biomass declined when average rainfall reduction exceeded 15%, due to high mortality of large-sized evergreen trees. Biomass losses persisted when year-long drought recurrence was shorter than 2-7 yr, depending upon soil texture and leaf phenology. From the site-level scenario results, we developed regionally applicable metrics to quantify the Amazon forest's climatological proximity to rainfall regimes likely to cause biomass loss > 20% in 50 yr according to ED2 predictions. Nearly 25% (1.8 million km 2 ) of the Amazon forests could experience frequent droughts and biomass loss if mean annual rainfall or interannual variability changed by 2σ. At least 10% of the high-emission climate projections (CMIP5/RCP8.5 models) predict critically dry regimes over 25% of the Amazon forest area by 2100. © 2018 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2018 New Phytologist Trust.
Pharmacokinetics of nalbuphine hydrochloride after intravenous and intramuscular administration to Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis).

PubMed

Keller, Dominique L; Sanchez-Migallon Guzman, David; Klauer, Julia M; KuKanich, Butch; Barker, Steven A; Rodríguez-Ramos Fernández, Julia; Paul-Murphy, Joanne R

2011-06-01

To assess the pharmacokinetics of nalbuphine HCl after IV and IM administration to Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis). 8 healthy adult Hispaniolan Amazon parrots of unknown sex. Nalbuphine HCl (12.5 mg/kg) was administered IV and IM to all birds in a complete randomized crossover study design; there was a washout period of 21 days between subsequent administrations. Plasma samples were obtained from blood collected at predetermined time points for measurement of nalbuphine concentration by use of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated by use of computer software. Nalbuphine was rapidly eliminated with a terminal half-life of 0.33 hours and clearance of 69.95 mL/min/kg after IV administration and a half-life of 0.35 hours after IM administration. Volume of distribution was 2.01 L/kg after IV administration. The fraction of the dose absorbed was high (1.03) after IM administration. No adverse effects were detected in the parrots during the study. In Hispaniolan Amazon parrots, nalbuphine appeared to have good bioavailability after IM administration and was rapidly cleared after IV and IM administration. Safety and analgesic efficacy of various nalbuphine treatment regimens in this species require further investigation to determine the potential for clinical palliation of signs of pain in psittacine species.
Flooding dynamics on the lower Amazon floodplain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rudorff, C.; Melack, J. M.; Bates, P. D.

2013-05-01

We analyzed flooding dynamics of a large floodplain lake in the lower reach of the Amazon River for the period between 1995 through 2010. Floodplain inundation was simulated using the LISFLOOD-FP model, which combines one-dimensional river routing with two-dimensional overland flow, and a local hydrological model. Accurate representation of floodplain flows and inundation extent depends on the quality of the digital elevation model (DEM). We combined digital topography (derived from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) with extensive floodplain echo-sounding data to generate a hydraulically sound DEM. Analysis of daily water balances revealed that the dominant source of inflow alternated seasonally among direct rain and local runoff (October through January), Amazon River (March through August), and seepage (September). As inflows from the Amazon River increase during the rising limb of the hydrograph, regional floodwaters encounter the floodplain partially inundated from local hydrological inputs. At peak flow the floodplain routes, on average, 2.5% of the total discharge for this reach. The falling limb of the hydrograph coincides with the locally dry period, allowing seepage of water stored in sediments to become a dominant source. The average annual inflow from the Amazon River was 58.8 km3 (SD = 33.5), representing more than three thirds (80%) of inputs from all sources, with substantial inter-annual variability. The average annual net export of water from the floodplain to the Amazon River was 7.9 km3 (SD = 2.7).
A vicious circle of fire, deforestation and climate change: an integrative study for the Amazon region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thonicke, K.; Rammig, A.; Gumpenberger, M.; Vohland, K.; Poulter, B.; Cramer, W.

2009-04-01

The Amazon rainforest is threatened by deforestation due to wood extraction and agricultural production leading to increasing forest fragmentation and forest degradation. These changes in land surface characteristics and water fluxes are expected to further reduce convective precipitation. Under future climate change the stability of the Amazon rainforest is likely to decrease thus leading to forest dieback (savannization) or forest degradation (secondarization). This puts the Amazon rainforest at risk to reduce the generation of precipitation, to act as a carbon sink and biodiversity hotspot. Fires increased in the past during drought years and in open vegetation thereby further accelerating forest degradation. Deforestation as a result of socioeconomic development in the Amazon basin is projected to further increase in the 21st century and brings climate-induced changes forward. Combined effects of deforestation vs. climate change on the stability of the Amazon rainforest and the role of fire in this system need to be quantified in an integrated study. We present simulation results from future climate (AR4) and deforestation (SimAmazon) experiments using the LPJmL-SPITFIRE vegetation model. Land use change is the main driving factor of forest degradation before 2050, whereas extreme climate change scenarios lead to forest degradation by the end of 2100. Forest fires increase with increasing drought conditions during the 21st century. The resulting effects on vegetation secondarization and savannization and their feedbacks on fire spread and emissions will be presented. The effect of wildfires and intentional burning on forest degradation under future climate and socioeconomic change will be discussed, and recommendations for an integrated land use and fire management are given.
Spatial Variability of the Background Diurnal Cycle of Deep Convection around the GoAmazon2014/5 Field Campaign Sites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burleyson, Casey D.; Feng, Zhe; Hagos, Samson M.

The Amazon rainforest is one of a few regions of the world where continental tropical deep convection occurs. The Amazon’s isolation makes it challenging to observe, but also creates a unique natural laboratory to study anthropogenic impacts on clouds and precipitation in an otherwise pristine environment. Extensive measurements were made upwind and downwind of the large city of Manaus, Brazil during the Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon 2014-2015 (GoAmazon2014/5) field campaign. In this study, 15 years of high-resolution satellite data are analyzed to examine the spatial and diurnal variability of convection occurring around the GoAmazon2014/5 sites. Interpretationmore » of anthropogenic differences between the upwind (T0) and downwind (T1-T3) sites is complicated by naturally-occurring spatial variability between the sites. During the rainy season, the inland propagation of the previous day’s sea-breeze front happens to be in phase with the background diurnal cycle near Manaus, but is out of phase elsewhere. Enhanced convergence between the river-breezes and the easterly trade winds generates up to 10% more frequent deep convection at the GoAmazon2014/5 sites east of the river (T0a, T0t/k, and T1) compared to the T3 site which was located near the western bank. In general, the annual and diurnal cycles during 2014 were representative of the 2000-2013 distributions. The only exceptions were in March when the monthly mean rainrate was above the 95th percentile and September when both rain frequency and intensity were suppressed. The natural spatial variability must be accounted for before interpreting anthropogenically-induced differences among the GoAmazon2014/5 sites.« less
Implications of Scientific Collaboration Networks on Studies of Aquatic Vertebrates in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Salinero, María Celeste; Michalski, Fernanda

2016-01-01

The quantity of wildlife extracted from the Amazon has increased in the past decades as a consequence of an increase in human population density and income growth. To evaluate the spatial distribution of studies on subsistence and/or commercial hunting conducted in the Brazilian Amazon, we selected eight mid-sized and large-bodied aquatic vertebrate species with a history of human exploitation in the region. We used a combination of searches in the gray and scientific literature from the past 24 years to provide an updated distributional map of studies on the target species. We calculated the distances between the study sites and the locations of the research institutes/universities that the first and last authors of the same study were affiliated to. For the period of 1990 to 2014, we found 105 studies on the subsistence and/or commercial hunting of aquatic vertebrates in the Brazilian Amazon in 271 locations that involved 43 institutions (37 Brazilian and 6 international). The spatial distribution of the studies across the Brazilian Amazon varied, but over 80% took place in the northeast and central Amazon, encompassing three States of the Legal Brazilian Amazon (Amazonas, 51.42%; Pará, 19.05%; and Amapá, 16.19%). Over half of the research study sites (52.91%) were within 500 km of the research institute/university of the first or last authors. Some research institutes/universities did not have any inter-institutional collaborations, while others collaborated with eight or more institutes. Some research institutes/universities conducted many studies, had an extensive collaboration network, and contributed greatly to the network of studies on Amazonian aquatic vertebrates. Our research contributes to the knowledge of studies on the subsistence and/or commercial hunting of the most exploited aquatic vertebrates of the Brazilian Amazon, illustrates the impact that collaboration networks have on research, and highlights potential areas for improvement and the generation of new collaborations.
Biomass burning losses of carbon estimated from ecosystem modeling and satellite data analysis for the Brazilian Amazon region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potter, Christopher; Brooks Genovese, Vanessa; Klooster, Steven; Bobo, Matthew; Torregrosa, Alicia

To produce a new daily record of gross carbon emissions from biomass burning events and post-burning decomposition fluxes in the states of the Brazilian Legal Amazon (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE), 1991. Anuario Estatistico do Brasil, Vol. 51. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil pp. 1-1024). We have used vegetation greenness estimates from satellite images as inputs to a terrestrial ecosystem production model. This carbon allocation model generates new estimates of regional aboveground vegetation biomass at 8-km resolution. The modeled biomass product is then combined for the first time with fire pixel counts from the advanced very high-resolution radiometer (AVHRR) to overlay regional burning activities in the Amazon. Results from our analysis indicate that carbon emission estimates from annual region-wide sources of deforestation and biomass burning in the early 1990s are apparently three to five times higher than reported in previous studies for the Brazilian Legal Amazon (Houghton et al., 2000. Nature 403, 301-304; Fearnside, 1997. Climatic Change 35, 321-360), i.e., studies which implied that the Legal Amazon region tends toward a net-zero annual source of terrestrial carbon. In contrast, our analysis implies that the total source fluxes over the entire Legal Amazon region range from 0.2 to 1.2 Pg C yr -1, depending strongly on annual rainfall patterns. The reasons for our higher burning emission estimates are (1) use of combustion fractions typically measured during Amazon forest burning events for computing carbon losses, (2) more detailed geographic distribution of vegetation biomass and daily fire activity for the region, and (3) inclusion of fire effects in extensive areas of the Legal Amazon covered by open woodland, secondary forests, savanna, and pasture vegetation. The total area of rainforest estimated annually to be deforested did not differ substantially among the previous analyses cited and our own.
Implications of Scientific Collaboration Networks on Studies of Aquatic Vertebrates in the Brazilian Amazon

PubMed Central

Salinero, María Celeste; Michalski, Fernanda

2016-01-01

The quantity of wildlife extracted from the Amazon has increased in the past decades as a consequence of an increase in human population density and income growth. To evaluate the spatial distribution of studies on subsistence and/or commercial hunting conducted in the Brazilian Amazon, we selected eight mid-sized and large-bodied aquatic vertebrate species with a history of human exploitation in the region. We used a combination of searches in the gray and scientific literature from the past 24 years to provide an updated distributional map of studies on the target species. We calculated the distances between the study sites and the locations of the research institutes/universities that the first and last authors of the same study were affiliated to. For the period of 1990 to 2014, we found 105 studies on the subsistence and/or commercial hunting of aquatic vertebrates in the Brazilian Amazon in 271 locations that involved 43 institutions (37 Brazilian and 6 international). The spatial distribution of the studies across the Brazilian Amazon varied, but over 80% took place in the northeast and central Amazon, encompassing three States of the Legal Brazilian Amazon (Amazonas, 51.42%; Pará, 19.05%; and Amapá, 16.19%). Over half of the research study sites (52.91%) were within 500 km of the research institute/university of the first or last authors. Some research institutes/universities did not have any inter-institutional collaborations, while others collaborated with eight or more institutes. Some research institutes/universities conducted many studies, had an extensive collaboration network, and contributed greatly to the network of studies on Amazonian aquatic vertebrates. Our research contributes to the knowledge of studies on the subsistence and/or commercial hunting of the most exploited aquatic vertebrates of the Brazilian Amazon, illustrates the impact that collaboration networks have on research, and highlights potential areas for improvement and the generation of new collaborations. PMID:27352247
Use of morphometric soil aggregates parameters to evaluate the reclamation process in mined areas located at amazon forest - Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro, A. I.; Fengler, F. H.; Longo, R. M.; Mello, G. F.; Damame, D. B.; Crowley, D. E.

2015-12-01

Brazil has a high mineral potential that have been explored over the years. A large fraction of these mineral resources are located in Amazon region, which is known for its large biodiversity and world climate importance. As the policies that control the Amazon preservation are relatively new, several mining activities have been exploring the Amazon territory, promoting a large process of degradation. Once the mining activities have a high potential of environmental changes the government created polices to restrain the mining in Amazon forests and obligate mining companies to reclaim theirs minded areas. However, the measurement of reclamation development still is a challenging task for the Professionals involved. The volume and complexity of the variables, allied to the difficulty in identifying the reclamation of ecosystem functionalities are still lack to ensure the reclamation success. In this sense this work aims to investigate the representativeness of morphometric soil aggregates parameters in the understanding of reclamation development. The study area is located in the National Forest of Jamari, State of Rondônia. In the past mining companies explored the region producing eight closed mines that are now in reclamation process. The soil aggregates morphometric measurements: geometric mean diameter (GMD), aggregate circularity index, and aggregate roundness, were choose based in its obtaining facility, and their association to biological activity. To achieve the proposed objective the aggregates of eight sites in reclamation, from different closed mines, where chosen and compared to Amazon forest and open mine soil aggregates. The results were analyzed to one way ANOVA to identifying differences between areas in reclamation, natural ecosystem, and open mine. It was obtained differences for GMD and circularity index. However, only the circularity index allowed to identifying differences between the reclamation sites. The results allowed concluding: (1) Morphometric aggregates measurements can represent the reclamation process in Amazon territory; (2) To validate the results more areas in reclamation process in different ecosystems must be investigated; (3) Roundness didn't represented any differences.Key words: circularity index, ecosystem, geometric mean diameter.
Chagas disease and globalization of the Amazon.

PubMed

Briceño-León, Roberto

2007-01-01

The increasing number of autochthonous cases of Chagas disease in the Amazon since the 1970s has led to fear that the disease may become a new public health problem in the region. This transformation in the disease's epidemiological pattern in the Amazon can be explained by environmental and social changes in the last 30 years. The current article draws on the sociological theory of perverse effects to explain these changes as the unwanted result of the shift from the "inward" development model prevailing until the 1970s to the "outward" model that we know as globalization, oriented by industrial forces and international trade. The current article highlights the implementation of five new patterns in agriculture, cattle-raising, mining, lumbering, and urban occupation that have generated changes in the environment and the traditional indigenous habitat and have led to migratory flows, deforestation, sedentary living, the presence of domestic animals, and changes in the habitat that facilitate colonization of human dwellings by vectors and the domestic and work-related transmission of the disease. The expansion of Chagas disease is thus a perverse effect of the globalization process in the Amazon.

Effects of Climate Change and Deforestation on the Amazon's Hydrological Cycle Will Require Interventions to Hydropower Planning in Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arias, M. E.; Farinosi, F.; Lee, E.; Livino, A.; Moorcroft, P. R.

2016-12-01

Brazil is the 2nd largest hydropower producer in the world, and this energy source will continue to be a priority in the country for the foreseeable decades. Yet, climate change is expected to alter the country's hydrological regime, in particular in the Amazon where most new hydropower development is occurring. In order to better assess the potential of hydropower projects in decades to come, it is important to evaluate how future hydrological regimes will affect their performance and suitability. This study quantifies the impacts of climate change and land use conversion on hydropower generation, and identifies mechanisms that could help energy planners to account for future changes. Using the largest network of dams in Brazil's national portfolio within a single watershed, the Tapaj's River, this study connects global and regional future environmental projections to daily river flows and operations of 37 dams with an overall potential capacity of 29.4 GW. We found that climate change could decrease hydropower potential by 477-665 MW (-6 to -8% from historical conditions) during the dry season, a critical loss since dams are expected to operate at only one third of capacity during this perioddue to the limited reservoir volume of most projects in the Amazon lowlands. Furthermore, deforestation is expected to increase the inter-annual variability in hydropower potential from 2,798 for baseline conditions to 3,764-3,899 (+967-1102) MW under future scenarios for the 2040s. Consideration of future hydrological conditions on individual dams showed that the magnitude and uncertainty of losses could be greater than 30 MW -equivalent to the total potential of some dams in the inventory- in 11 of the projects studied. Future hydrological conditions could also delay the period when maximum daily generation occurs by 22-29 days, which could have important implications to energy planning in Brazil because these run-of-river dams would no longer be able to meet the country's seasonal peak demand. This information on future changes to individual dams' performance could feed directly into the project selection process in order to adapt designs and operations to ensure the greatest benefits and least impacts from hydropower in the long term.
Transported African Dust to the Amazon: Physiochemical Properties and Associated Nutrients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barkley, A.; Blackwelder, P. L.; Prospero, J. M.; Gaston, C.

2017-12-01

African dust plays an essential role in fertilizing both oceanic and terrestrial ecosystems by supplying vital biological nutrients such as iron and phosphorus. During Boreal winter, large quantities of African dust are transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Amazon Basin. It is thought that the Bodélé Depression, part of Paleolake Mega Chad, serves as a major source of this dust, although its importance is debated. The soil in this topographical depression contains a distinctive blend of fluvial and diatomaceous sediments that are thought to supply the Amazon with the nutrients necessary to maintain soil fertility. However, the composition and physical properties of dust transported to the Amazon remain under-explored. Here we present measurements of the size, morphology, and chemical composition of transported dust collected in Cayenne, French Guiana and soil samples collected from the Bodélé Depression using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and soluble phosphorus measurements were also performed to investigate the nutrient profiles of filters collected during different air mass transport conditions. In addition to mineral dust, SEM revealed the presence of whole and fragmented freshwater diatoms transported from the Bodélé Depression, or other ephemeral African paleolakes, that were mixed with dust containing iron oxides and micronutrient-rich authigenic clays. Interestingly, transported diatoms were found to the be the largest transported particles with diameters well above 10 μm (up to 70 μm). The low density and high surface-to-volume ratios of diatoms could allow a longer range transport than dust of a comparable size. Therefore, the diatoms could act as a vehicle by which higher micronutrient fluxes could be transported to the Amazon.
Regional controls on geomorphology, hydrology, and ecosystem integrity in the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warne, A.G.; Meade, R.H.; White, W.A.; Guevara, E.H.; Gibeaut, J.; Smyth, R.C.; Aslan, A.; Tremblay, T.

2002-01-01

Interacting river discharge, tidal oscillation, and tropical rainfall across the 22,000 km2 Orinoco delta plain support diverse fresh and brackish water ecosystems. To develop environmental baseline information for this largely unpopulated region, we evaluate major coastal plain, shallow marine, and river systems of northeastern South America, which serves to identify principal sources and controls of water and sediment flow into, through, and out of the Orinoco Delta. The regional analysis includes a summary of the geology, hydrodynamics, sediment dynamics, and geomorphic characteristics of the Orinoco drainage basin, river, and delta system. Because the Amazon River is a major source of sediment deposited along the Orinoco coast, we summarize Amazon water and sediment input to the northeastern South American littoral zone. We investigate sediment dynamics and geomorphology of the Guiana coast, where marine processes and Holocene history are similar to the Orinoco coast. Major factors controlling Orinoco Delta water and sediment dynamics include the pronounced annual flood discharge; the uneven distribution of water and sediment discharge across the delta plain; discharge of large volumes of water with low sediment concentrations through the Rio Grande and Araguao distributaries; water and sediment dynamics associated with the Guayana littoral current along the northeastern South American coast; inflow of large volumes of Amazon sediment to the Orinoco coast; development of a fresh water plume seaward of Boca Grande; disruption of the Guayana Current by Trinidad, Boca de Serpientes, and Gulf of Paria; and the constriction at Boca de Serpientes. ?? 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Giovanni in the Cloud: Earth Science Data Exploration in Amazon Web Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hegde, M.; Petrenko, M.; Smit, C.; Zhang, H.; Pilone, P.; Zasorin, A. A.; Pham, L.

2017-12-01

Giovanni (https://giovanni.gsfc.nasa.gov/giovanni/) is a popular online data exploration tool at the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data Information Services Center (GES DISC), providing 22 analysis and visualization services for over 1600 Earth Science data variables. Owing to its popularity, Giovanni has experienced a consistent growth in overall demand, with periodic usage spikes attributed to trainings by education organizations, extensive data analysis in response to natural disasters, preparations for science meetings, etc. Furthermore, the new generation of spaceborne sensors and high resolution models have resulted in an exponential growth in data volume with data distributed across the traditional boundaries of datacenters. Seamless exploration of data (without users having to worry about data center boundaries) has been a key recommendation of the GES DISC User Working Group. These factors have required new strategies for delivering acceptable performance. The cloud-based Giovanni, built on Amazon Web Services (AWS), evaluates (1) AWS native solutions to provide a scalable, serverless architecture; (2) open standards for data storage in the Cloud; (3) a cost model for operations; and (4) end-user performance. Our preliminary findings indicate that the use of serverless architecture has a potential to significantly reduce development and operational cost of Giovanni. The combination of using AWS managed services, storage of data in open standards, and schema-on-read data access strategy simplifies data access and analytics, in addition to making data more accessible to the end users of Giovanni through popular programming languages.
Synergistic Ecoclimate Teleconnections from Forest Loss in Different Regions Structure Global Ecological Responses.

PubMed

Garcia, Elizabeth S; Swann, Abigail L S; Villegas, Juan C; Breshears, David D; Law, Darin J; Saleska, Scott R; Stark, Scott C

2016-01-01

Forest loss in hotspots around the world impacts not only local climate where loss occurs, but also influences climate and vegetation in remote parts of the globe through ecoclimate teleconnections. The magnitude and mechanism of remote impacts likely depends on the location and distribution of forest loss hotspots, but the nature of these dependencies has not been investigated. We use global climate model simulations to estimate the distribution of ecologically-relevant climate changes resulting from forest loss in two hotspot regions: western North America (wNA), which is experiencing accelerated dieoff, and the Amazon basin, which is subject to high rates of deforestation. The remote climatic and ecological net effects of simultaneous forest loss in both regions differed from the combined effects of loss from the two regions simulated separately, as evident in three impacted areas. Eastern South American Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) increased due to changes in seasonal rainfall associated with Amazon forest loss and changes in temperature related to wNA forest loss. Eurasia's GPP declined with wNA forest loss due to cooling temperatures increasing soil ice volume. Southeastern North American productivity increased with simultaneous forest loss, but declined with only wNA forest loss due to changes in VPD. Our results illustrate the need for a new generation of local-to-global scale analyses to identify potential ecoclimate teleconnections, their underlying mechanisms, and most importantly, their synergistic interactions, to predict the responses to increasing forest loss under future land use change and climate change.
Giovanni in the Cloud: Earth Science Data Exploration in Amazon Web Services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petrenko, Maksym; Hegde, Mahabal; Smit, Christine; Zhang, Hailiang; Pilone, Paul; Zasorin, Andrey A.; Pham, Long

2017-01-01

Giovanni is an exploration tool at the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data Information Services Center (GES DISC), providing 22 analysis and visualization services for over 1600 Earth Science data variables. Owing to its popularity, Giovanni has experienced a consistent growth in overall demand, with periodic usage spikes attributed to trainings by education organizations, extensive data analysis in response to natural disasters, preparations for science meetings, etc. Furthermore, the new generation of spaceborne sensors and high resolution models have resulted in an exponential growth in data volume with data distributed across the traditional boundaries of data centers. Seamless exploration of data (without users having to worry about data center boundaries) has been a key recommendation of the GES DISC User Working Group. These factors have required new strategies for delivering acceptable performance. The cloud-based Giovanni, built on Amazon Web Services (AWS), evaluates (1) AWS native solutions to provide a scalable, serverless architecture; (2) open standards for data storage in the Cloud; (3) a cost model for operations; and (4) end-user performance. Our preliminary findings indicate that the use of serverless architecture has a potential to significantly reduce development and operational cost of Giovanni. The combination of using AWS managed services, storage of data in open standards, and schema-on-read data access strategy simplifies data access and analytics, in addition to making data more accessible to the end users of Giovanni through popular programming languages.
Monitoring selective logging in western Amazonia with repeat lidar flights

Treesearch

H.E. Andersen; S.E. Reutebuch; R.J. McGaughey; M.V.N. d' Oliveira; M. Keller

2014-01-01

The objective of this study was to test the use of repeat flight, airborne laser scanning data (lidar) for estimating changes associated with low-impact selective logging (approx. 10-15 m3 ha−1 = 5-7% of total standing volume harvested) in natural tropical forests in the Western Brazilian Amazon. Specifically, we investigated change in area...
Weather For Aircrews - Air Force Handbook 11-203, Volume 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-03-01

I S-X. Aurora Borealis...combinations of these factors produce tropical weather ranging from the hot, humid climate of the Amazon and Congo river basins, to the arid Sahara Desert... Aurora . Disturbances on the sun spew out bursts of energy particles, a portion of which eventually reach the earth. The high-energy particles strike
Amazon forest structure generates diurnal and seasonal variability in light utilization

Treesearch

Douglas C. Morton; Jeremy Rubio; Bruce D. Cook; Jean-Philippe Gastellu-Etchegorry; Marcos Longo; Hyeungu Choi; Maria Hunter; Michael Keller

2016-01-01

The complex three-dimensional (3-D) structure of tropical forests generates a diversity of light environments for canopy and understory trees. Understanding diurnal and seasonal changes in light availability is critical for interpreting measurements of net ecosystem exchange and improving ecosystem models. Here, we used the Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer (DART...
Annual Carbon Emissions from Deforestation in the Amazon Basin between 2000 and 2010.

PubMed

Song, Xiao-Peng; Huang, Chengquan; Saatchi, Sassan S; Hansen, Matthew C; Townshend, John R

2015-01-01

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is considered one of the most cost-effective strategies for mitigating climate change. However, historical deforestation and emission rates-critical inputs for setting reference emission levels for REDD+-are poorly understood. Here we use multi-source, time-series satellite data to quantify carbon emissions from deforestation in the Amazon basin on a year-to-year basis between 2000 and 2010. We first derive annual deforestation indicators by using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Vegetation Continuous Fields (MODIS VCF) product. MODIS indicators are calibrated by using a large sample of Landsat data to generate accurate deforestation rates, which are subsequently combined with a spatially explicit biomass dataset to calculate committed annual carbon emissions. Across the study area, the average deforestation and associated carbon emissions were estimated to be 1.59 ± 0.25 M ha•yr(-1) and 0.18 ± 0.07 Pg C•yr(-1) respectively, with substantially different trends and inter-annual variability in different regions. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased between 2001 and 2004 and declined substantially afterwards, whereas deforestation in the Bolivian Amazon, the Colombian Amazon, and the Peruvian Amazon increased over the study period. The average carbon density of lost forests after 2005 was 130 Mg C•ha(-1), ~11% lower than the average carbon density of remaining forests in year 2010 (144 Mg C•ha(-1)). Moreover, the average carbon density of cleared forests increased at a rate of 7 Mg C•ha(-1)•yr(-1) from 2005 to 2010, suggesting that deforestation has been progressively encroaching into high-biomass lands in the Amazon basin. Spatially explicit, annual deforestation and emission estimates like the ones derived in this study are useful for setting baselines for REDD+ and other emission mitigation programs, and for evaluating the performance of such efforts.
Annual Carbon Emissions from Deforestation in the Amazon Basin between 2000 and 2010

PubMed Central

Song, Xiao-Peng; Huang, Chengquan; Saatchi, Sassan S.; Hansen, Matthew C.; Townshend, John R.

2015-01-01

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is considered one of the most cost-effective strategies for mitigating climate change. However, historical deforestation and emission rates―critical inputs for setting reference emission levels for REDD+―are poorly understood. Here we use multi-source, time-series satellite data to quantify carbon emissions from deforestation in the Amazon basin on a year-to-year basis between 2000 and 2010. We first derive annual deforestation indicators by using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Vegetation Continuous Fields (MODIS VCF) product. MODIS indicators are calibrated by using a large sample of Landsat data to generate accurate deforestation rates, which are subsequently combined with a spatially explicit biomass dataset to calculate committed annual carbon emissions. Across the study area, the average deforestation and associated carbon emissions were estimated to be 1.59 ± 0.25 M ha•yr−1 and 0.18 ± 0.07 Pg C•yr−1 respectively, with substantially different trends and inter-annual variability in different regions. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased between 2001 and 2004 and declined substantially afterwards, whereas deforestation in the Bolivian Amazon, the Colombian Amazon, and the Peruvian Amazon increased over the study period. The average carbon density of lost forests after 2005 was 130 Mg C•ha−1, ~11% lower than the average carbon density of remaining forests in year 2010 (144 Mg C•ha−1). Moreover, the average carbon density of cleared forests increased at a rate of 7 Mg C•ha−1•yr−1 from 2005 to 2010, suggesting that deforestation has been progressively encroaching into high-biomass lands in the Amazon basin. Spatially explicit, annual deforestation and emission estimates like the ones derived in this study are useful for setting baselines for REDD+ and other emission mitigation programs, and for evaluating the performance of such efforts. PMID:25951328
A Cost-Benefit Study of Doing Astrophysics On The Cloud: Production of Image Mosaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berriman, G. B.; Good, J. C. Deelman, E.; Singh, G. Livny, M.

2009-09-01

Utility grids such as the Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3 clouds offer computational and storage resources that can be used on-demand for a fee by compute- and data-intensive applications. The cost of running an application on such a cloud depends on the compute, storage and communication resources it will provision and consume. Different execution plans of the same application may result in significantly different costs. We studied via simulation the cost performance trade-offs of different execution and resource provisioning plans by creating, under the Amazon cloud fee structure, mosaics with the Montage image mosaic engine, a widely used data- and compute-intensive application. Specifically, we studied the cost of building mosaics of 2MASS data that have sizes of 1, 2 and 4 square degrees, and a 2MASS all-sky mosaic. These are examples of mosaics commonly generated by astronomers. We also study these trade-offs in the context of the storage and communication fees of Amazon S3 when used for long-term application data archiving. Our results show that by provisioning the right amount of storage and compute resources cost can be significantly reduced with no significant impact on application performance.
New Generation of Catalogues for the New Generation of Users: A Comparison of Six Library Catalogues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mercun, Tanja; Zumer, Maja

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the problems and issues faced by online library catalogues. It aims to establish how libraries have undertaken the mission of developing the next generation catalogues and how they compare to new tools such as Amazon. Design/methodology/approach: An expert study was carried out in January…
Antinociceptive effects of tramadol hydrochloride after intravenous administration to Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis).

PubMed

Geelen, Saskia; Sanchez-Migallon Guzman, David; Souza, Marcy J; Cox, Sherry; Keuler, Nicholas S; Paul-Murphy, Joanne R

2013-02-01

To determine the antinociceptive and sedative effects of tramadol in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis) following IV administration. 11 healthy Hispaniolan Amazon parrots of unknown sex. Tramadol hydrochloride (5 mg/kg, IV) and an equivalent volume (≤ 0.34 mL) of saline (0.9% NaCl) solution were administered to parrots in a complete crossover study design. Foot withdrawal response to a thermal stimulus was determined 30 to 60 minutes before (baseline) and 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240 minutes after treatment administration; agitation-sedation scores were determined for parrots at each of those times. The estimated mean changes in temperature from the baseline value that elicited a foot withdrawal response were 1.65° and -1.08°C after administration of tramadol and saline solution, respectively. Temperatures at which a foot withdrawal response was elicited were significantly higher than baseline values at all 5 evaluation times after administration of tramadol and were significantly lower than baseline values at 30, 120, and 240 minutes after administration of saline solution. No sedation, agitation, or other adverse effects were observed in any of the parrots after administration of tramadol. Tramadol hydrochloride (5 mg/kg, IV) significantly increased the thermal nociception threshold for Hispaniolan Amazon parrots in the present study. Sedation and adverse effects were not observed. These results are consistent with results of other studies in which the antinociceptive effects of tramadol after oral administration to parrots were determined.
Renal, gastrointestinal, and hemostatic effects of oral administration of meloxicam to Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis).

PubMed

Dijkstra, Bas; Guzman, David Sanchez-Migallon; Gustavsen, Kate; Owens, Sean D; Hass, Carlyle; Kass, Philip H; Paul-Murphy, Joanne R

2015-04-01

To investigate renal, gastrointestinal, and hemostatic effects associated with oral administration of multiple doses of meloxicam to healthy Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis). 12 Hispaniolan Amazon parrots. Birds were assigned to receive meloxicam oral suspension (1.6 mg/kg, PO, q 12 h) and 2.5 mL of tap water inserted into the crop by use of a gavage tube (n = 8) or the equivalent volume of tap water only (control group; 4) for 15 days. Urine and feces were collected 2 hours after treatment administration each day. Feces were evaluated for occult blood. Results of a CBC and serum biochemical analysis and measured N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAG) activity and whole blood clotting time were evaluated before, during, and after completion of treatments. Results of urinalysis and measured urine NAG activity were also evaluated. Birds treated with meloxicam had a significant increase in number of WBCs and decrease in PCV from before to after treatment. The PCV also decreased significantly, compared with results for the control group; however, WBC count and PCV for all birds remained within reference ranges throughout the study. One parrot treated with meloxicam had a single high value for urine NAG activity. Meloxicam administered orally at the dosage used in this study caused no apparent negative changes in several renal, gastrointestinal, or hemostatic variables in healthy Hispaniolan Amazon parrots. Additional studies to evaluate adverse effects of NSAIDs in birds will be needed.
El Niño drought increased canopy turnover in Amazon forests.

PubMed

Leitold, Veronika; Morton, Douglas C; Longo, Marcos; Dos-Santos, Maiza Nara; Keller, Michael; Scaranello, Marcos

2018-03-25

Amazon droughts, including the 2015-2016 El Niño, may reduce forest net primary productivity and increase canopy tree mortality, thereby altering both the short- and the long-term net forest carbon balance. Given the broad extent of drought impacts, inventory plots or eddy flux towers may not capture regional variability in forest response to drought. We used multi-temporal airborne Lidar data and field measurements of coarse woody debris to estimate patterns of canopy turnover and associated carbon losses in intact and fragmented forests in the central Brazilian Amazon between 2013-2014 and 2014-2016. Average annualized canopy turnover rates increased by 65% during the drought period in both intact and fragmented forests. The average size and height of turnover events was similar for both time intervals, in contrast to expectations that the 2015-2016 El Niño drought would disproportionally affect large trees. Lidar-biomass relationships between canopy turnover and field measurements of coarse woody debris were modest (R 2 ≈ 0.3), given similar coarse woody debris production and Lidar-derived changes in canopy volume from single tree and multiple branch fall events. Our findings suggest that El Niño conditions accelerated canopy turnover in central Amazon forests, increasing coarse woody debris production by 62% to 1.22 Mg C ha -1 yr -1 in drought years . No claim to original US Government works New Phytologist © 2018 New Phytologist Trust.
The enormous Chillos Valley Lahar: An ash-flow-generated debris flow from Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mothes, P.A.; Hall, M.L.; Janda, R.J.

1998-01-01

The Chillos Valley Lahar (CVL), the largest Holocene debris flow in area and volume as yet recognized in the northern Andes, formed on Cotopaxi volcano's north and northeast slopes and descended river systems that took it 326 km north-northwest to the Pacific Ocean and 130+ km east into the Amazon basin. In the Chillos Valley, 40 km downstream from the volcano, depths of 80-160 m and valley cross sections up to 337000m2 are observed, implying peak flow discharges of 2.6-6.0 million m3/s. The overall volume of the CVL is estimated to be ???3.8 km3. The CVL was generated approximately 4500 years BP by a rhyolitic ash flow that followed a small sector collapse on the north and northeast sides of Cotopaxi, which melted part of the volcano's icecap and transformed rapidly into the debris flow. The ash flow and resulting CVL have identical components, except for foreign fragments picked up along the flow path. Juvenile materials, including vitric ash, crystals, and pumice, comprise 80-90% of the lahar's deposit, whereas rhyolitic, dacitic, and andesitic lithics make up the remainder. The sand-size fraction and the 2- to 10-mm fraction together dominate the deposit, constituting ???63 and ???15 wt.% of the matrix, respectively, whereas the silt-size fraction averages less than ???10 wt.% and the clay-size fraction less than 0.5 wt.%. Along the 326-km runout, these particle-size fractions vary little, as does the sorting coefficient (average = 2.6). There is no tendency toward grading or improved sorting. Limited bulking is recognized. The CVL was an enormous non-cohesive debris flow, notable for its ash-flow origin and immense volume and peak discharge which gave it characteristics and a behavior akin to large cohesive mudflows. Significantly, then, ash-flow-generated debris flows can also achieve large volumes and cover great areas; thus, they can conceivably affect large populated regions far from their source. Especially dangerous, therefore, are snowclad volcanoes with recent silicic ash-flow histories such as those found in the Andes and Alaska.
Mississippi and Louisiana Estuarine Areas. Freshwater Diversion to Lake Pontchartrain Basin and Mississippi Sound. Feasibility Study. Volume 4. Public Views and Responses.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-04-01

looked at carefully. He said he recognized the dieback in the Louisiana marshes because of levee systems and the displacement of fishermen after seeing...noted these systems were created and Ined by great river systems like the Mississippi and Amazon Rivers. - huition to productivity extends far out to
Military Review: The Professional Journal of the U.S. Army. Volume 81, Number 4, July-August 2001

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-08-01

commerce should The Promise of e-Commerce to Defense: The Road to Savings J. Michael Brower InsightsRM help counter Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos ...www.crn.com>. 4. Tichakorn Hill, Defense News (23 October 2000), 62; Jeff Bezos , The Industrial Standard (2 Octo- ber 2000), 41; <www.thestandard.com>. See
Sampling procedures for inventory of commercial volume tree species in Amazon Forest.

PubMed

Netto, Sylvio P; Pelissari, Allan L; Cysneiros, Vinicius C; Bonazza, Marcelo; Sanquetta, Carlos R

2017-01-01

The spatial distribution of tropical tree species can affect the consistency of the estimators in commercial forest inventories, therefore, appropriate sampling procedures are required to survey species with different spatial patterns in the Amazon Forest. For this, the present study aims to evaluate the conventional sampling procedures and introduce the adaptive cluster sampling for volumetric inventories of Amazonian tree species, considering the hypotheses that the density, the spatial distribution and the zero-plots affect the consistency of the estimators, and that the adaptive cluster sampling allows to obtain more accurate volumetric estimation. We use data from a census carried out in Jamari National Forest, Brazil, where trees with diameters equal to or higher than 40 cm were measured in 1,355 plots. Species with different spatial patterns were selected and sampled with simple random sampling, systematic sampling, linear cluster sampling and adaptive cluster sampling, whereby the accuracy of the volumetric estimation and presence of zero-plots were evaluated. The sampling procedures applied to species were affected by the low density of trees and the large number of zero-plots, wherein the adaptive clusters allowed concentrating the sampling effort in plots with trees and, thus, agglutinating more representative samples to estimate the commercial volume.

Model-Driven Engineering: Automatic Code Generation and Beyond

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-01

and Weblogic as well as cloud environments such as Mi- crosoft Azure and Amazon Web Services®. Finally, while the generated code has dependencies on...code generation in the context of the full system lifecycle from development to sustainment. Acquisition programs in govern- ment or large commercial...Acquirers are concerned with the full system lifecycle, and they need confidence that the development methods will enable the system to meet the functional
Parallel implementation of D-Phylo algorithm for maximum likelihood clusters.

PubMed

Malik, Shamita; Sharma, Dolly; Khatri, Sunil Kumar

2017-03-01

This study explains a newly developed parallel algorithm for phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences. The newly designed D-Phylo is a more advanced algorithm for phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood approach. The D-Phylo while misusing the seeking capacity of k -means keeps away from its real constraint of getting stuck at privately conserved motifs. The authors have tested the behaviour of D-Phylo on Amazon Linux Amazon Machine Image(Hardware Virtual Machine)i2.4xlarge, six central processing unit, 122 GiB memory, 8 × 800 Solid-state drive Elastic Block Store volume, high network performance up to 15 processors for several real-life datasets. Distributing the clusters evenly on all the processors provides us the capacity to accomplish a near direct speed if there should arise an occurrence of huge number of processors.
Synergistic Ecoclimate Teleconnections from Forest Loss in Different Regions Structure Global Ecological Responses

PubMed Central

Garcia, Elizabeth S.; Swann, Abigail L. S.; Villegas, Juan C.; Breshears, David D.; Law, Darin J.; Saleska, Scott R.; Stark, Scott C.

2016-01-01

Forest loss in hotspots around the world impacts not only local climate where loss occurs, but also influences climate and vegetation in remote parts of the globe through ecoclimate teleconnections. The magnitude and mechanism of remote impacts likely depends on the location and distribution of forest loss hotspots, but the nature of these dependencies has not been investigated. We use global climate model simulations to estimate the distribution of ecologically-relevant climate changes resulting from forest loss in two hotspot regions: western North America (wNA), which is experiencing accelerated dieoff, and the Amazon basin, which is subject to high rates of deforestation. The remote climatic and ecological net effects of simultaneous forest loss in both regions differed from the combined effects of loss from the two regions simulated separately, as evident in three impacted areas. Eastern South American Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) increased due to changes in seasonal rainfall associated with Amazon forest loss and changes in temperature related to wNA forest loss. Eurasia’s GPP declined with wNA forest loss due to cooling temperatures increasing soil ice volume. Southeastern North American productivity increased with simultaneous forest loss, but declined with only wNA forest loss due to changes in VPD. Our results illustrate the need for a new generation of local-to-global scale analyses to identify potential ecoclimate teleconnections, their underlying mechanisms, and most importantly, their synergistic interactions, to predict the responses to increasing forest loss under future land use change and climate change. PMID:27851740
Synergistic Ecoclimate Teleconnections from Forest Loss in Different Regions Structure Global Ecological Responses

DOE PAGES

Garcia, Elizabeth S.; Swann, Abigail L. S.; Villegas, Juan C.; ...

2016-11-16

Forest loss in hotspots around the world impacts not only local climate where loss occurs, but also influences climate and vegetation in remote parts of the globe through ecoclimate teleconnections. The magnitude and mechanism of remote impacts likely depends on the location and distribution of forest loss hotspots, but the nature of these dependencies has not been investigated. We use global climate model simulations to estimate the distribution of ecologically-relevant climate changes resulting from forest loss in two hotspot regions: western North America (wNA), which is experiencing accelerated dieoff, and the Amazon basin, which is subject to high rates ofmore » deforestation. The remote climatic and ecological net effects of simultaneous forest loss in both regions differed from the combined effects of loss from the two regions simulated separately, as evident in three impacted areas. Eastern South American Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) increased due to changes in seasonal rainfall associated with Amazon forest loss and changes in temperature related to wNA forest loss. Eurasia's GPP declined with wNA forest loss due to cooling temperatures increasing soil ice volume. Southeastern North American productivity increased with simultaneous forest loss, but declined with only wNA forest loss due to changes in VPD. In conclusion, our results illustrate the need for a new generation of local-to-global scale analyses to identify potential ecoclimate teleconnections, their underlying mechanisms, and most importantly, their synergistic interactions, to predict the responses to increasing forest loss under future land use change and climate change.« less
Synergistic Ecoclimate Teleconnections from Forest Loss in Different Regions Structure Global Ecological Responses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garcia, Elizabeth S.; Swann, Abigail L. S.; Villegas, Juan C.

Forest loss in hotspots around the world impacts not only local climate where loss occurs, but also influences climate and vegetation in remote parts of the globe through ecoclimate teleconnections. The magnitude and mechanism of remote impacts likely depends on the location and distribution of forest loss hotspots, but the nature of these dependencies has not been investigated. We use global climate model simulations to estimate the distribution of ecologically-relevant climate changes resulting from forest loss in two hotspot regions: western North America (wNA), which is experiencing accelerated dieoff, and the Amazon basin, which is subject to high rates ofmore » deforestation. The remote climatic and ecological net effects of simultaneous forest loss in both regions differed from the combined effects of loss from the two regions simulated separately, as evident in three impacted areas. Eastern South American Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) increased due to changes in seasonal rainfall associated with Amazon forest loss and changes in temperature related to wNA forest loss. Eurasia's GPP declined with wNA forest loss due to cooling temperatures increasing soil ice volume. Southeastern North American productivity increased with simultaneous forest loss, but declined with only wNA forest loss due to changes in VPD. In conclusion, our results illustrate the need for a new generation of local-to-global scale analyses to identify potential ecoclimate teleconnections, their underlying mechanisms, and most importantly, their synergistic interactions, to predict the responses to increasing forest loss under future land use change and climate change.« less
Necromass in undisturbed and logged forests in the Brazilian Amazon.

Treesearch

Michael Palace; Michael Keller; Gregory P. Asner; Jose Natalino M. Silva; Carlos Passos

2007-01-01

Necromass is an important stock of carbon in tropical forests. We estimated volume, density, and mass of fallen and standing necromass in undisturbed and selectively logged forests at Juruena, Mato Grosso, Brazil (10.488S, 58.478W). We also measured standing dead trees at the Tapajos National Forest, Para, Brazil (3.088S, 54.948W) complementing our earlier study there...
Water contamination from oil extraction activities in Northern Peruvian Amazonian rivers.

PubMed

Yusta-García, Raúl; Orta-Martínez, Martí; Mayor, Pedro; González-Crespo, Carlos; Rosell-Melé, Antoni

2017-06-01

Oil extraction activities in the Northern Peruvian Amazon have generated a long-standing socio-environmental conflict between oil companies, governmental authorities and indigenous communities, partly derived from the discharge of produced waters containing high amounts of heavy metals and hydrocarbons. To assess the impact of produced waters discharges we conducted a meta-analysis of 2951 river water and 652 produced water chemical analyses from governmental institutions and oil companies reports, collected in four Amazonian river basins (Marañon, Tigre, Corrientes and Pastaza) and their tributaries. Produced water discharges had much higher concentrations of chloride, barium, cadmium and lead than are typically found in fresh waters, resulting in the widespread contamination of the natural water courses. A significant number of water samples had levels of cadmium, barium, hexavalent chromium and lead that did not meet Peruvian and international water standards. Our study shows that spillage of produced water in Peruvian Amazon rivers placed at risk indigenous population and wildlife during several decades. Furthermore, the impact of such activities in the headwaters of the Amazon extended well beyond the boundaries of oil concessions and national borders, which should be taken into consideration when evaluating large scale anthropogenic impacts in the Amazon. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Biomarkers of Mercury Exposure in the Amazon

PubMed Central

de Castro, Nathália Santos Serrão; Lima, Marcelo de Oliveira

2014-01-01

Mercury exposure in the Amazon has been studied since the 1980s decade and the assessment of human mercury exposure in the Amazon is difficult given that the natural occurrence of this metal is high and the concentration of mercury in biological samples of this population exceeds the standardized value of normality established by WHO. Few studies have focused on the discovery of mercury biomarkers in the region's population. In this way, some studies have used genetics as well as immunological and cytogenetic tools in order to find a molecular biomarker for assessing the toxicological effect of mercury in the Amazonian population. Most of those studies focused attention on the relation between mercury exposure and autoimmunity and, because of that, they will be discussed in more detail. Here we introduce the general aspects involved with each biomarker that was studied in the region in order to contextualize the reader and add information about the Amazonian life style and health that may be considered for future studies. We hope that, in the future, the toxicological studies in this field use high technological tools, such as the next generation sequencing and proteomics skills, in order to comprehend basic questions regarding the metabolic route of mercury in populations that are under constant exposure, such as in the Amazon. PMID:24895619
High genetic diversity and connectivity in Colossoma macropomum in the Amazon basin revealed by microsatellite markers.

PubMed

Fazzi-Gomes, Paola; Guerreiro, Sávio; Palheta, Glauber David Almeida; Melo, Nuno Filipe Alves Correa de; Santos, Sidney; Hamoy, Igor

2017-01-01

Colossoma macropomum is the second largest scaled fish of the Amazon. It is economically important for commercial fisheries and for aquaculture, but few studies have examined the diversity and genetic structure of natural populations of this species. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of genetic variability and connectivity that exist between three natural populations of C. macropomum from the Amazon basin. In total, 247 samples were collected from the municipalities of Tefé, Manaus, and Santarém. The populations were genotyped using a panel of 12 multiplex microsatellite markers. The genetic diversity found in these populations was high and similar to other populations described in the literature. These populations showed a pattern of high gene flow associated with the lack of a genetic structure pattern, indicating that the number of migrants per generation and recent migration rates are high. The values of the FST, RST, and exact test of differentiation were not significant for pairwise comparisons between populations. The Bayesian population clustering analysis indicated a single population. Thus, the data provide evidence for high genetic diversity and high gene flow among C. macropomum populations in the investigated region of the Amazon basin. This information is important for programs aiming at the conservation of natural populations.
High genetic diversity and connectivity in Colossoma macropomum in the Amazon basin revealed by microsatellite markers

PubMed Central

Fazzi-Gomes, Paola; Guerreiro, Sávio; Palheta, Glauber David Almeida; de Melo, Nuno Filipe Alves Correa; Santos, Sidney; Hamoy, Igor

2017-01-01

Abstract Colossoma macropomum is the second largest scaled fish of the Amazon. It is economically important for commercial fisheries and for aquaculture, but few studies have examined the diversity and genetic structure of natural populations of this species. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of genetic variability and connectivity that exist between three natural populations of C. macropomum from the Amazon basin. In total, 247 samples were collected from the municipalities of Tefé, Manaus, and Santarém. The populations were genotyped using a panel of 12 multiplex microsatellite markers. The genetic diversity found in these populations was high and similar to other populations described in the literature. These populations showed a pattern of high gene flow associated with the lack of a genetic structure pattern, indicating that the number of migrants per generation and recent migration rates are high. The values of the FST, RST, and exact test of differentiation were not significant for pairwise comparisons between populations. The Bayesian population clustering analysis indicated a single population. Thus, the data provide evidence for high genetic diversity and high gene flow among C. macropomum populations in the investigated region of the Amazon basin. This information is important for programs aiming at the conservation of natural populations. PMID:28170026
Post-Web 2.0 Pedagogy: From Student-Generated Content to International Co-Production Enabled by Mobile Social Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cochrane, Thomas; Antonczak, Laurent; Wagner, Daniel

2013-01-01

The advent of web 2.0 has enabled new forms of collaboration centred upon user-generated content, however, mobile social media is enabling a new wave of social collaboration. Mobile devices have disrupted and reinvented traditional media markets and distribution: iTunes, Google Play and Amazon now dominate music industry distribution channels,…
Systematic data interpretation of remote sensing in the reception of hydrocarbons, volume 1. M.S. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Demiranda, F. P. (Principal Investigator)

1984-01-01

The utilization of MSS-LANDSAT and RADAR imagery in the definition of morphostructural anomalies, which are indicative of hydrocarbon entrapment sites in the limit of the Middle and Lower Amazons basins was systemized. The identification and classification of the morphostructural anomalies were accomplished by means of the drainage network interpretation, based on the criteria previously proposed. Thirty anomalies were recognized, being subdivided into twenty domes, two fault controlled domes, six structural depressions, one fault controlled structural depression and one structure developed on a tilted fault block. Many anomalies are not randomly located. Rather, they seem to be aligned according to directions ENE and NNW, suggesting the presence of morphstructural trends in this part of the Amazons Basin. Significant orientations of lineaments were determined through statistical analysis, which defined many regional trends. The directions coincide with morphostructural trends orientations and with the directions of important structures in the Precambrian basement.
Foraminifera and Thecamoebians as hydrodynamic indicators for Amazon estuarine system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laut, L. L.; Figueiredo, A. G.; Santos, V. F.; Souza-Vieira, S.

2007-05-01

The Amazon mangrove forest in Brazilian territory is one of the most extended in the world. It goes from Ponta do Tubarao (4S e 43W) to Cape Orange (5N e 51W) along 2,250 km of coast line. Because the Amazon River System influence, it can be divided into two regions; one with river influence toward north and the other without river influence. In order to characterize the mangrove environment hydrodynamic on both sides of the Amazon River System, foraminifera and thecamoebians assemblages were investigated in the sediment of two estuaries; Araguari to the North (1 15S - 50 30W) and Caete to the South (0 50S - 46 30W). For both estuaries forams and thecamoebians species distribution are atypical relative to other world regions. In both, there are only few calcareous forams and almost all are small and possible of being transported in suspension. Typical estuarine species were not identified. The typical mangrove forams which are agglutinated species were dominant in both estuaries. However, the Caete estuary has a large number of forams species (29), indicating better efficiency in mixing fresh and salt water in comparison to the Araguari. On the other hand, the Araguari has big richness of thecamoebians species (15) indicating fresh water prevalence. The fresh water predominance is due to the Amazon water plume being diverted to the Amapa coast where the Araguari estuary is located. The foraminifera species was also used to determine the salt water penetration in the estuary. In the Caete estuary, salt water penetrates to about 40 km while in the Araguari it does coincide with the limit of the bore tide wave "pororoca" penetration, 45 km. Based on the species succession (forams to thecamoebians species) the Araguary estuary can be divided into three regions controlled by turbidity: the outer, middle and inner estuary. The Caete species succession is not that clear and only could be divided based on salinity into outer and inner estuary. In both estuaries forams and thecamoebians assemblages are efficient tools to distinguish hydrodynamic patterns. The Amazon water plume flowing toward North interferes in salt water penetration in the Araguari estuary, which inhibits forams development but favoring the thecamoebians. On the Amazon south side, the macrotidal regime and smaller volume of fresh water in the estuaries contribute to fresh and salt water mixing and thus resulting in homogeneity of forams and thecamoebians species distribution.
Sources and routing of the Amazon River Flood Wave

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richey, Jeffrey E.; Mertes, Leal A. K.; Dunne, Thomas; Victoria, Reynaldo L.; Forsberg, Bruce R.; Tancredi, AntôNio C. N. S.; Oliveira, Eurides

1989-09-01

We describe the sources and routing of the Amazon River flood wave through a 2000-km reach of the main channel, between São Paulo de Olivença and Obidos, Brazil. The damped hydrograph of the main stem reflects the large drainage basin area, the 3-month phase lag in peak flows between the north and south draining tributaries due to seasonal differences in precipitation, and the large volume of water stored on the floodplain. We examined several aspects of the valley floor hydrology that are important for biogeochemistry. These include volumes of water storage in the channel and the floodplain and the rates of transfer between these two storage elements at various seasons and in each segment of the valley. We estimate that up to 30% of the water in the main stem is derived from water that has passed through the floodplain. To predict the discharge at any cross section within the study reach, we used the Muskingum formula to predict the hydrograph at downriver cross sections from a known hydrograph at upstream cross-sections and inputs and outputs along each reach. The model was calibrated using three years of data and was successfully tested against an additional six years of data. With this model it is possible to interpolate discharges for unsampled times and sites.
Pharmacokinetics of a long-acting oxytetracycline preparation in ring-necked pheasants, great horned owls, and Amazon parrots.

PubMed

Teare, J A; Schwark, W S; Shin, S J; Graham, D L

1985-12-01

After a single IV or IM dose of a long-acting oxytetracycline (OTC) preparation, serum concentrations were determined at various times in the ring-necked pheasant, great horned owl, and Amazon parrot. Pharmacokinetic parameters, including serum half-life (t1/2) and apparent volume of distribution (Vd) were calculated from the OTC concentration-time curves for each species and route of administration. Significant differences (P less than 0.05) were found in the t1/2 and Vd parameters between species and routes of administration. Dosage regimens to maintain minimum OTC concentration of 5 micrograms/ml of serum were calculated from the t 1/2 and Vd values obtained, using steady-state pharmacokinetics. In the pheasant, the calculated mean IV dose was 23 mg/kg of body weight every 6 hours, whereas the mean IM dose was 43 mg/kg every 24 hours. The mean IM dose was 16 mg/kg every 24 hours for the owl and 58 mg/kg every 24 hours for the parrot. The small volumes required for treatment, the long-dosing interval obtainable, and the broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity of the long-acting OTC preparation studied offered major advantages over other antibiotics commonly used in treating avian species.
Drought-induced changes in Amazon forest structure from repeat airborne lidar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morton, D. C.; Leitold, V.; Longo, M.; Keller, M.; dos-Santos, M. N.; Scaranello, M. A., Sr.

2017-12-01

Drought events in tropical forests, including the 2015-2016 El Niño, may reduce net primary productivity and increase canopy tree mortality, thereby altering the short and long-term net carbon balance of tropical forests. Given the broad extent of drought impacts, forest inventory plots or eddy flux towers may not capture regional variability in forest response to drought. Here, we analyzed repeat airborne lidar data to evaluate canopy turnover from branch and tree fall before (2013-2014) and during (2014-2016) the recent El Niño drought in the eastern and central Brazilian Amazon. Coincident field surveys for a 16-ha subset of the lidar coverage provided complementary information to classify turnover areas by mechanism (branch, multiple branch, tree fall, multiple tree fall) and estimate the total coarse woody debris volume from canopy and understory tree mortality. Annualized rates of canopy turnover increased by 50%, on average, during the drought period in both intact and fragmented forests near Santarém, Pará. Turnover increased uniformly across all size classes, and there was limited evidence that taller trees contributed a greater proportion of turnover events in any size class in 2014-2016 compared to 2013-2014. This short-term increase in canopy turnover differs from findings in multi-year rainfall exclusion experiments that large trees were more sensitive to drought impacts. Field measurements confirmed the separability of the smallest (single branch) and largest damage classes (multiple tree falls), but single tree and multiple branch fall events generated similar coarse woody debris production and lidar-derived changes in canopy volume. Large-scale sampling possible with repeat airborne lidar data also captured strong local and regional gradients in canopy turnover. Differences in slope partially explained the north-south gradient in canopy turnover dynamics near Santarém, with larger increases in turnover on flatter terrain. Regional variability in canopy turnover in response to drought conditions highlights the need for a mechanistic representation of branch and tree fall dynamics in ecosystem models to resolve changes in net carbon balance from the increase in coarse woody debris production and reorganization of canopy light environments during drought years.
The future of the Amazon: new perspectives from climate, ecosystem and social sciences.

PubMed

Betts, Richard A; Malhi, Yadvinder; Roberts, J Timmons

2008-05-27

The potential loss or large-scale degradation of the tropical rainforests has become one of the iconic images of the impacts of twenty-first century environmental change and may be one of our century's most profound legacies. In the Amazon region, the direct threat of deforestation and degradation is now strongly intertwined with an indirect challenge we are just beginning to understand: the possibility of substantial regional drought driven by global climate change. The Amazon region hosts more than half of the world's remaining tropical forests, and some parts have among the greatest concentrations of biodiversity found anywhere on Earth. Overall, the region is estimated to host about a quarter of all global biodiversity. It acts as one of the major 'flywheels' of global climate, transpiring water and generating clouds, affecting atmospheric circulation across continents and hemispheres, and storing substantial reserves of biomass and soil carbon. Hence, the ongoing degradation of Amazonia is a threat to local climate stability and a contributor to the global atmospheric climate change crisis. Conversely, the stabilization of Amazonian deforestation and degradation would be an opportunity for local adaptation to climate change, as well as a potential global contributor towards mitigation of climate change. However, addressing deforestation in the Amazon raises substantial challenges in policy, governance, sustainability and economic science. This paper introduces a theme issue dedicated to a multidisciplinary analysis of these challenges.
Evaluation of the agreement among three handheld blood glucose meters and a laboratory blood analyzer for measurement of blood glucose concentration in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis).

PubMed

Acierno, Mark J; Mitchell, Mark A; Schuster, Patricia J; Freeman, Diana; Sanchez-Migallon Guzman, David; Tully, Thomas N

2009-02-01

To determine the degree of agreement between 3 commercially available point-of-care blood glucose meters and a laboratory analyzer for measurement of blood glucose concentrations in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis). 20 healthy adult Hispaniolan Amazon parrots. A 26-gauge needle and 3-mL syringe were used to obtain a blood sample (approx 0.5 mL) from a jugular vein of each parrot. Small volumes of blood (0.6 to 1.5 microL) were used to operate each of the blood glucose meters, and the remainder was placed into lithium heparin microtubes and centrifuged. Plasma was harvested and frozen at -30 degrees C. Within 5 days after collection, plasma samples were thawed and plasma glucose concentrations were measured by means of the laboratory analyzer. Agreement between pairs of blood glucose meters and between each blood glucose meter and the laboratory analyzer was evaluated by means of the Bland-Altman method, and limits of agreement (LOA) were calculated. None of the results of the 3 blood glucose meters agreed with results of the laboratory analyzer. Each point-of-care blood glucose meter underestimated the blood glucose concentration, and the degree of negative bias was not consistent (meter A bias, -94.9 mg/dL [LOA, -148.0 to -41.7 mg/dL]; meter B bias, -52 mg/dL [LOA, -107.5 to 3.5 mg/dL]; and meter C bias, -78.9 mg/dL [LOA, -137.2 to -20.6 mg/dL]). On the basis of these results, use of handheld blood glucose meters in the diagnosis or treatment of Hispaniolan Amazon parrots and other psittacines cannot be recommended.
Estimation of the fractional coverage of rainfall in climate models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eltahir, E. A. B.; Bras, R. L.

1993-01-01

The fraction of the grid cell area covered by rainfall, mu, is an essential parameter in descriptions of land surface hydrology in climate models. A simple procedure is presented for estimating this fraction, based on extensive observations of storm areas and rainfall volumes. Storm area and rainfall volume are often linearly related; this relation can be used to compute the storm area from the volume of rainfall simulated by a climate model. A formula is developed for computing mu, which describes the dependence of the fractional coverage of rainfall on the season of the year, the geographical region, rainfall volume, and the spatial and temporal resolution of the model. The new formula is applied in computing mu over the Amazon region. Significant temporal variability in the fractional coverage of rainfall is demonstrated. The implications of this variability for the modeling of land surface hydrology in climate models are discussed.
Illegal use of natural resources in federal protected areas of the Brazilian Amazon

PubMed Central

Silva, Jose M.C.; Michalski, Fernanda

2017-01-01

Background The Brazilian Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest regions and plays a key role in biodiversity conservation as well as climate adaptation and mitigation. The government has created a network of protected areas (PAs) to ensure long-term conservation of the region. However, despite the importance of and positive advances in the establishment of PAs, natural resource depletion in the Brazilian Amazon is pervasive. Methods We evaluated a total of 4,243 official law enforcement records generated between 2010 and 2015 to understand the geographical distribution of the illegal use of resources in federal PAs in the Brazilian Amazon. We classified illegal activities into ten categories and used generalized additive models (GAMs) to evaluate the relationship between illegal use of natural resources inside PAs with management type, age of PAs, population density, and accessibility. Results We found 27 types of illegal use of natural resources that were grouped into 10 categories of illegal activities. Most infractions were related to suppression and degradation of vegetation (37.40%), followed by illegal fishing (27.30%) and hunting activities (18.20%). The explanatory power of the GAMs was low for all categories of illegal activity, with a maximum explained variation of 41.2% for illegal activities as a whole, and a minimum of 14.6% for hunting activities. Discussion These findings demonstrate that even though PAs are fundamental for nature conservation in the Brazilian Amazon, the pressures and threats posed by human activities include a broad range of illegal uses of natural resources. Population density up to 50 km from a PA is a key variable, influencing illegal activities. These threats endanger long-term conservation and many efforts are still needed to maintain PAs that are large enough and sufficiently intact to maintain ecosystem functions and protect biodiversity. PMID:29038758

Illegal use of natural resources in federal protected areas of the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Kauano, Érico E; Silva, Jose M C; Michalski, Fernanda

2017-01-01

The Brazilian Amazon is the world's largest rainforest regions and plays a key role in biodiversity conservation as well as climate adaptation and mitigation. The government has created a network of protected areas (PAs) to ensure long-term conservation of the region. However, despite the importance of and positive advances in the establishment of PAs, natural resource depletion in the Brazilian Amazon is pervasive. We evaluated a total of 4,243 official law enforcement records generated between 2010 and 2015 to understand the geographical distribution of the illegal use of resources in federal PAs in the Brazilian Amazon. We classified illegal activities into ten categories and used generalized additive models (GAMs) to evaluate the relationship between illegal use of natural resources inside PAs with management type, age of PAs, population density, and accessibility. We found 27 types of illegal use of natural resources that were grouped into 10 categories of illegal activities. Most infractions were related to suppression and degradation of vegetation (37.40%), followed by illegal fishing (27.30%) and hunting activities (18.20%). The explanatory power of the GAMs was low for all categories of illegal activity, with a maximum explained variation of 41.2% for illegal activities as a whole, and a minimum of 14.6% for hunting activities. These findings demonstrate that even though PAs are fundamental for nature conservation in the Brazilian Amazon, the pressures and threats posed by human activities include a broad range of illegal uses of natural resources. Population density up to 50 km from a PA is a key variable, influencing illegal activities. These threats endanger long-term conservation and many efforts are still needed to maintain PAs that are large enough and sufficiently intact to maintain ecosystem functions and protect biodiversity.
Vulnerability of Hidropower Generation in Amazon's Tributaries Under Global Change Scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Von Randow, R.; Siqueira, J. L., Jr.; Rodriguez, D. A.; Tomasella, J.; Floriano, L. E.

2014-12-01

The Brazilian energy sector is under continued expansion. The majority of energy power generation in the country is done through hydropower, which represents around 88% of the energy originated from renewable sources in the country. Still, only 10% of the high potential for production of the Amazon basin is currently availed, and this raises attention for the implantation of new hydropower plants in the region. When a hydropower plant is considered to be built, the natural characteristics of the region are taken into account, considering that the rainfall regime follows certain stationarity. However, under the possibility of global change, the expected capacity of the plants may be compromised. The objective of this study is to evaluate if the current hydropower plants of some Amazon River tributaries can maintain their functionality under global environmental change conditions. For that, based on the discharge data and hydropower information available by Brazilian National Agency of Water and Energy we will infer the energy potential of these hydropower dams for the historic period that will be compared with the energy potential for future discharge under global environmental change conditions. The future discharge will be generated by the Distributed Hydrological Model developed at the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (MHD-INPE), driven by different climate change scenarios projected by regional and global atmospheric models, associated with land use scenarios projected by a dynamic land use model (LUCC-ME/INPE). MHD-INPE will be calibrated through observed discharges for 1970-1990 using current land use conditions, and will generate discharges for the period of 2000 to 2050. In addition, special attention will be given to the presence of secondary forest growth in the land use scenarios in order to identify the importance of considering this use in the modelling exercise, since that use is not usually considered in hydrological modelling studies.
Low cost, high performance processing of single particle cryo-electron microscopy data in the cloud.

PubMed

Cianfrocco, Michael A; Leschziner, Andres E

2015-05-08

The advent of a new generation of electron microscopes and direct electron detectors has realized the potential of single particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) as a technique to generate high-resolution structures. Calculating these structures requires high performance computing clusters, a resource that may be limiting to many likely cryo-EM users. To address this limitation and facilitate the spread of cryo-EM, we developed a publicly available 'off-the-shelf' computing environment on Amazon's elastic cloud computing infrastructure. This environment provides users with single particle cryo-EM software packages and the ability to create computing clusters with 16-480+ CPUs. We tested our computing environment using a publicly available 80S yeast ribosome dataset and estimate that laboratories could determine high-resolution cryo-EM structures for $50 to $1500 per structure within a timeframe comparable to local clusters. Our analysis shows that Amazon's cloud computing environment may offer a viable computing environment for cryo-EM.
Spatial variability of soil carbon stock in the Urucu river basin, Central Amazon-Brazil.

PubMed

Ceddia, Marcos Bacis; Villela, André Luis Oliveira; Pinheiro, Érika Flávia Machado; Wendroth, Ole

2015-09-01

The Amazon Forest plays a major role in C sequestration and release. However, few regional estimates of soil organic carbon (SOC) stock in this ecoregion exist. One of the barriers to improve SOC estimates is the lack of recent soil data at high spatial resolution, which hampers the application of new methods for mapping SOC stock. The aims of this work were: (i) to quantify SOC stock under undisturbed vegetation for the 0-30 and the 0-100 cm under Amazon Forest; (ii) to correlate the SOC stock with soil mapping units and relief attributes and (iii) to evaluate three geostatistical techniques to generate maps of SOC stock (ordinary, isotopic and heterotopic cokriging). The study site is located in the Central region of Amazon State, Brazil. The soil survey covered the study site that has an area of 80 km(2) and resulted in a 1:10,000 soil map. It consisted of 315 field observations (96 complete soil profiles and 219 boreholes). SOC stock was calculated by summing C stocks by horizon, determined as a product of BD, SOC and the horizon thickness. For each one of the 315 soil observations, relief attributes were derived from a topographic map to understand SOC dynamics. The SOC stocks across 30 and 100 cm soil depth were 3.28 and 7.32 kg C m(-2), respectively, which is, 34 and 16%, lower than other studies. The SOC stock is higher in soils developed in relief forms exhibiting well-drained soils, which are covered by Upland Dense Tropical Rainforest. Only SOC stock in the upper 100 cm exhibited spatial dependence allowing the generation of spatial variability maps based on spatial (co)-regionalization. The CTI was inversely correlated with SOC stock and was the only auxiliary variable feasible to be used in cokriging interpolation. The heterotopic cokriging presented the best performance for mapping SOC stock. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Specification and preliminary design of the CARTA system for satellite cartography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Machadoesilva, A. J. F. (Principal Investigator); Neto, G. C.; Serra, P. R. M.; Souza, R. C. M.; Mitsuo, Fernando Augusta, II

1984-01-01

Digital imagery acquired by satellite have inherent geometrical distortion due to sensor characteristics and to platform variations. In INPE a software system for geometric correction of LANDSAT MSS imagery is under development. Such connected imagery will be useful for map generation. Important examples are the generation of LANDSAT image-charts for the Amazon region and the possibility of integrating digital satellite imagery into a Geographic Information System.
Tropical forest carbon balance: effects of field- and satellite-based mortality regimes on the dynamics and the spatial structure of Central Amazon forest biomass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Vittorio, Alan V.; Negrón-Juárez, Robinson I.; Higuchi, Niro; Chambers, Jeffrey Q.

2014-03-01

Debate continues over the adequacy of existing field plots to sufficiently capture Amazon forest dynamics to estimate regional forest carbon balance. Tree mortality dynamics are particularly uncertain due to the difficulty of observing large, infrequent disturbances. A recent paper (Chambers et al 2013 Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 110 3949-54) reported that Central Amazon plots missed 9-17% of tree mortality, and here we address ‘why’ by elucidating two distinct mortality components: (1) variation in annual landscape-scale average mortality and (2) the frequency distribution of the size of clustered mortality events. Using a stochastic-empirical tree growth model we show that a power law distribution of event size (based on merged plot and satellite data) is required to generate spatial clustering of mortality that is consistent with forest gap observations. We conclude that existing plots do not sufficiently capture losses because their placement, size, and longevity assume spatially random mortality, while mortality is actually distributed among differently sized events (clusters of dead trees) that determine the spatial structure of forest canopies.
U.S. Maritime Interests in the South Atlantic. Volume 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-10-01

the future of South Africa remains the pivotal question along the South Atlantic’s African littoral. • The principal U.S. naval tasks in the...comparatively modest relative to other regions of the world, and those interests that are present have remained , to date, relatively unthreatened by either...with unparalleled influence within South America when combined with its penetration of the Amazon which has already been initiated. Buenos Aires
Optical Remote Sensing Algorithm Validation using High-Frequency Underway Biogeochemical Measurements in Three Large Global River Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuhn, C.; Richey, J. E.; Striegl, R. G.; Ward, N.; Sawakuchi, H. O.; Crawford, J.; Loken, L. C.; Stadler, P.; Dornblaser, M.; Butman, D. E.

2017-12-01

More than 93% of the world's river-water volume occurs in basins impacted by large dams and about 43% of river water discharge is impacted by flow regulation. Human land use also alters nutrient and carbon cycling and the emission of carbon dioxide from inland reservoirs. Increased water residence times and warmer temperatures in reservoirs fundamentally alter the physical settings for biogeochemical processing in large rivers, yet river biogeochemistry for many large systems remains undersampled. Satellite remote sensing holds promise as a methodology for responsive regional and global water resources management. Decades of ocean optics research has laid the foundation for the use of remote sensing reflectance in optical wavelengths (400 - 700 nm) to produce satellite-derived, near-surface estimates of phytoplankton chlorophyll concentration. Significant improvements between successive generations of ocean color sensors have enabled the scientific community to document changes in global ocean productivity (NPP) and estimate ocean biomass with increasing accuracy. Despite large advances in ocean optics, application of optical methods to inland waters has been limited to date due to their optical complexity and small spatial scale. To test this frontier, we present a study evaluating the accuracy and suitability of empirical inversion approaches for estimating chlorophyll-a, turbidity and temperature for the Amazon, Columbia and Mississippi rivers using satellite remote sensing. We demonstrate how riverine biogeochemical measurements collected at high frequencies from underway vessels can be used as in situ matchups to evaluate remotely-sensed, near-surface temperature, turbidity, chlorophyll-a derived from the Landsat 8 (NASA) and Sentinel 2 (ESA) satellites. We investigate the use of remote sensing water reflectance to infer trophic status as well as tributary influences on the optical characteristics of the Amazon, Mississippi and Columbia rivers.
Attempted semen collection using the massage technique in blue-fronted Amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva aestiva).

PubMed

Della Volpe, Angelique; Volker, Schmidt; Krautwald-Junghanns, Maria-Elisabeth

2011-03-01

The purpose of this study was to establish a technique for collecting semen from blue-fronted Amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva aestiva) and to evaluate the samples that were collected. The massage method is the most common technique used to collect semen in birds and has been proven successful in several psittacine species; however, collection attempts in larger parrots have been unsatisfactory. Six blue-fronted Amazon parrot males, 3 paired with hens and 3 unpaired, were used in this study. The semen collection technique was revised to allow collection from individual birds by a single person. Semen collection was attempted from the 6 parrots on 52-56 occasions, which totaled 330 single attempts. Nineteen ejaculates were collected, and each bird produced at least 1 ejaculate that contained spermatozoa. Large ranges of sample volume (1-15.4 microL), sperm quality (motility = 2%-60%; live:dead ratio = 2:198 to 185:15), sperm concentration (0.79-3.3 x 10(6) sperm/mL), and contamination rate (0%-100%) were observed. Measured parameters did not appear to be significantly impacted by birds being paired or kept singly. Because of the relatively short acclimation period, the birds appeared to be sexually inactive for the majority of the study. Further research using sexually active birds will be necessary to determine standard spermatological parameters and verify the success of the methodology used here.
MR-Tandem: parallel X!Tandem using Hadoop MapReduce on Amazon Web Services.

PubMed

Pratt, Brian; Howbert, J Jeffry; Tasman, Natalie I; Nilsson, Erik J

2012-01-01

MR-Tandem adapts the popular X!Tandem peptide search engine to work with Hadoop MapReduce for reliable parallel execution of large searches. MR-Tandem runs on any Hadoop cluster but offers special support for Amazon Web Services for creating inexpensive on-demand Hadoop clusters, enabling search volumes that might not otherwise be feasible with the compute resources a researcher has at hand. MR-Tandem is designed to drop in wherever X!Tandem is already in use and requires no modification to existing X!Tandem parameter files, and only minimal modification to X!Tandem-based workflows. MR-Tandem is implemented as a lightly modified X!Tandem C++ executable and a Python script that drives Hadoop clusters including Amazon Web Services (AWS) Elastic Map Reduce (EMR), using the modified X!Tandem program as a Hadoop Streaming mapper and reducer. The modified X!Tandem C++ source code is Artistic licensed, supports pluggable scoring, and is available as part of the Sashimi project at http://sashimi.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/sashimi/trunk/trans_proteomic_pipeline/extern/xtandem/. The MR-Tandem Python script is Apache licensed and available as part of the Insilicos Cloud Army project at http://ica.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/ica/trunk/mr-tandem/. Full documentation and a windows installer that configures MR-Tandem, Python and all necessary packages are available at this same URL. brian.pratt@insilicos.com
Boverhof's App Earns Honorable Mention in Amazon's Web Services

Science.gov Websites

» Boverhof's App Earns Honorable Mention in Amazon's Web Services Competition News & Publications News Publications Facebook Google+ Twitter Boverhof's App Earns Honorable Mention in Amazon's Web Services by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon officially announced the winners of its EC2 Spotathon on Monday
Turking Statistics: Student-Generated Surveys Increase Student Engagement and Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitley, Cameron T.; Dietz, Thomas

2018-01-01

Thirty years ago, Hubert M. Blalock Jr. published an article in "Teaching Sociology" about the importance of teaching statistics. We honor Blalock's legacy by assessing how using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) in statistics classes can enhance student learning and increase statistical literacy among social science gradaute students. In…
Civic Action Projects Report, 1 January 1965-31 December 1965. Volume 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1966-06-22

1400 kilometers of federal highway along the fringes of the Amazon jungle to the border of Brazil and Peru which will provide communications between... Peru Uruguay j ^^ Venezuela MARQUAT MEMORIAL UBRAEY U^. ARMY CIVIL AFFAIBS SCHOOL FOBX GQfiDOM, GA. f US30UTHCOM 1965 CIVIC ACTION PROJECTS...movie has been excellent. The film was also shown at the Conference of American Armies in Lima, Peru in November 1965. The military units are
Use of intertidal areas by shrimps (Decapoda) in a Brazilian Amazon estuary.

PubMed

Sampaio, Hebert A; Martinelli-Lemos, Jussara M

2014-03-01

The present work investigated the occupation and the correlation of the shrimp abundance in relation to environmental variables in different habitats (mangroves, salt marshes and rocky outcrops) in an Amazon estuary. The collections were made in August and November 2009, at low syzygy tide on Areuá Beach, situated in the Extractive Reserve of Mãe Grande de Curuçá, Pará, Brazil totaling 20 pools. In each environment, we recorded the physical-chemical factors (pH, salinity, and temperature) and measured the area (m2) and volume (m3) of every pool through bathymetry. The average pH, salinity, temperature, area and volume of tide pools were 8.75 (± 0.8 standard deviation), 35.45 (± 3), 29.49 °C (± 2.32), 27.41 m2 (± 41.18), and 5.19 m3 (± 8.01), respectively. We caught a total of 4,871 shrimps, distributed in three families and four species: Farfantepenaeus subtilis (98.36%) (marine) followed by Alpheus pontederiae (0.76%) (estuarine), Macrobrachium surinamicum (0.45%) and Macrobrachium amazonicum (0.43%) predominantly freshwater. The species F. subtilis and A. pontederiae occurred in the three habitats, whereas M. surinamicum occurred in salt marsh and rocky outcrop and M. amazonicum only in marisma. Temperature and pH were the most important environmental descriptors that significantly affected the density and biomass of shrimps.
Sedation and physiologic response to manual restraint after intranasal administration of midazolam in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis).

PubMed

Mans, Christoph; Guzman, David Sanchez-Migallon; Lahner, Lesanna L; Paul-Murphy, Joanne; Sladky, Kurt K

2012-09-01

Administration of intranasal midazolam (2 mg/kg) was evaluated for sedation and effects on cloacal temperature, respiratory rate, and heart rate in manually restrained Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis). Adult parrots (n=9) were administered either midazolam (2 mg/kg) or an equal volume of saline solution intranasally before a 15-minute manual restraint in a complete crossover study. Respiratory rate and sedation scores were recorded before and during capture and during and after 15 minutes of manual restraint. Heart rate and cloacal temperature were recorded during manual restraint. After restraint, the parrots received intranasal flumazenil (0.05 mg/kg) or an equal volume of saline solution, and the recovery time was recorded. In those birds that received midazolam, sedation was observed within 3 minutes of administration, and vocalization, flight, and defense responses were significantly reduced during capture. During manual restraint, the mean rate of cloacal temperature increase was significantly slower and remained significantly lower in birds that received midazolam compared with controls. Mean respiratory rates were significantly lower for up to 12 minutes in parrots that received midazolam compared with those receiving saline solution. Flumazenil antagonized the effects of midazolam within 10 minutes. No overt clinical adverse effects to intranasal midazolam and flumazenil administration were observed. Further studies on the safety of intranasal midazolam and flumazenil in this species are warranted.
Use of Mechanical Turk as a MapReduce Framework for Macular OCT Segmentation.

PubMed

Lee, Aaron Y; Lee, Cecilia S; Keane, Pearse A; Tufail, Adnan

2016-01-01

Purpose. To evaluate the feasibility of using Mechanical Turk as a massively parallel platform to perform manual segmentations of macular spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) images using a MapReduce framework. Methods. A macular SD-OCT volume of 61 slice images was map-distributed to Amazon Mechanical Turk. Each Human Intelligence Task was set to $0.01 and required the user to draw five lines to outline the sublayers of the retinal OCT image after being shown example images. Each image was submitted twice for segmentation, and interrater reliability was calculated. The interface was created using custom HTML5 and JavaScript code, and data analysis was performed using R. An automated pipeline was developed to handle the map and reduce steps of the framework. Results. More than 93,500 data points were collected using this framework for the 61 images submitted. Pearson's correlation of interrater reliability was 0.995 (p < 0.0001) and coefficient of determination was 0.991. The cost of segmenting the macular volume was $1.21. A total of 22 individual Mechanical Turk users provided segmentations, each completing an average of 5.5 HITs. Each HIT was completed in an average of 4.43 minutes. Conclusions. Amazon Mechanical Turk provides a cost-effective, scalable, high-availability infrastructure for manual segmentation of OCT images.
Use of Mechanical Turk as a MapReduce Framework for Macular OCT Segmentation

PubMed Central

Lee, Aaron Y.; Lee, Cecilia S.; Keane, Pearse A.; Tufail, Adnan

2016-01-01

Purpose. To evaluate the feasibility of using Mechanical Turk as a massively parallel platform to perform manual segmentations of macular spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) images using a MapReduce framework. Methods. A macular SD-OCT volume of 61 slice images was map-distributed to Amazon Mechanical Turk. Each Human Intelligence Task was set to $0.01 and required the user to draw five lines to outline the sublayers of the retinal OCT image after being shown example images. Each image was submitted twice for segmentation, and interrater reliability was calculated. The interface was created using custom HTML5 and JavaScript code, and data analysis was performed using R. An automated pipeline was developed to handle the map and reduce steps of the framework. Results. More than 93,500 data points were collected using this framework for the 61 images submitted. Pearson's correlation of interrater reliability was 0.995 (p < 0.0001) and coefficient of determination was 0.991. The cost of segmenting the macular volume was $1.21. A total of 22 individual Mechanical Turk users provided segmentations, each completing an average of 5.5 HITs. Each HIT was completed in an average of 4.43 minutes. Conclusions. Amazon Mechanical Turk provides a cost-effective, scalable, high-availability infrastructure for manual segmentation of OCT images. PMID:27293877
Amazon Forests Response to Droughts: A Perspective from the MAIAC Product

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bi, Jian; Myneni, Ranga; Lyapustin, Alexei; Wang, Yujie; Park, Taejin; Chi, Chen; Yan, Kai; Knyazikhin, Yuri

2016-01-01

Amazon forests experienced two severe droughts at the beginning of the 21st century: one in 2005 and the other in 2010. How Amazon forests responded to these droughts is critical for the future of the Earth's climate system. It is only possible to assess Amazon forests' response to the droughts in large areal extent through satellite remote sensing. Here, we used the Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) vegetation index (VI) data to assess Amazon forests' response to droughts, and compared the results with those from the standard (Collection 5 and Collection 6) MODIS VI data. Overall, the MAIAC data reveal more realistic Amazon forests inter-annual greenness dynamics than the standard MODIS data. Our results from the MAIAC data suggest that: (1) the droughts decreased the greenness (i.e., photosynthetic activity) of Amazon forests; (2) the Amazon wet season precipitation reduction induced by El Niño events could also lead to reduced photosynthetic activity of Amazon forests; and (3) in the subsequent year after the water stresses, the greenness of Amazon forests recovered from the preceding decreases. However, as previous research shows droughts cause Amazon forests to reduce investment in tissue maintenance and defense, it is not clear whether the photosynthesis of Amazon forests will continue to recover after future water stresses, because of the accumulated damages caused by the droughts.
An extensive reef system at the Amazon River mouth

PubMed Central

Moura, Rodrigo L.; Amado-Filho, Gilberto M.; Moraes, Fernando C.; Brasileiro, Poliana S.; Salomon, Paulo S.; Mahiques, Michel M.; Bastos, Alex C.; Almeida, Marcelo G.; Silva, Jomar M.; Araujo, Beatriz F.; Brito, Frederico P.; Rangel, Thiago P.; Oliveira, Braulio C. V.; Bahia, Ricardo G.; Paranhos, Rodolfo P.; Dias, Rodolfo J. S.; Siegle, Eduardo; Figueiredo, Alberto G.; Pereira, Renato C.; Leal, Camille V.; Hajdu, Eduardo; Asp, Nils E.; Gregoracci, Gustavo B.; Neumann-Leitão, Sigrid; Yager, Patricia L.; Francini-Filho, Ronaldo B.; Fróes, Adriana; Campeão, Mariana; Silva, Bruno S.; Moreira, Ana P. B.; Oliveira, Louisi; Soares, Ana C.; Araujo, Lais; Oliveira, Nara L.; Teixeira, João B.; Valle, Rogerio A. B.; Thompson, Cristiane C.; Rezende, Carlos E.; Thompson, Fabiano L.

2016-01-01

Large rivers create major gaps in reef distribution along tropical shelves. The Amazon River represents 20% of the global riverine discharge to the ocean, generating up to a 1.3 × 106–km2 plume, and extensive muddy bottoms in the equatorial margin of South America. As a result, a wide area of the tropical North Atlantic is heavily affected in terms of salinity, pH, light penetration, and sedimentation. Such unfavorable conditions were thought to imprint a major gap in Western Atlantic reefs. We present an extensive carbonate system off the Amazon mouth, underneath the river plume. Significant carbonate sedimentation occurred during lowstand sea level, and still occurs in the outer shelf, resulting in complex hard-bottom topography. A permanent near-bottom wedge of ocean water, together with the seasonal nature of the plume’s eastward retroflection, conditions the existence of this extensive (~9500 km2) hard-bottom mosaic. The Amazon reefs transition from accretive to erosional structures and encompass extensive rhodolith beds. Carbonate structures function as a connectivity corridor for wide depth–ranging reef-associated species, being heavily colonized by large sponges and other structure-forming filter feeders that dwell under low light and high levels of particulates. The oxycline between the plume and subplume is associated with chemoautotrophic and anaerobic microbial metabolisms. The system described here provides several insights about the responses of tropical reefs to suboptimal and marginal reef-building conditions, which are accelerating worldwide due to global changes. PMID:27152336
An extensive reef system at the Amazon River mouth.

PubMed

Moura, Rodrigo L; Amado-Filho, Gilberto M; Moraes, Fernando C; Brasileiro, Poliana S; Salomon, Paulo S; Mahiques, Michel M; Bastos, Alex C; Almeida, Marcelo G; Silva, Jomar M; Araujo, Beatriz F; Brito, Frederico P; Rangel, Thiago P; Oliveira, Braulio C V; Bahia, Ricardo G; Paranhos, Rodolfo P; Dias, Rodolfo J S; Siegle, Eduardo; Figueiredo, Alberto G; Pereira, Renato C; Leal, Camille V; Hajdu, Eduardo; Asp, Nils E; Gregoracci, Gustavo B; Neumann-Leitão, Sigrid; Yager, Patricia L; Francini-Filho, Ronaldo B; Fróes, Adriana; Campeão, Mariana; Silva, Bruno S; Moreira, Ana P B; Oliveira, Louisi; Soares, Ana C; Araujo, Lais; Oliveira, Nara L; Teixeira, João B; Valle, Rogerio A B; Thompson, Cristiane C; Rezende, Carlos E; Thompson, Fabiano L

2016-04-01

Large rivers create major gaps in reef distribution along tropical shelves. The Amazon River represents 20% of the global riverine discharge to the ocean, generating up to a 1.3 × 10(6)-km(2) plume, and extensive muddy bottoms in the equatorial margin of South America. As a result, a wide area of the tropical North Atlantic is heavily affected in terms of salinity, pH, light penetration, and sedimentation. Such unfavorable conditions were thought to imprint a major gap in Western Atlantic reefs. We present an extensive carbonate system off the Amazon mouth, underneath the river plume. Significant carbonate sedimentation occurred during lowstand sea level, and still occurs in the outer shelf, resulting in complex hard-bottom topography. A permanent near-bottom wedge of ocean water, together with the seasonal nature of the plume's eastward retroflection, conditions the existence of this extensive (~9500 km(2)) hard-bottom mosaic. The Amazon reefs transition from accretive to erosional structures and encompass extensive rhodolith beds. Carbonate structures function as a connectivity corridor for wide depth-ranging reef-associated species, being heavily colonized by large sponges and other structure-forming filter feeders that dwell under low light and high levels of particulates. The oxycline between the plume and subplume is associated with chemoautotrophic and anaerobic microbial metabolisms. The system described here provides several insights about the responses of tropical reefs to suboptimal and marginal reef-building conditions, which are accelerating worldwide due to global changes.

Confluence of the Amazon and Topajos Rivers, Brazil, South America

NASA Image and Video Library

1991-08-11

This view shows the confluence of the Amazon and the Topajos Rivers at Santarem, Brazil (2.0S, 55.0W). The Am,azon flows from lower left to upper right of the photo. Below the river juncture of the Amazon and Tapajos, there is considerable deforestation activity along the Trans-Amazon Highway.
Integrating Marine Observatories into a System-of-Systems: Messaging in the US Ocean Observatories Initiative

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-01

Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA 3 Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems, Aurora , CO 80011, USA 4 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla...Amazon.com, Amazon Web Services for the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud ( Amazon EC2). http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/. [4] M. Arrott, B. Demchak, V. Ermagan, C
Are the dimensions of submarine lobe systems independent of allogenic factors?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prélat, A.; Covault, J. A.; Hodgson, D. M.; Fildani, A.; Flint, S. S.

2010-05-01

Submarine lobe dimensions from six different systems are compared: 1) the exhumed Permian Fan 3 lobe complex of the Tanqua Karoo, South Africa; 2) the modern Amazon fan channel-mouth lobe complex, offshore Brazil; 3) a portion of the modern distal Zaïre fan, offshore Angola / Congo; 4) a Pleistocene fan of the Kutai Basin, subsurface offshore Indonesia; 5) the modern Golo system, offshore east Corsica, France; and 6) a lobe complex deposited in the shallow subsurface, offshore Nigeria. These six systems have significantly different source-to-sink configurations (shelf dimension and slope topography), sediment supply characteristics (calibre and rate), tectonic settings, (palaeo) latitude, and delivery systems. Despite these differences, the lobe deposits share similar geometric and dimensional characteristics. Lobes are grouped into two distinct populations of geometries that can be related to basin-floor topography. The first population corresponds to areally extensive but thin lobes (average width 14 km × length 35 km × thickness 12 m) that were deposited onto low relief basin floor areas, like the Tanqua Karoo, the Amazon and the Zaïre systems. The second population corresponds to areally smaller but thicker lobes (average width 5 km × length 8 km × thickness 30 m) that were deposited into settings with higher amplitude of relief, like in the Corsican trough, the Kutai basin, and offshore Nigeria. Basin floor topography confining the lobes can be very subtle, and only occur on one side of the system. The two populations of lobe types, however, share similar volumes, in the order of 1 or 2 km3. The largest lobes are observed in the Zaïre fan, where the average lobe volume reaches 3.3 km3 and the smallest lobes are observed in the Corsican trough where the average lobe volume is 0.4 km3. This variation in lobe volume is minor when compared to the variation observed in present-day up-dip drainage systems, which provide sediment to the deep-water depositional systems and their lobes. This suggests that there is a limit to the total volume of sediment that individual lobes can reach before they shift to a new locus of deposition. In otherwords, big systems do not build big lobes, rather more lobes per unit time. Indeed, in the Amazon and the Zaïre systems, lobe life span is estimated to be 600 and 1450 years, respectively, whereas in the Corsican Golo system, lobe life span is ~ 10 times longer, around 10 to 14 × 103 years. A fundamental control on lobe volume is the propensity for flows to find the lowest topography. We postulate that a fundamental control on all distributive systems is the ratio of lobe thickness to feeder channel depth. The surface gradient from the feeder channel base and lobe top will tend to reduce through time as a lobe builds. This is not sustainable, and when a steeper lateral gradient is present a new depositional low will be used for flows to fill.
Convective storms and non-classical low-level jets during high ozone level episodes in the Amazon region: An ARM/GOAMAZON case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dias-Junior, Cléo Q.; Dias, Nelson Luís; Fuentes, José D.; Chamecki, Marcelo

2017-04-01

In this work, we investigate the ozone dynamics during the occurrence of both downdrafts associated with mesoscale convective storms and non-classical low-level jets. Extensive data sets, comprised of air chemistry and meteorological observations made in the Amazon region of Brazil over the course of 2014-15, are analyzed to address several questions. A first objective is to investigate the atmospheric thermodynamic and dynamic conditions associated with storm-generated ozone enhancements in the Amazon region. A second objective is to determine the magnitude and the frequency of ground-level ozone enhancements related to low-level jets. Ozone enhancements are analyzed as a function of wind shear, low-level jet maximum wind speed, and altitude of jet core. Strong and sudden increases in ozone levels are associated with simultaneous changes in variables such as horizontal wind speed, convective available potential energy, turbulence intensity and vertical velocity skewness. Rapid increases in vertical velocity skewness give support to the hypothesis that the ozone enhancements are directly related to downdrafts. Low-level jets associated with advancing density currents are often present during and after storm downdrafts that transport ozone-enriched air from aloft to the surface.
DDT concentration in fish from the Tapajós River in the Amazon region, Brazil.

PubMed

Mendes, Rosivaldo de Alcântara; Lopes, Anna Sylmara da Costa; de Souza, Larissa Costa; Lima, Marcelo de Oliveira; Santos, Lourivaldo da Silva

2016-06-01

DDT and metabolites were measured in six species of fish collected from the Tapajós River in the village of Barreiras, near the town of Itaituba in the Brazilian Amazon region. The selected fish were the most consumed and economically important to the local people. DDT was used frequently in this region for malaria control. Fish samples were analyzed after extraction by microwave-assisted extraction in hexane/acetone (8:2, v/v) by gas chromatography with electron capture detector. Residues of op'-DDT and pp'-DDT and metabolites were detected, including pp'-DDE, pp'-DDD, op'-DDT, and op'-DDE, in 98% of the samples, with a greater abundance of pp'-DDT. Total DDT levels were 7.1-249.5 ng g(-1) wet weight (w.w). The DDE/DDT ratio was low, indicating recent exposure to DDT. The study area that may be related to generated waste used in public health campaigns to combat mosquitos (Anopheles spp.), still present in the Amazon environment, that transmit malaria. DDT levels and metabolites found in fish species do not present risks to human health because they are below acceptable limits for consumption. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Low cost, high performance processing of single particle cryo-electron microscopy data in the cloud

PubMed Central

Cianfrocco, Michael A; Leschziner, Andres E

2015-01-01

The advent of a new generation of electron microscopes and direct electron detectors has realized the potential of single particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) as a technique to generate high-resolution structures. Calculating these structures requires high performance computing clusters, a resource that may be limiting to many likely cryo-EM users. To address this limitation and facilitate the spread of cryo-EM, we developed a publicly available ‘off-the-shelf’ computing environment on Amazon's elastic cloud computing infrastructure. This environment provides users with single particle cryo-EM software packages and the ability to create computing clusters with 16–480+ CPUs. We tested our computing environment using a publicly available 80S yeast ribosome dataset and estimate that laboratories could determine high-resolution cryo-EM structures for $50 to $1500 per structure within a timeframe comparable to local clusters. Our analysis shows that Amazon's cloud computing environment may offer a viable computing environment for cryo-EM. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06664.001 PMID:25955969
The DISAM Journal of International Security Assistance Management. Volume 23, Number 2, Winter 2001

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-01-01

humanitarian role as our forces remain ever prepared for their main task of seeing to the defense and security of our country. The DISAM Journal, Winter 2001...the international mine action community. During 2001, a survey will be conducted with customers of the site to ensure that our focus remains on the...preparation. The DISAM Journal, Winter 200137 United States and Peruvians treat a child on a Medrete in the Peruvian Amazon . Units must prepare for overseas
Modeling seasonal and interannual variability in ecosystem carbon cycling for the Brazilian Amazon region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potter, Christopher; Klooster, Steven; de Carvalho, Claudio Reis; Genovese, Vanessa Brooks; Torregrosa, Alicia; Dungan, Jennifer; Bobo, Matthew; Coughlan, Joseph

2001-05-01

Previous field measurements have implied that undisturbed Amazon forests may represent a substantial terrestrial sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide. We investigated this hypothesis using a regional ecosystem model for net primary production (NPP) and soil biogeochemical cycling. Seasonal and interannual controls on net ecosystem production (NEP) were studied with integration of high-resolution (8-km) multiyear satellite data to characterize Amazon land surface properties over time. Background analysis of temporal and spatial relationships between regional rainfall patterns and satellite observations (for vegetation land cover, fire counts, and smoke aerosol effects) reveals several notable patterns in the model driver data. Autocorrelation analysis for monthly vegetation "greenness" index (normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI) from the advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) and monthly rainfall indicates a significant lag time correlation of up to 12 months. At lag times approaching 36 months, autocorrelation function (ACF) values did not exceed the 95% confidence interval at locations west of about 47°W, which is near the transition zone of seasonal tropical forest and other (nonforest) vegetation types. Even at lag times of 12 months or less, the location near Manaus (approximately 60°W) represents the farthest western point in the Amazon region where seasonality of rainfall accounts significantly for monthly variations in forest phenology, as observed using NDVI. Comparisons of NDVI seasonal profiles in areas of the eastern Amazon widely affected by fires (as observed from satellite) suggest that our adjusted AVHRR-NDVI captures year-to-year variation in land cover greenness with minimal interference from small fires and smoke aerosols. Ecosystem model results using this newly generated combination of regional forcing data from satellite suggest that undisturbed Amazon forests can be strong net sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide, particularly during wet (non El Niño) years. However, drought effects during El Niño years can reduce NPP in primary forests of the eastern Amazon by 10-20%, compared to long-term average estimates of regional productivity. Annual NEP for the region is predicted to range from -0.4 Pg C yr-1 (net CO2 source) to 0.5 Pg C yr-1 (net CO2 sink), with large interannual variability over the states of Pará, Maranhao, and Amazonas. As in the case of predicted NPP, it appears that periods of relatively high solar surface irradiance combined with several months of adequate rainfall are required to sustain the forest carbon sink for positive yearly NEP estimates.
Metagenome sequencing of the microbial community of two Brazilian anthropogenic Amazon dark earth sites, Brazil.

PubMed

Lemos, Leandro Nascimento; de Souza, Rosineide Cardoso; de Souza Cannavan, Fabiana; Patricio, André; Pylro, Victor Satler; Hanada, Rogério Eiji; Mui, Tsai Siu

2016-12-01

The Anthropogenic Amazon Dark Earth soil is considered one of the world's most fertile soils. These soils differs from conventional Amazon soils because its higher organic content concentration. Here we describe the metagenome sequencing of microbial communities of two sites of Anthropogenic Amazon Dark Earth soils from Amazon Rainforest, Brazil. The raw sequence data are stored under Short Read Accession number: PRJNA344917.
MR-Tandem: parallel X!Tandem using Hadoop MapReduce on Amazon Web Services

PubMed Central

Pratt, Brian; Howbert, J. Jeffry; Tasman, Natalie I.; Nilsson, Erik J.

2012-01-01

Summary: MR-Tandem adapts the popular X!Tandem peptide search engine to work with Hadoop MapReduce for reliable parallel execution of large searches. MR-Tandem runs on any Hadoop cluster but offers special support for Amazon Web Services for creating inexpensive on-demand Hadoop clusters, enabling search volumes that might not otherwise be feasible with the compute resources a researcher has at hand. MR-Tandem is designed to drop in wherever X!Tandem is already in use and requires no modification to existing X!Tandem parameter files, and only minimal modification to X!Tandem-based workflows. Availability and implementation: MR-Tandem is implemented as a lightly modified X!Tandem C++ executable and a Python script that drives Hadoop clusters including Amazon Web Services (AWS) Elastic Map Reduce (EMR), using the modified X!Tandem program as a Hadoop Streaming mapper and reducer. The modified X!Tandem C++ source code is Artistic licensed, supports pluggable scoring, and is available as part of the Sashimi project at http://sashimi.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/sashimi/trunk/trans_proteomic_pipeline/extern/xtandem/. The MR-Tandem Python script is Apache licensed and available as part of the Insilicos Cloud Army project at http://ica.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/ica/trunk/mr-tandem/. Full documentation and a windows installer that configures MR-Tandem, Python and all necessary packages are available at this same URL. Contact: brian.pratt@insilicos.com PMID:22072385
Historical and potential future impacts of extreme hydrological events on the Amazonian floodplain hydrology and inundation dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macedo, M.; Panday, P. K.; Coe, M. T.; Lefebvre, P.; Castello, L.

2015-12-01

The Amazonian floodplains and wetlands cover one fifth of the basin and are highly productive promoting diverse biological communities and sustaining human populations with fisheries. Seasonal inundation of the floodplains fluctuates in response to drought or extreme rainfall as observed in the recent droughts of 2005 and 2010 where river levels dropped to among the lowest recorded. We model and evaluate the historical (1940-2010) and projected future (2010-2100) impacts of droughts and floods on the floodplain hydrology and inundation dynamics in the central Amazon using the Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS) and the Terrestrial Hydrology Model and Biogeochemistry (THMB). Simulated discharge correlates well with observed discharges for tributaries originating in Brazil but underestimates basins draining regions in the non-Brazilian Amazon (Solimões, Japuŕa, Madeira, and Negro) by greater than 30%. A volume bias-correction from the simulated and observed runoff was used to correct the input precipitation across the major tributaries of the Amazon basin that drain the Andes. Simulated hydrological parameters (discharge, inundated area and river height) using corrected precipitation has a strong correlation with field measured discharge at gauging stations, surface water extent data (Global Inundation Extent from Multi-Satellites (GIEMS) and NASA Earth System Data Records (ESDRs) for inundation), and satellite radar altimetry (TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data for 1992-1998 and ENVISAT data for 2002-2010). We also used an ensemble of model outputs participating in the IPCC AR5 to drive two sets of simulations with and without carbon dioxide fertilization for the 2006-2100 period, and evaluated the potential scale and variability of future changes in discharge and inundation dynamics due to the influences of climate change and vegetation response to carbon dioxide fertilization. Preliminary modeled results for future scenarios using Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 indicate decreases in projected discharge and extent of inundated area on the mainstem Amazon by the late 21st century owing to influences of future climate change only.
Antinociceptive effects of nalbuphine hydrochloride in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis).

PubMed

Sanchez-Migallon Guzman, David; KuKanich, Butch; Keuler, Nicholas S; Klauer, Julia M; Paul-Murphy, Joanne R

2011-06-01

To evaluate the antinociceptive effects and duration of action of nalbuphine HCl administered IM on thermal thresholds in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis). 14 healthy adult Hispaniolan Amazon parrots of unknown sex. 3 doses of nalbuphine (12.5, 25, and 50 mg/kg, IM) and saline (0.9% NaCl) solution (control treatment) were evaluated in a blinded complete crossover experimental design by use of foot withdrawal threshold to a noxious thermal stimulus. Baseline data on thermal threshold were generated 1 hour before administration of nalbuphine or saline solution; thermal threshold measurements were obtained 0.5, 1.5, 3, and 6 hours after administration. Nalbuphine administered IM at 12.5 mg/kg significantly increased the thermal threshold (mean change, 2.4°C), compared with results for the control treatment, and significantly changed thermal threshold for up to 3 hours, compared with baseline results (mean change, 2.6° to 3.8°C). Higher doses of nalbuphine did not significantly change thermal thresholds, compared with results for the control treatment, but had a significant effect, compared with baseline results, for up to 3 and 1.5 hours after administration, respectively. Nalbuphine administered IM at 12.5 mg/kg significantly increased the foot withdrawal threshold to a thermal noxious stimulus in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots. Higher doses of nalbuphine did not result in significantly increased thermal thresholds or a longer duration of action and would be expected to result in less analgesic effect than lower doses. Further studies are needed to fully evaluate the analgesic effects of nalbuphine in psittacine species.
Multi-model analysis of the Atlantic influence on Southern Amazon rainfall

DOE PAGES

Yoon, Jin -Ho

2015-12-07

Amazon rainfall is subject to year-to-year fluctuation resulting in drought and flood in various intensities. A major climatic driver of the interannual variation of the Amazon rainfall is El Niño/Southern Oscillation. Also, the Sea Surface Temperature over the Atlantic Ocean is identified as an important climatic driver on the Amazon water cycle. Previously, observational datasets were used to support the Atlantic influence on Amazon rainfall. Furthermore, it is found that multiple global climate models do reproduce the Atlantic-Amazon link robustly. However, there exist differences in rainfall response, which primarily depends on the climatological rainfall amount.
Brazil-U.S. Relations

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-03

the Amazon falls within Brazilian borders, making Brazil home to 40% of the world’s remaining tropical forests.96 The Brazilian Amazon was largely...20 Amazon Conservation......................................................................................................... 20 Domestic Efforts...independence in 1822, Brazil occupies almost half of the continent of South America and boasts immense biodiversity, including the vast Amazon
Swine manure application effects on ammonia volatilization, forage quality, and yield in the Pre-Amazon Region of Brazil

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The use of swine manure as a nutrient source for pastures is increasingly common in Brazil, due to its low cost. However, this practice can cause nitrogen (N) losses in agricultural soil, where ammonia volatilization may be the main drawback, generating undesirable economic and environmental consequ...
Business as Usual: Amazon.com and the Academic Library

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Ullen, Mary K.; Germain, Carol Anne

2002-01-01

In 1999, Steve Coffman proposed that libraries form a single interlibrary loan based entity patterned after Amazon.com. This study examined the suitability of Amazon.com's Web interface and record enhancements for academic libraries. Amazon.com could not deliver circulating monographs in the University at Albany Libraries' collection quickly…
What We Can Learn from Amazon for Clinical Decision Support Systems.

PubMed

Abid, Sidra; Keshavjee, Karim; Karim, Arsalan; Guergachi, Aziz

2017-01-01

Health care continue to lag behind other industries, such as retail and financial services, in the use of decision-support-like tools. Amazon is particularly prolific in the use of advanced predictive and prescriptive analytics to assist its customers to purchase more, while increasing satisfaction, retention, repeat-purchases and loyalty. How can we do the same in health care? In this paper, we explore various elements of the Amazon website and Amazon's data science and big data practices to gather inspiration for re-designing clinical decision support in the health care sector. For each Amazon element we identified, we present one or more clinical applications to help us better understand where Amazon's.
Formation of a katabatic induced cold front at the east Andean slopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trachte, K.; Nauss, T.,; Rollenbeck, R.; Bendix, J.

2009-04-01

Within the DFG research unit 816, climate dynamics in a tropical mountain rain forest in the national reserve of the Reserva Biósfera de San Francisco in South Ecuador are investigated. Precipitation measurements in the mountain environment of the Estación Científica de San Francisco (ECSF) with a vertical rain radar profiler have been made over the last seven years. They reveal unexpected constant early morning rainfall events. On the basis of cloud top temperatures from corresponding GOES satellite imageries, a Mesoscale Convective System could be derived. Its formation region is located south-east of the ECSF in the Peruvian Amazon basin. The generation of the MCS is assumed to results from an interaction of both local and mesoscale conditions. Nocturnal drainage air from the Andean slopes and valleys confluences in the Amazon basin due to the concave lined terrain. This cold air converges with the warm-moist air of the Amazon inducing a local cold front. This process yields to deep convection resulting in a MCS. With the numerical model ARPS the hypothesized formation of a cloud cluster due to a katabatic induced cold front is shown in an ideal case study. Therefor an ideal terrain model representing the features of the Andes in the target area has been used. The simplification of the oprography concerns a concave lined slope and a valley draining into the basin. It describes the confluence of the cold drainage air due to the shape of the terrain. Inside the basin the generation of a local cold front is shown, which triggers the formation of a cloud cluster.
Vulnerability of Amazon forests to storm-driven tree mortality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Negrón-Juárez, Robinson I.; Holm, Jennifer A.; Magnabosco Marra, Daniel; Rifai, Sami W.; Riley, William J.; Chambers, Jeffrey Q.; Koven, Charles D.; Knox, Ryan G.; McGroddy, Megan E.; Di Vittorio, Alan V.; Urquiza-Muñoz, Jose; Tello-Espinoza, Rodil; Alegria Muñoz, Waldemar; Ribeiro, Gabriel H. P. M.; Higuchi, Niro

2018-05-01

Tree mortality is a key driver of forest community composition and carbon dynamics. Strong winds associated with severe convective storms are dominant natural drivers of tree mortality in the Amazon. Why forests vary with respect to their vulnerability to wind events and how the predicted increase in storm events might affect forest ecosystems within the Amazon are not well understood. We found that windthrows are common in the Amazon region extending from northwest (Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and west Brazil) to central Brazil, with the highest occurrence of windthrows in the northwest Amazon. More frequent winds, produced by more frequent severe convective systems, in combination with well-known processes that limit the anchoring of trees in the soil, help to explain the higher vulnerability of the northwest Amazon forests to winds. Projected increases in the frequency and intensity of convective storms in the Amazon have the potential to increase wind-related tree mortality. A forest demographic model calibrated for the northwestern and the central Amazon showed that northwestern forests are more resilient to increased wind-related tree mortality than forests in the central Amazon. Our study emphasizes the importance of including wind-related tree mortality in model simulations for reliable predictions of the future of tropical forests and their effects on the Earth’ system.
Energy at the Junction of the Rivers Negro and Solimões, Contributors of the Amazon River, in the Brazilian Amazon

PubMed Central

de Souza, Paulo Kroeff

2014-01-01

The Negro and Solimoes rivers join in front of the Brazilian city of Manaus to form the Amazon River. This “meeting of the waters” is a natural phenomenon of great aesthetic beauty that has been the focus of attention of researchers all over the world in various scientific fields. The waters of the Negro are darker and warmer, while the waters of the Solimoes are lighter and cooler. These waters have very different characteristics and remain without mixing, flowing side by side for several miles. Some reports indicate a temperature gradient between the waters of the order of 6°C, which can be used in conjunction with very high flow rates delivered by the two rivers, with a heat engine operating on a thermodynamic cycle to provide electricity. This review paper identifies this energy resource and presents a preliminary assessment of the potential for power generation. A realistic assessment of the potential points to an available power of about 1 GW. It is clear that further studies are needed to accurately assess the available thermal gradient and its variation over time, to move forward in the design of the power converter, and to establish an appropriate location for a power plant. PMID:27437451

Biomass burning CCN enhance the dynamics of a mesoscale convective system over the La Plata Basin: a numerical approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camponogara, Gláuber; Assunção Faus da Silva Dias, Maria; Carrió, Gustavo G.

2018-02-01

High aerosol loadings are discharged into the atmosphere every year by biomass burning in the Amazon and central Brazil during the dry season (July-December). These particles, suspended in the atmosphere, can be carried via a low-level jet toward the La Plata Basin, one of the largest hydrographic basins in the world. Once they reach this region, the aerosols can affect mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), whose frequency is higher during the spring and summer over the basin. The present study is one of the first that seeks to understand the microphysical effects of biomass burning aerosols from the Amazon Basin on mesoscale convective systems over the La Plata Basin. We performed numerical simulations initialized with idealized cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) profiles for an MCS case observed over the La Plata Basin on 21 September 2010. The experiments reveal an important link between CCN number concentration and MCS dynamics, where stronger downdrafts were observed under higher amounts of aerosols, generating more updraft cells in response. Moreover, the simulations show higher amounts of precipitation as the CCN concentration increases. Despite the model's uncertainties and limitations, these results represent an important step toward the understanding of possible impacts on the Amazon biomass burning aerosols over neighboring regions such as the La Plata Basin.
Molecular characterization of an earliest cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) collection from Peruvian Amazon using microsatllite DNA markers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is indigenous to the Amazon region of South America. The Peruvian Amazon harbors a large number of diverse cacao populations. Since the 1930s, several numbers of populations have been collected from the Peruvian Amazon and maintained as ex situ germplasm repositories in ...
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yoon, Jin -Ho

Amazon rainfall is subject to year-to-year fluctuation resulting in drought and flood in various intensities. A major climatic driver of the interannual variation of the Amazon rainfall is El Niño/Southern Oscillation. Also, the Sea Surface Temperature over the Atlantic Ocean is identified as an important climatic driver on the Amazon water cycle. Previously, observational datasets were used to support the Atlantic influence on Amazon rainfall. Furthermore, it is found that multiple global climate models do reproduce the Atlantic-Amazon link robustly. However, there exist differences in rainfall response, which primarily depends on the climatological rainfall amount.
Reconstruction of the Amazon Basin effective moisture availability over the past 14,000 years.

PubMed

Maslin, M A; Burns, S J

2000-12-22

Quantifying the moisture history of the Amazon Basin is essential for understanding the cause of rain forest diversity and its potential as a methane source. We reconstructed the Amazon River outflow history for the past 14,000 years to provide a moisture budget for the river drainage basin. The oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera recovered from a marine sediment core in a region of Amazon River discharge shows that the Amazon Basin was extremely dry during the Younger Dryas, with the discharge reduced by at least 40% as compared with that of today. After the Younger Dryas, a meltwater-driven discharge event was followed by a steady increase in the Amazon Basin effective moisture throughout the Holocene.
South American Aerosol Tracking - LALINET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landulfo, Eduardo; Lopes, Fabio; Ristori, Pablo; Quel, Eduardo; Otero, Lidia; Forno, Ricardo; Sanchez, Maria Fernanda; Barbosa, Henrique; Gouveia, Diego; Vieira Santos, Amanda; Bastidas, Alvaro; Nisperuza, Daniel

2018-04-01

LALINET lidar stations were used to track down aerosols generated over Amazon region and transported over the continent. These data were merged with collocated Aeronet stations in order to help in their identification together with HYSPLIT simulations. The results show potential indication of how aerosol can age in their long transport over regions South and Westward from the source areas by change of their optical properties.
The phylogeography of Amazonia revisited: new evidence from riodinid butterflies.

PubMed

Hall, Jason P W; Harvey, Donald J

2002-07-01

A fully resolved cladogram for 19 species in the Charis cleonus group of riodinid butterflies, which have closely parapatric ranges throughout the Amazon basin, is used to derive an area cladogram for the region. This represents the first comprehensive species-level analysis using insects and results in a hypothesis of Amazonian area relationships that is the most detailed to date. The Charis area cladogram is interpreted as supporting an historical vicariant split between the Guianas and the remainder of the Amazon and then between the upper and lower Amazon. The latter two clades can be further divided into the six most widely recognized areas of endemism and even smaller endemic centers within these, some of which, especially along the Madeira and lower Amazon Rivers, have never been previously hypothesized for butterflies. The overall pattern of historical interrelationships indicated is Guiana + ((Rondĵnia + (Pará + Belém)) + (Imeri + (Napo + Inambari))). The area relationships for riodinid butterflies show substantial congruence with those presented from the literature for amphibians, reptiles, birds, primates, rodents, and marsupials, suggesting a common vicariant history for these organisms. A summary area cladogram generated by combining area cladograms for all the aforementioned groups of organisms indicated the pattern of historical interrelationships to be (Guiana + (Rondĵnia + (Pará + Belém))) + (Imeri + (Napo + Inambari)). Charis cleonus group species distributions are noticeably larger around the upland periphery of Amazonia and smaller in the central and lower regions. A significant positive correlation between the proportion of range area above 100 m and total range size for each species is used to suggest that past sea-level rises may explain smaller range sizes in low-lying regions and that riverine barriers have been important in shaping the current distribution of C. cleonus group species.
Limitations to the Use of Species-Distribution Models for Environmental-Impact Assessments in the Amazon.

PubMed

Carneiro, Lorena Ribeiro de A; Lima, Albertina P; Machado, Ricardo B; Magnusson, William E

2016-01-01

Species-distribution models (SDM) are tools with potential to inform environmental-impact studies (EIA). However, they are not always appropriate and may result in improper and expensive mitigation and compensation if their limitations are not understood by decision makers. Here, we examine the use of SDM for frogs that were used in impact assessment using data obtained from the EIA of a hydroelectric project located in the Amazon Basin in Brazil. The results show that lack of knowledge of species distributions limits the appropriate use of SDM in the Amazon region for most target species. Because most of these targets are newly described and their distributions poorly known, data about their distributions are insufficient to be effectively used in SDM. Surveys that are mandatory for the EIA are often conducted only near the area under assessment, and so models must extrapolate well beyond the sampled area to inform decisions made at much larger spatial scales, such as defining areas to be used to offset the negative effects of the projects. Using distributions of better-known species in simulations, we show that geographical-extrapolations based on limited information of species ranges often lead to spurious results. We conclude that the use of SDM as evidence to support project-licensing decisions in the Amazon requires much greater area sampling for impact studies, or, alternatively, integrated and comparative survey strategies, to improve biodiversity sampling. When more detailed distribution information is unavailable, SDM will produce results that generate uncertain and untestable decisions regarding impact assessment. In many cases, SDM is unlikely to be better than the use of expert opinion.
Limitations to the Use of Species-Distribution Models for Environmental-Impact Assessments in the Amazon

PubMed Central

Carneiro, Lorena Ribeiro de A.; Lima, Albertina P.; Machado, Ricardo B.; Magnusson, William E.

2016-01-01

Species-distribution models (SDM) are tools with potential to inform environmental-impact studies (EIA). However, they are not always appropriate and may result in improper and expensive mitigation and compensation if their limitations are not understood by decision makers. Here, we examine the use of SDM for frogs that were used in impact assessment using data obtained from the EIA of a hydroelectric project located in the Amazon Basin in Brazil. The results show that lack of knowledge of species distributions limits the appropriate use of SDM in the Amazon region for most target species. Because most of these targets are newly described and their distributions poorly known, data about their distributions are insufficient to be effectively used in SDM. Surveys that are mandatory for the EIA are often conducted only near the area under assessment, and so models must extrapolate well beyond the sampled area to inform decisions made at much larger spatial scales, such as defining areas to be used to offset the negative effects of the projects. Using distributions of better-known species in simulations, we show that geographical-extrapolations based on limited information of species ranges often lead to spurious results. We conclude that the use of SDM as evidence to support project-licensing decisions in the Amazon requires much greater area sampling for impact studies, or, alternatively, integrated and comparative survey strategies, to improve biodiversity sampling. When more detailed distribution information is unavailable, SDM will produce results that generate uncertain and untestable decisions regarding impact assessment. In many cases, SDM is unlikely to be better than the use of expert opinion. PMID:26784891
The Amazon Region; A Vision of Sovereignty

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-04-06

and SPOT remote sensing satellites images, about 90% of the Amazon jungle remains almost untouched9. This 280 million hectares of vegetation hold...increasing energy needs, remain unanswered. Indian rights Has the Indian population been jeopardized by the development of the Amazon Region...or government agency. STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECT THE AMAZON REGION; A VISION OF SOVEREIGNTY BY LIEUTENANT COLONEL EDUARDO JOSE BARBOSA
Self-amplified Amazon forest loss due to vegetation-atmosphere feedbacks.

PubMed

Zemp, Delphine Clara; Schleussner, Carl-Friedrich; Barbosa, Henrique M J; Hirota, Marina; Montade, Vincent; Sampaio, Gilvan; Staal, Arie; Wang-Erlandsson, Lan; Rammig, Anja

2017-03-13

Reduced rainfall increases the risk of forest dieback, while in return forest loss might intensify regional droughts. The consequences of this vegetation-atmosphere feedback for the stability of the Amazon forest are still unclear. Here we show that the risk of self-amplified Amazon forest loss increases nonlinearly with dry-season intensification. We apply a novel complex-network approach, in which Amazon forest patches are linked by observation-based atmospheric water fluxes. Our results suggest that the risk of self-amplified forest loss is reduced with increasing heterogeneity in the response of forest patches to reduced rainfall. Under dry-season Amazonian rainfall reductions, comparable to Last Glacial Maximum conditions, additional forest loss due to self-amplified effects occurs in 10-13% of the Amazon basin. Although our findings do not indicate that the projected rainfall changes for the end of the twenty-first century will lead to complete Amazon dieback, they suggest that frequent extreme drought events have the potential to destabilize large parts of the Amazon forest.
Self-amplified Amazon forest loss due to vegetation-atmosphere feedbacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zemp, Delphine Clara; Schleussner, Carl-Friedrich; Barbosa, Henrique M. J.; Hirota, Marina; Montade, Vincent; Sampaio, Gilvan; Staal, Arie; Wang-Erlandsson, Lan; Rammig, Anja

2017-03-01

Reduced rainfall increases the risk of forest dieback, while in return forest loss might intensify regional droughts. The consequences of this vegetation-atmosphere feedback for the stability of the Amazon forest are still unclear. Here we show that the risk of self-amplified Amazon forest loss increases nonlinearly with dry-season intensification. We apply a novel complex-network approach, in which Amazon forest patches are linked by observation-based atmospheric water fluxes. Our results suggest that the risk of self-amplified forest loss is reduced with increasing heterogeneity in the response of forest patches to reduced rainfall. Under dry-season Amazonian rainfall reductions, comparable to Last Glacial Maximum conditions, additional forest loss due to self-amplified effects occurs in 10-13% of the Amazon basin. Although our findings do not indicate that the projected rainfall changes for the end of the twenty-first century will lead to complete Amazon dieback, they suggest that frequent extreme drought events have the potential to destabilize large parts of the Amazon forest.
Fragmentation of Andes-to-Amazon connectivity by hydropower dams

PubMed Central

Anderson, Elizabeth P.; Jenkins, Clinton N.; Heilpern, Sebastian; Maldonado-Ocampo, Javier A.; Carvajal-Vallejos, Fernando M.; Encalada, Andrea C.; Rivadeneira, Juan Francisco; Hidalgo, Max; Cañas, Carlos M.; Ortega, Hernan; Salcedo, Norma; Maldonado, Mabel; Tedesco, Pablo A.

2018-01-01

Andes-to-Amazon river connectivity controls numerous natural and human systems in the greater Amazon. However, it is being rapidly altered by a wave of new hydropower development, the impacts of which have been previously underestimated. We document 142 dams existing or under construction and 160 proposed dams for rivers draining the Andean headwaters of the Amazon. Existing dams have fragmented the tributary networks of six of eight major Andean Amazon river basins. Proposed dams could result in significant losses in river connectivity in river mainstems of five of eight major systems—the Napo, Marañón, Ucayali, Beni, and Mamoré. With a newly reported 671 freshwater fish species inhabiting the Andean headwaters of the Amazon (>500 m), dams threaten previously unrecognized biodiversity, particularly among endemic and migratory species. Because Andean rivers contribute most of the sediment in the mainstem Amazon, losses in river connectivity translate to drastic alteration of river channel and floodplain geomorphology and associated ecosystem services. PMID:29399629
Fragmentation of Andes-to-Amazon connectivity by hydropower dams.

PubMed

Anderson, Elizabeth P; Jenkins, Clinton N; Heilpern, Sebastian; Maldonado-Ocampo, Javier A; Carvajal-Vallejos, Fernando M; Encalada, Andrea C; Rivadeneira, Juan Francisco; Hidalgo, Max; Cañas, Carlos M; Ortega, Hernan; Salcedo, Norma; Maldonado, Mabel; Tedesco, Pablo A

2018-01-01

Andes-to-Amazon river connectivity controls numerous natural and human systems in the greater Amazon. However, it is being rapidly altered by a wave of new hydropower development, the impacts of which have been previously underestimated. We document 142 dams existing or under construction and 160 proposed dams for rivers draining the Andean headwaters of the Amazon. Existing dams have fragmented the tributary networks of six of eight major Andean Amazon river basins. Proposed dams could result in significant losses in river connectivity in river mainstems of five of eight major systems-the Napo, Marañón, Ucayali, Beni, and Mamoré. With a newly reported 671 freshwater fish species inhabiting the Andean headwaters of the Amazon (>500 m), dams threaten previously unrecognized biodiversity, particularly among endemic and migratory species. Because Andean rivers contribute most of the sediment in the mainstem Amazon, losses in river connectivity translate to drastic alteration of river channel and floodplain geomorphology and associated ecosystem services.
Self-amplified Amazon forest loss due to vegetation-atmosphere feedbacks

PubMed Central

Zemp, Delphine Clara; Schleussner, Carl-Friedrich; Barbosa, Henrique M. J.; Hirota, Marina; Montade, Vincent; Sampaio, Gilvan; Staal, Arie; Wang-Erlandsson, Lan; Rammig, Anja

2017-01-01

Reduced rainfall increases the risk of forest dieback, while in return forest loss might intensify regional droughts. The consequences of this vegetation–atmosphere feedback for the stability of the Amazon forest are still unclear. Here we show that the risk of self-amplified Amazon forest loss increases nonlinearly with dry-season intensification. We apply a novel complex-network approach, in which Amazon forest patches are linked by observation-based atmospheric water fluxes. Our results suggest that the risk of self-amplified forest loss is reduced with increasing heterogeneity in the response of forest patches to reduced rainfall. Under dry-season Amazonian rainfall reductions, comparable to Last Glacial Maximum conditions, additional forest loss due to self-amplified effects occurs in 10–13% of the Amazon basin. Although our findings do not indicate that the projected rainfall changes for the end of the twenty-first century will lead to complete Amazon dieback, they suggest that frequent extreme drought events have the potential to destabilize large parts of the Amazon forest. PMID:28287104
Carbon emissions from deforestation and forest fragmentation in the Brazilian Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Numata, Izaya; Cochrane, Mark A.; Souza, Carlos M., Jr.; Sales, Marcio H.

2011-10-01

Forest-fragmentation-related edge effects are one of the major causes of forest degradation in Amazonia and their spatio-temporal dynamics are highly influenced by annual deforestation patterns. Rapid biomass collapse due to edge effects in forest fragments has been reported in the Brazilian Amazon; however the collective impacts of this process on Amazonian carbon fluxes are poorly understood. We estimated biomass loss and carbon emissions from deforestation and forest fragmentation related to edge effects on the basis of the INPE (Brazilian National Space Research Institute) PRODES deforestation data and forest biomass volume data. The areas and ages of edge forests were calculated annually and the corresponding biomass loss and carbon emissions from these forest edges were estimated using published rates of biomass decay and decomposition corresponding to the areas and ages of edge forests. Our analysis estimated carbon fluxes from deforestation (4195 Tg C) and edge forest (126-221 Tg C) for 2001-10 in the Brazilian Amazon. The impacts of varying rates of deforestation on regional forest fragmentation and carbon fluxes were also investigated, with the focus on two periods: 2001-5 (high deforestation rates) and 2006-10 (low deforestation rates). Edge-released carbon accounted for 2.6-4.5% of deforestation-related carbon emissions. However, the relative importance of carbon emissions from forest fragmentation increased from 1.7-3.0% to 3.3-5.6% of the respective deforestation emissions between the two contrasting deforestation rates. Edge-related carbon fluxes are of increasing importance for basin-wide carbon accounting, especially as regards ongoing reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) efforts in Brazilian Amazonia.
Cooperatives for “fair globalization”? Indigenous people, cooperatives, and corporate social responsibility in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Burke, Brian J

2010-01-01

Cooperatives and socially responsible corporations are being hailed as possible correctives to the socioeconomic and ecological exploitation of transnational capitalism. AmazonCoop—a cooperative linking indigenous Brazil nut harvesters and the multinational firm The Body Shop through trade and development projects—capitalized on indigenous symbolism to generate significant material benefits for both parties. At the same time, however, it made indigenous people more vulnerable and dependent, failed to promote participatory development, masked the effects of unfavorable state policies, and perpetuated discriminatory distinctions among indigenous people. Furthermore, the cooperative did not provide an organizational framework to ameliorate the vulnerabilities of indigenous identity politics or transform symbolic capital into enduring political-economic change. This case strongly supports arguments that cooperatives must be rooted in participation, democratic member control, and autonomy if they are to promote “fair globalization” or social transformation rather than institutionalize existing patterns of exploitation.
Unofficial Road Building in the Brazilian Amazon: Dilemmas and Models for Road Governance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perz, Stephen G.; Overdevest, Christine; Caldas, Marcellus M.; Walker, Robert T.; Arima, Eugenio Y.

2007-01-01

Unofficial roads form dense networks in landscapes, generating a litany of negative ecological outcomes, but unofficial roads in frontier areas are also instrumental in local livelihoods and community development. This trade-off poses dilemmas for the governance of unofficial roads. Unofficial road building in frontier areas of the Brazilian Amazon illustrates the challenges of 'road governance.' Both state-based and community based governance models exhibit important liabilities for governing unofficial roads. Whereas state-based governance has experienced difficulties in adapting to specific local contexts and interacting effectively with local interest groups, community-based governance has a mixed record owing to social inequalities and conflicts among local interest groups. A state-community hybrid model may offer more effective governance of unofficial road building by combining the oversight capacity of the state with locally grounded community management via participatory decision-making.
Mercury Pollution in Soils from the Yacuambi River (Ecuadorian Amazon) as a Result of Gold Placer Mining.

PubMed

López-Blanco, Charo; Collahuazo, Luis; Torres, Sandra; Chinchay, Luis; Ayala, Diana; Benítez, Paulina

2015-09-01

Gold mining is known to generate important economic products but also to produce several types of contamination/pollution. We report here the first data about Hg concentrations in the soils of the Yacuambi River in the Ecuadorian Amazon. We analyzed soil samples to assess the extent of contamination caused by gold placer mining in this area. Hg concentrations in soils exceeded the local background concentrations. High concentrations of Mn, As, Pb, Cr, Cu, Fe and Zn in some soil samples were probably derived from the geology of the site, which is rich in polysulfides and metamorphic rocks. Placer mining may accelerate the natural release of these elements to the environment by the exposure of the bedrock to the atmosphere. Accumulation of Hg in the river soils may be a potential source of toxicity for aquatic life and a risk to human health in the future.
Mapping Land Cover Types in Amazon Basin Using 1km JERS-1 Mosaic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saatchi, Sassan S.; Nelson, Bruce; Podest, Erika; Holt, John

2000-01-01

In this paper, the 100 meter JERS-1 Amazon mosaic image was used in a new classifier to generate a I km resolution land cover map. The inputs to the classifier were 1 km resolution mean backscatter and seven first order texture measures derived from the 100 m data by using a 10 x 10 independent sampling window. The classification approach included two interdependent stages: 1) a supervised maximum a posteriori Bayesian approach to classify the mean backscatter image into 5 general land cover categories of forest, savannah, inundated, white sand, and anthropogenic vegetation classes, and 2) a texture measure decision rule approach to further discriminate subcategory classes based on taxonomic information and biomass levels. Fourteen classes were successfully separated at 1 km scale. The results were verified by examining the accuracy of the approach by comparison with the IBGE and the AVHRR 1 km resolution land cover maps.
Origin and processing of terrestrial organic carbon in the Amazon system: lignin phenols in river, shelf, and fan sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Shuwen; Schefuß, Enno; Mulitza, Stefan; Chiessi, Cristiano M.; Sawakuchi, André O.; Zabel, Matthias; Baker, Paul A.; Hefter, Jens; Mollenhauer, Gesine

2017-05-01

The Amazon River transports large amounts of terrestrial organic carbon (OCterr) from the Andean and Amazon neotropical forests to the Atlantic Ocean. In order to compare the biogeochemical characteristics of OCterr in the fluvial sediments from the Amazon drainage basin and in the adjacent marine sediments, we analysed riverbed sediments from the Amazon mainstream and its main tributaries as well as marine surface sediments from the Amazon shelf and fan for total organic carbon (TOC) content, organic carbon isotopic composition (δ13CTOC), and lignin phenol compositions. TOC and lignin content exhibit positive correlations with Al / Si ratios (indicative of the sediment grain size) implying that the grain size of sediment discharged by the Amazon River plays an important role in the preservation of TOC and leads to preferential preservation of lignin phenols in fine particles. Depleted δ13CTOC values (-26.1 to -29.9 ‰) in the main tributaries consistently correspond with the dominance of C3 vegetation. Ratios of syringyl to vanillyl (S / V) and cinnamyl to vanillyl (C / V) lignin phenols suggest that non-woody angiosperm tissues are the dominant source of lignin in the Amazon basin. Although the Amazon basin hosts a rich diversity of vascular plant types, distinct regional lignin compositions are not observed. In the marine sediments, the distribution of δ13CTOC and Λ8 (sum of eight lignin phenols in organic carbon (OC), expressed as mg/100 mg OC) values implies that OCterr discharged by the Amazon River is transported north-westward by the North Brazil Current and mostly deposited on the inner shelf. The lignin compositions in offshore sediments under the influence of the Amazon plume are consistent with the riverbed samples suggesting that processing of OCterr during offshore transport does not change the encoded source information. Therefore, the lignin compositions preserved in these offshore sediments can reliably reflect the vegetation in the Amazon River catchment. In sediments from the Amazon fan, low lignin content, relatively depleted δ13CTOC values and high (Ad / Al)V ratios indicating highly degraded lignin imply that a significant fraction of the deposited OCterr is derived from petrogenic (sourced from ancient rocks) sources.

Larval habitats of Anopheles species in a rural settlement on the malaria frontier of southwest Amazon, Brazil.

PubMed

Rufalco-Moutinho, Paulo; Schweigmann, Nicolás; Bergamaschi, Denise Pimentel; Mureb Sallum, Maria Anice

2016-12-01

Rural settlements are social arrangements expanding in the Amazon region, which generate disturbances in the natural environment, thus affecting the ecology of the species of Anopheles and thus the malaria transmission. Larval habitats are important sources for maintenance of mosquito vector populations, and holding back a natural watercourse is a usual process in the establishment of rural settlements, since the formation of micro-dams represents a water resource for the new settlers. Identifying characteristics of the larval habitats that may be associated with both the presence and abundance of Anopheles vectors species in an environment under ecological transition is background for planning vector control strategies in rural areas in the Amazon. Anopheles larvae collections were performed in two major types of habitats: natural and flow-limited water collections that were constructed by holding back the original watercourse. A total of 3123 Anopheles spp. larvae were captured in three field-sampling collections. The majority of the larvae identified were taken from flow-limited water collections belonged to species of the Nyssorhynchus subgenus (92%), whereas in the natural larval habitats a fewer number of individuals belonged to the Stethomyia (5%) and Anopheles (3%) subgenera. The total of Nyssorhynchus identified (1818), 501 specimens belonged to An. darlingi, 750 to An. triannulatus and 567 for others remaining species. In addition, 1152 could not be identified to subgenus/species level, because they were either in the first-instar or damaged. The primary vector in areas of the Amazon river basin, An. darlingi, was found exclusively in man-made habitats. Statistical analysis display An. triannulatus with specialist behavior for characteristics of man-made habitats. Modifications in the natural environment facilitate the rise of larval habitats for species with epidemiological importance for malaria in the region. This study showed that man-made habitats flow-limited water collections from dry lands could be a factor associated with the increase of An. darlingi and An. triannulatus populations, and other Nyssorhynchus species as well in endemic areas of the Amazon Region. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Socio-ecological costs of Amazon nut and timber production at community household forests in the Bolivian Amazon.

PubMed

Soriano, Marlene; Mohren, Frits; Ascarrunz, Nataly; Dressler, Wolfram; Peña-Claros, Marielos

2017-01-01

The Bolivian Amazon holds a complex configuration of people and forested landscapes in which communities hold secure tenure rights over a rich ecosystem offering a range of livelihood income opportunities. A large share of this income is derived from Amazon nut (Bertholletia excelsa). Many communities also have long-standing experience with community timber management plans. However, livelihood needs and desires for better living conditions may continue to place these resources under considerable stress as income needs and opportunities intensify and diversify. We aim to identify the socioeconomic and biophysical factors determining the income from forests, husbandry, off-farm and two keystone forest products (i.e., Amazon nut and timber) in the Bolivian Amazon region. We used structural equation modelling tools to account for the complex inter-relationships between socioeconomic and biophysical factors in predicting each source of income. The potential exists to increase incomes from existing livelihood activities in ways that reduce dependency upon forest resources. For example, changes in off-farm income sources can act to increase or decrease forest incomes. Market accessibility, social, financial, and natural and physical assets determined the amount of income community households could derive from Amazon nut and timber. Factors related to community households' local ecological knowledge, such as the number of non-timber forest products harvested and the number of management practices applied to enhance Amazon nut production, defined the amount of income these households could derive from Amazon nut and timber, respectively. The (inter) relationships found among socioeconomic and biophysical factors over income shed light on ways to improve forest-dependent livelihoods in the Bolivian Amazon. We believe that our analysis could be applicable to other contexts throughout the tropics as well.
Impact of the biomass burning on methane variability during dry years in the Amazon measured from an aircraft and the AIRS sensor.

PubMed

Ribeiro, Igor Oliveira; Andreoli, Rita Valéria; Kayano, Mary Toshie; de Sousa, Thaiane Rodrigues; Medeiros, Adan Sady; Guimarães, Patrícia Costa; Barbosa, Cybelli G G; Godoi, Ricardo H M; Martin, Scot T; de Souza, Rodrigo Augusto Ferreira

2018-05-15

The present study examines the spatiotemporal variability and interrelations of the atmospheric methane (CH 4 ), carbon monoxide (CO) and biomass burning (BB) outbreaks retrieved from satellite data over the Amazon region during the 2003-2012 period. In the climatological context, we found consistent seasonal cycles of BB outbreaks and CO in the Amazon, both variables showing a peak during the dry season. The dominant CO variability mode features the largest positive loadings in the southern Amazon, and describes the interannual CO variations related to BB outbreaks along the deforestation arc during the dry season. In line with CO variability and BB outbreaks, the results show strong correspondence with the spatiotemporal variability of CH 4 in the southern Amazon during years of intense drought. Indeed, the areas with the largest positive CH 4 anomalies in southern Amazon overlap the areas with high BB outbreaks and positive CO anomalies. The analyses also showed that high (low) BB outbreaks in the southern Amazon occur during dry (wet) years. In consequence, the interannual climate variability modulates the BB outbreaks in the southern Amazon, which in turn have considerable impacts on CO and CH 4 interannual variability in the region. Therefore, the BB outbreaks might play a major role in modulating the CH 4 and CO variations, at least in the southern Amazon. This study also provides a comparison between the estimate of satellite and aircraft measurements for the CH 4 over the southern Amazon, which indicates relatively small differences from the aircraft measurements in the lower troposphere, with errors ranging from 0.18% to 1.76%. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Multispecies Fisheries in the Lower Amazon River and Its Relationship with the Regional and Global Climate Variability

PubMed Central

Buss de Souza, Ronald; Freire, Juan; Isaac, Victoria Judith

2016-01-01

This paper aims to describe the spatial-temporal variability in catch of the main fishery resources of the Amazon River and floodplain lakes of the Lower Amazon, as well as relating the Catch per Unit of Effort with anomalies of some of the Amazon River, atmosphere and Atlantic Ocean system variables, determining the influence of the environment on the Amazonian fishery resources. Finfish landings data from the towns and villages of the Lower Amazon for the fisheries of three sites (Óbidos, Santarém and Monte Alegre), were obtained for the period between January 1993 and December 2004. Analysis of variance, detrended correspondence analysis, redundancy analysis and multiple regression techniques were used for the statistical analysis of the distinct time series. Fisheries production in the Lower Amazon presents differences between the Amazon River and the floodplain lakes. Production in the Amazon River is approximately half of the one of the floodplain lakes. This variability occurs both along the Lower Amazon River region (longitudinal gradient) and laterally (latitudinal gradient) for every fishing ground studied here. The distinct environmental variables alone or in association act differently on the fishery stocks and the success of catches in each fishery group studied here. Important variables are the flooding events; the soil the sea surface temperatures; the humidity; the wind and the occurence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation events. Fishery productivity presents a large difference in quantity and distribution patterns between the river and floodplain lakes. This variability occurs in the region of the Lower Amazon as well as laterally for each fishery group studied, being dependent on the ecological characteristics and life strategies of each fish group considered here. PMID:27314951
Socio-ecological costs of Amazon nut and timber production at community household forests in the Bolivian Amazon

PubMed Central

Mohren, Frits; Ascarrunz, Nataly; Dressler, Wolfram; Peña-Claros, Marielos

2017-01-01

The Bolivian Amazon holds a complex configuration of people and forested landscapes in which communities hold secure tenure rights over a rich ecosystem offering a range of livelihood income opportunities. A large share of this income is derived from Amazon nut (Bertholletia excelsa). Many communities also have long-standing experience with community timber management plans. However, livelihood needs and desires for better living conditions may continue to place these resources under considerable stress as income needs and opportunities intensify and diversify. We aim to identify the socioeconomic and biophysical factors determining the income from forests, husbandry, off-farm and two keystone forest products (i.e., Amazon nut and timber) in the Bolivian Amazon region. We used structural equation modelling tools to account for the complex inter-relationships between socioeconomic and biophysical factors in predicting each source of income. The potential exists to increase incomes from existing livelihood activities in ways that reduce dependency upon forest resources. For example, changes in off-farm income sources can act to increase or decrease forest incomes. Market accessibility, social, financial, and natural and physical assets determined the amount of income community households could derive from Amazon nut and timber. Factors related to community households’ local ecological knowledge, such as the number of non-timber forest products harvested and the number of management practices applied to enhance Amazon nut production, defined the amount of income these households could derive from Amazon nut and timber, respectively. The (inter) relationships found among socioeconomic and biophysical factors over income shed light on ways to improve forest-dependent livelihoods in the Bolivian Amazon. We believe that our analysis could be applicable to other contexts throughout the tropics as well. PMID:28235090
East of the Andes: The genetic profile of the Peruvian Amazon populations.

PubMed

Di Corcia, T; Sanchez Mellado, C; Davila Francia, T J; Ferri, G; Sarno, S; Luiselli, D; Rickards, O

2017-06-01

Assuming that the differences between the Andes and the Amazon rainforest at environmental and historical levels have influenced the distribution patterns of genes, languages, and cultures, the maternal and paternal genetic reconstruction of the Peruvian Amazon populations was used to test the relationships within and between these two extreme environments. We analyzed four Peruvian Amazon communities (Ashaninka, Huambisa, Cashibo, and Shipibo) for both Y chromosome (17 STRs and 8 SNPs) and mtDNA data (control region sequences, two diagnostic sites of the coding region, and one INDEL), and we studied their variability against the rest of South America. We detected a high degree of genetic diversity in the Peruvian Amazon people, both for mtDNA than for Y chromosome, excepting for Cashibo people, who seem to have had no exchanges with their neighbors, in contrast with the others communities. The genetic structure follows the divide between the Andes and the Amazon, but we found a certain degree of gene flow between these two environments, as particularly emerged with the Y chromosome descent cluster's (DCs) analysis. The Peruvian Amazon is home to an array of populations with differential rates of genetic exchanges with their neighbors and with the Andean people, depending on their peculiar demographic histories. We highlighted some successful Y chromosome lineages expansions originated in Peru during the pre-Columbian history which involved both Andeans and Amazon Arawak people, showing that at least a part of the Amazon rainforest did not remain isolated from those exchanges. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Amazon Forest Responses to Drought and Fire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morton, D. C.

2015-12-01

Deforestation and agricultural land uses provide a consistent source of ignitions along the Amazon frontier during the dry season. The risk of understory fires in Amazon forests is amplified by drought conditions, when fires at the forest edge may spread for weeks before rains begin. Fire activity also impacts the regional response of intact forests to drought through diffuse light effects and nutrient redistribution, highlighting the complexity of feedbacks in this coupled human and natural system. This talk will focus on recent advances in our understanding of fire-climate feedbacks in the Amazon, building on research themes initiated under NASA's Large-scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA). NASA's LBA program began in the wake of the 1997-1998 El Niño, a strong event that exposed the vulnerability of Amazon forests to drought and fire under current climate and projections of climate change. With forecasts of another strong El Niño event in 2015-2016, this talk will provide a multi-scale synthesis of Amazon forest responses to drought and fire based on field measurements, airborne lidar data, and satellite observations of fires, rainfall, and terrestrial water storage. These studies offer new insights into the mechanisms governing fire season severity in the southern Amazon and regional variability in carbon losses from understory fires. The contributions from remote sensing to our understanding of drought and fire in Amazon forests reflect the legacy of NASA's LBA program and the sustained commitment to interdisciplinary research across the Amazon region.
Predicting the long tail of book sales: Unearthing the power-law exponent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fenner, Trevor; Levene, Mark; Loizou, George

2010-06-01

The concept of the long tail has recently been used to explain the phenomenon in e-commerce where the total volume of sales of the items in the tail is comparable to that of the most popular items. In the case of online book sales, the proportion of tail sales has been estimated using regression techniques on the assumption that the data obeys a power-law distribution. Here we propose a different technique for estimation based on a generative model of book sales that results in an asymptotic power-law distribution of sales, but which does not suffer from the problems related to power-law regression techniques. We show that the proportion of tail sales predicted is very sensitive to the estimated power-law exponent. In particular, if we assume that the power-law exponent of the cumulative distribution is closer to 1.1 rather than to 1.2 (estimates published in 2003, calculated using regression by two groups of researchers), then our computations suggest that the tail sales of Amazon.com, rather than being 40% as estimated by Brynjolfsson, Hu and Smith in 2003, are actually closer to 20%, the proportion estimated by its CEO.
Security of the Brazilian Amazon Area

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-04-01

effect in Amazonia". Brazil’s Institute for Space Research. Sio Paulo, April 1991: 5-6. Thompson, Dick. "A Global Agenda for the Amazon." Time, 18...to be overcome as Brazil pursues settlement and development of the Amazon. The natural ecologic systems of the Amazon must be defended with...agricultural techniques appropriate to the region and developed within the context of a comprehensive, responsible program that meets Brazil’s needs for
Cloud characteristics, thermodynamic controls and radiative impacts during the Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Giangrande, Scott E.; Feng, Zhe; Jensen, Michael P.

Routine cloud, precipitation and thermodynamic observations collected by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF) and Aerial Facility (AAF) during the 2-year US Department of Energy (DOE) ARM Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) campaign are summarized. These observations quantify the diurnal to large-scale thermodynamic regime controls on the clouds and precipitation over the undersampled, climatically important Amazon basin region. The extended ground deployment of cloud-profiling instrumentation enabled a unique look at multiple cloud regimes at high temporal and vertical resolution. This longer-term ground deployment, coupled with two short-term aircraft intensive observing periods, allowed new opportunitiesmore » to better characterize cloud and thermodynamic observational constraints as well as cloud radiative impacts for modeling efforts within typical Amazon wet and dry seasons.« less
An explicit GIS-based river basin framework for aquatic ecosystem conservation in the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venticinque, Eduardo; Forsberg, Bruce; Barthem, Ronaldo; Petry, Paulo; Hess, Laura; Mercado, Armando; Cañas, Carlos; Montoya, Mariana; Durigan, Carlos; Goulding, Michael

2016-11-01

Despite large-scale infrastructure development, deforestation, mining and petroleum exploration in the Amazon Basin, relatively little attention has been paid to the management scale required for the protection of wetlands, fisheries and other aspects of aquatic ecosystems. This is due, in part, to the enormous size, multinational composition and interconnected nature of the Amazon River system, as well as to the absence of an adequate spatial model for integrating data across the entire Amazon Basin. In this data article we present a spatially uniform multi-scale GIS framework that was developed especially for the analysis, management and monitoring of various aspects of aquatic systems in the Amazon Basin. The Amazon GIS-Based River Basin Framework is accessible as an ESRI geodatabase at doi:10.5063/F1BG2KX8.
Deforestation effects on Amazon forest resilience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zemp, D. C.; Schleussner, C.-F.; Barbosa, H. M. J.; Rammig, A.

2017-06-01

Through vegetation-atmosphere feedbacks, rainfall reductions as a result of Amazon deforestation could reduce the resilience on the remaining forest to perturbations and potentially lead to large-scale Amazon forest loss. We track observation-based water fluxes from sources (evapotranspiration) to sinks (rainfall) to assess the effect of deforestation on continental rainfall. By studying 21st century deforestation scenarios, we show that deforestation can reduce dry season rainfall by up to 20% far from the deforested area, namely, over the western Amazon basin and the La Plata basin. As a consequence, forest resilience is systematically eroded in the southwestern region covering a quarter of the current Amazon forest. Our findings suggest that the climatological effects of deforestation can lead to permanent forest loss in this region. We identify hot spot regions where forest loss should be avoided to maintain the ecological integrity of the Amazon forest.
Cloud characteristics, thermodynamic controls and radiative impacts during the Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) experiment

DOE PAGES

Giangrande, Scott E.; Feng, Zhe; Jensen, Michael P.; ...

2017-12-06

Routine cloud, precipitation and thermodynamic observations collected by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF) and Aerial Facility (AAF) during the 2-year US Department of Energy (DOE) ARM Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) campaign are summarized. These observations quantify the diurnal to large-scale thermodynamic regime controls on the clouds and precipitation over the undersampled, climatically important Amazon basin region. The extended ground deployment of cloud-profiling instrumentation enabled a unique look at multiple cloud regimes at high temporal and vertical resolution. This longer-term ground deployment, coupled with two short-term aircraft intensive observing periods, allowed new opportunitiesmore » to better characterize cloud and thermodynamic observational constraints as well as cloud radiative impacts for modeling efforts within typical Amazon wet and dry seasons.« less
Leaf Pressure Volume Data in Caxiuana and Tapajos National Forest, Para, Brazil (2011)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Powell, Thomas; Moorcroft, Paul

Pressure volume curve measurements on leaves of canopy trees from the from the Caxiuana and Tapajos National Forests, Para, Brazil. Tapajos samples were harvested from the km 67 forested area, which is adjacent to the decommissioned throughfall exclusion drought experimental plot. Caxiuana samples were harvested from trees growing in the throughfall exclusion plots. Data were collected in 2011. Dataset includes: date of measurement, site ID, plot ID, tree ID (species, tree tag #), leaf area, fresh weight, relative weight, leaf water potential, and leaf water loss. P-V curve parameters (turgor loss point, osmotic potential, and bulk modulus of elasticity) canmore » be found in Powell et al. (2017) Differences in xylem cavitation resistance and leaf hydraulic traits explain differences in drought tolerance among mature Amazon rainforest trees. Global Change Biology.« less
Statistical properties of cloud and precipitation events in Central Amazonia using GoAmazon2014/5 data: revisiting deep convection timescales.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pauliquevis, T.; Alves, C. F.; Barbosa, H. M.

2016-12-01

Previous studies in Amazon have shown a clear discrepance between models and observations of convection. From the observational stand point convection in Amazonia has a typical diurnal cycle, which is characterized by shallow convection and followed by shallow to deep transition (usually in early afternoon) and rain. Differently, numerical models based in cumulus parameterizations put heavy rain in the early hours of the morning. In this context, observations are crucial both to constraint as well to validate improvement in models. In this study we investigated statistical properties of clouds, precipitation and convection employing several instruments operated during GoAmazon2014/5-DOE/ARM at Manacapuru, AM (Brazil) combined with Cloud Top Temperature data obtained by GOES. Previous studies (e.g. Adams et al., 2013) defined deep convection events as connected to rapid CTT decrease, PWV increase (convergence) and precipitation. They also observed that the average deep convection event has two characteristic time-scales of its formation, in the sense that water vapor convergence begins to build 12 hs before precipitation, with an invigoration 4 hs before rain occur. In this study we revisited this approach using GoAmazon2014/5 measurement with special focus to its statistical variability. Preliminar results for the wet season of 2014 showed that events with rapid decrease in CTT were associated with 60% of the observed precipitation at ground. Defining t0 as the central time of CTT (rapid) decrease and analyzing only events with rain volume > 10 mm it was possible to observe that precipitation maximums distributed around t0 with mean difference Δ = 24 ± 82 minutes. Most of events presented several maxima (up to 16), and the general structure was similar to beatings in oscillatory systems. In several cases eve the first maximum of rain rate was 1 hour shifted from t0. In this presentation, the above results will be discussed combined with radiometer measurements (T, RH, LWP and PWV). Special attention to differences in diurnal cycles of convective and not convective days, as well as some mean vertical profiles of those variables.
Palpation- and ultrasound-guided brachial plexus blockade in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis).

PubMed

da Cunha, Anderson F; Strain, George M; Rademacher, Nathalie; Schnellbacher, Rodney; Tully, Thomas N

2013-01-01

To compare palpation-guided with ultrasound-guided brachial plexus blockade in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots. Prospective randomized experimental trial. Eighteen adult Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis) weighing 252-295 g. After induction of anesthesia with isoflurane, parrots received an injection of lidocaine (2 mg kg(-1)) in a total volume of 0.3 mL at the axillary region. The birds were randomly assigned to equal groups using either palpation or ultrasound as a guide for the brachial plexus block. Nerve evoked muscle potentials (NEMP) were used to monitor effectiveness of brachial plexus block. The palpation-guided group received the local anesthetic at the space between the pectoral muscle, triceps, and supracoracoideus aticimus muscle, at the insertion of the tendons of the caudal coracobrachial muscle, and the caudal scapulohumeral muscle. For the ultrasound-guided group, the brachial plexus and the adjacent vessels were located with B-mode ultrasonography using a 7-15 MHz linear probe. After location, an 8-5 MHz convex transducer was used to guide injections. General anesthesia was discontinued 20 minutes after lidocaine injection and the birds recovered in a padded cage. Both techniques decreased the amplitude of NEMP. Statistically significant differences in NEMP amplitudes, were observed within the ultrasound-guided group at 5, 10, 15, and 20 minutes after injection and within the palpation-guided group at 10, 15, and 20 minutes after injection. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. No effect on motor function, muscle relaxation or wing droop was observed after brachial plexus block. The onset of the brachial plexus block tended to be faster when ultrasonography was used. Brachial plexus injection can be performed in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots and nerve evoked muscle potentials were useful to monitor the effects on nerve conduction in this avian species. Neither technique produced an effective block at the doses of lidocaine used and further study is necessary to develop a useful block for surgical analgesia. © Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Constancy in the vegetation of the Amazon Basin during the late Pleistocene: Evidence from the organic matter composition of Amazon deep sea fan sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kastner, Thomas P.; Goñi, Miguel A.

2003-04-01

Analyses of more than 60 sediment samples from the Amazon deep sea fan show remarkably constant terrigenous biomarkers (lignin phenols and cutin acids) and stable carbon isotopic compositions of organic matter (δ13COM) deposited from 10 to 70 ka. Sediments from the nine Amazon deep sea fan channel-levee systems investigated in this study yielded relatively narrow ranges for diagnostic parameters such as organic carbon (OC) normalized total lignin yields (Λ = 3.1 ± 1.1 mg/100 mg OC), syringyl:vanillyl phenol ratios (S/V = 0.84 ± 0.06), cinnamyl:vanillyl phenol ratios (C/V = 0.08 ± 0.02), isomeric abundances of cutin-derived dihydroxyhexadecanoic acid (f10,16-OH = 0.65 ± 0.02), and δ13COM (-27.6% ± 0.6 ‰). Our measurements support the hypothesis that the vegetation of the Amazon Basin did not change significantly during the late Pleistocene, even during the Last Glacial Maximum. Moreover, the compositions obtained from the Amazon deep sea fan are similar to those of modern Amazon River suspended sediments. Such results strongly indicate that the current tropical rainforest vegetation has been a permanent and dominant feature of the Amazon River watershed over the past 70 k.y. Specifically, we found no evidence for the development of large savannas that had been previously postulated as indicators of increased glacial aridity in Amazonia. Climate models need to be modified to account for the uninterrupted input of moisture to the tropical Amazon region over the late Pleistocene Holocene period.
77 FR 40084 - Certain Portable Communication Devices; Determination Not To Review Initial Determinations...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-06

...''); Amazon.com , Inc. of Seattle, Washington (``Amazon''); Nokia Corporation of Espoo, Finland, Nokia Inc. of..., Motorola, Samsung, Sony, Amazon, and Pantech filed a joint motion under Commission Rule 210.21(a)(2) to...
Measuring Water Storage in the Amazon

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-07-07

This image is from data taken by NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment showing the Amazon basin in South America. The amount of water stored in the Amazon basin varies from month to month. Animations are available at the Photojournal.
How Do Tropical Sea Surface Temperatures Influence the Seasonal Distribution of Precipitation in the Equatorial Amazon?.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Rong; Dickinson, Robert E.; Chen, Mingxuan; Wang, Hui

2001-10-01

Although the correlation between precipitation over tropical South America and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over the Pacific and Atlantic has been documented since the early twentieth century, the impact of each ocean on the timing and intensity of the wet season over tropical South America and the underlying mechanisms have remained unclear. Numerical experiments have been conducted using the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model Version 3 to explore these impacts. The results suggest the following.1)Seasonality of SSTs in the tropical Pacific and Atlantic has an important influence on precipitation in the eastern Amazon during the equinox seasons. The eastern side of the Amazon is influenced both by the direct thermal circulation of the Atlantic intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and by Rossby waves. These processes are enhanced by the seasonal cycles of SSTs in the tropical Atlantic and Pacific. SSTs affect Amazon precipitation much less during the solstice seasons and in the western Amazon.2)The seasonality of SSTs in the Atlantic more strongly affects Amazon rainfall than does that of the Pacific. Without the former, austral spring in the eastern equatorial Amazon would be a wet season, rather than the observed dry season. As a consequence of the lag at that time of the southward seasonal migration of the Atlantic SSTs behind that of the insolation, the Atlantic ITCZ centers itself near 10°N, instead of at the equator, imposing subsidence and low-level anticyclonic flow over the eastern equatorial Amazon, thus drying the air above the planetary boundary layer and reducing the low-level moisture convergence. Consequently, convection in the eastern Amazon is suppressed despite strong surface heating.3)Seasonality of the SSTs in the tropical Pacific also tends to reduce precipitation in the eastern Amazon during both spring and fall. In spring, subsidence is enhanced not only through a zonal direct circulation, but also through Rossby waves propagating from the extratropical South Pacific to subtropical South America. This teleconnection strengthens the South Atlantic convergence zone (SACZ) and the Nordeste low, in both cases reducing precipitation in the eastern Amazon. A direct thermal response to the Pacific SSTs enhances lower-level divergence and reduces precipitation from the northern tropical Atlantic to the northeastern Amazon.

Does deforestation promote or inhibit malaria transmission in the Amazon? A systematic literature review and critical appraisal of current evidence

PubMed Central

Tucker Lima, Joanna M.; Vittor, Amy; Rifai, Sami

2017-01-01

Considerable interest in the relationship between biodiversity and disease has recently captured the attention of the research community, with important public policy implications. In particular, malaria in the Amazon region is often cited as an example of how forest conservation can improve public health outcomes. However, despite a growing body of literature and an increased understanding of the relationship between malaria and land use / land cover change (LULC) in Amazonia, contradictions have emerged. While some studies report that deforestation increases malaria risk, others claim the opposite. Assessing malaria risk requires examination of dynamic processes among three main components: (i) the environment (i.e. LULC and landscape transformations), (ii) vector biology (e.g. mosquito species distributions, vector activity and life cycle, plasmodium infection rates), and (iii) human populations (e.g. forest-related activity, host susceptibility, movement patterns). In this paper, we conduct a systematic literature review on malaria risk and deforestation in the Amazon focusing on these three components. We explore key features that are likely to generate these contrasting results using the reviewed articles and our own data from Brazil and Peru, and conclude with suggestions for productive avenues in future research. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease: scientific evidence and policy implications'. PMID:28438914
Does deforestation promote or inhibit malaria transmission in the Amazon? A systematic literature review and critical appraisal of current evidence.

PubMed

Tucker Lima, Joanna M; Vittor, Amy; Rifai, Sami; Valle, Denis

2017-06-05

Considerable interest in the relationship between biodiversity and disease has recently captured the attention of the research community, with important public policy implications. In particular, malaria in the Amazon region is often cited as an example of how forest conservation can improve public health outcomes. However, despite a growing body of literature and an increased understanding of the relationship between malaria and land use / land cover change (LULC) in Amazonia, contradictions have emerged. While some studies report that deforestation increases malaria risk, others claim the opposite. Assessing malaria risk requires examination of dynamic processes among three main components: (i) the environment (i.e. LULC and landscape transformations), (ii) vector biology (e.g. mosquito species distributions, vector activity and life cycle, plasmodium infection rates), and (iii) human populations (e.g. forest-related activity, host susceptibility, movement patterns). In this paper, we conduct a systematic literature review on malaria risk and deforestation in the Amazon focusing on these three components. We explore key features that are likely to generate these contrasting results using the reviewed articles and our own data from Brazil and Peru, and conclude with suggestions for productive avenues in future research.This article is part of the themed issue 'Conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease: scientific evidence and policy implications'. © 2017 The Authors.
A Behavioral Model of Landscape Change in the Amazon Basin: The Colonist Case

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, R. A.; Drzyzga, S. A.; Li, Y. L.; Wi, J. G.; Caldas, M.; Arima, E.; Vergara, D.

2004-01-01

This paper presents the prototype of a predictive model capable of describing both magnitudes of deforestation and its spatial articulation into patterns of forest fragmentation. In a departure from other landscape models, it establishes an explicit behavioral foundation for algorithm development, predicated on notions of the peasant economy and on household production theory. It takes a 'bottom-up' approach, generating the process of land-cover change occurring at lot level together with the geography of a transportation system to describe regional landscape change. In other words, it translates the decentralized decisions of individual households into a collective, spatial impact. In so doing, the model unites the richness of survey research on farm households with the analytical rigor of spatial analysis enabled by geographic information systems (GIs). The paper describes earlier efforts at spatial modeling, provides a critique of the so-called spatially explicit model, and elaborates a behavioral foundation by considering farm practices of colonists in the Amazon basin. It then uses, insight from the behavioral statement to motivate a GIs-based model architecture. The model is implemented for a long-standing colonization frontier in the eastern sector of the basin, along the Trans-Amazon Highway in the State of Para, Brazil. Results are subjected to both sensitivity analysis and error assessment, and suggestions are made about how the model could be improved.
Genetic relationships among freshwater mussel species from fifteen Amazonian rivers and inferences on the evolution of the Hyriidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionida).

PubMed

Santos-Neto, Guilherme da Cruz; Beasley, Colin Robert; Schneider, Horacio; Pimpão, Daniel Mansur; Hoeh, Walter Randolph; Simone, Luiz Ricardo Lopes de; Tagliaro, Claudia Helena

2016-07-01

The current phylogenetic framework for the South American Hyriidae is solely based on morphological data. However, freshwater bivalve morphology is highly variable due to both genetic and environmental factors. The present study used both mitochondrial (COI and 16S) and nuclear (18S-ITS1) sequences in molecular phylogenetic analyses of nine Neotropical species of Hyriidae, collected from 15 South American rivers, and sequences of hyriids from Australia and New Zealand obtained from GenBank. The present molecular findings support traditional taxonomic proposals, based on morphology, for the South American subfamily Hyriinae, currently divided in three tribes: Hyriini, Castaliini and Rhipidodontini. Phylogenetic trees based on COI nucleotide sequences revealed at least four geographical groups of Castalia ambigua: northeast Amazon (Piriá, Tocantins and Caeté rivers), central Amazon, including C. quadrata (Amazon and Aripuanã rivers), north (Trombetas river), and C. ambigua from Peru. Genetic distances suggest that some specimens may be cryptic species. Among the Hyriini, a total evidence data set generated phylogenetic trees indicating that Paxyodon syrmatophorus and Prisodon obliquus are more closely related, followed by Triplodon corrugatus. The molecular clock, based on COI, agreed with the fossil record of Neotropical hyriids. The ancestor of both Australasian and Neotropical Hyriidae is estimated to have lived around 225million years ago. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Response of free-living nitrogen-fixing microorganisms to land use change in the Amazon rainforest.

PubMed

Mirza, Babur S; Potisap, Chotima; Nüsslein, Klaus; Bohannan, Brendan J M; Rodrigues, Jorge L M

2014-01-01

The Amazon rainforest, the largest equatorial forest in the world, is being cleared for pasture and agricultural use at alarming rates. Tropical deforestation is known to cause alterations in microbial communities at taxonomic and phylogenetic levels, but it is unclear whether microbial functional groups are altered. We asked whether free-living nitrogen-fixing microorganisms (diazotrophs) respond to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, using analysis of the marker gene nifH. Clone libraries were generated from soil samples collected from a primary forest, a 5-year-old pasture originally converted from primary forest, and a secondary forest established after pasture abandonment. Although diazotroph richness did not significantly change among the three plots, diazotroph community composition was altered with forest-to-pasture conversion, and phylogenetic similarity was higher among pasture communities than among those in forests. There was also 10-fold increase in nifH gene abundance following conversion from primary forest to pasture. Three environmental factors were associated with the observed changes: soil acidity, total N concentration, and C/N ratio. Our results suggest a partial restoration to initial levels of abundance and community structure of diazotrophs following pasture abandonment, with primary and secondary forests sharing similar communities. We postulate that the response of diazotrophs to land use change is a direct consequence of changes in plant communities, particularly the higher N demand of pasture plant communities for supporting aboveground plant growth.
Using remote sensing for validation of a large scale hydrologic and hydrodynamic model in the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paiva, R. C.; Bonnet, M.; Buarque, D. C.; Collischonn, W.; Frappart, F.; Mendes, C. B.

2011-12-01

We present the validation of the large-scale, catchment-based hydrological MGB-IPH model in the Amazon River basin. In this model, physically-based equations are used to simulate the hydrological processes, such as the Penman Monteith method to estimate evapotranspiration, or the Moore and Clarke infiltration model. A new feature recently introduced in the model is a 1D hydrodynamic module for river routing. It uses the full Saint-Venant equations and a simple floodplain storage model. River and floodplain geometry parameters are extracted from SRTM DEM using specially developed GIS algorithms that provide catchment discretization, estimation of river cross-sections geometry and water storage volume variations in the floodplains. The model was forced using satellite-derived daily rainfall TRMM 3B42, calibrated against discharge data and first validated using daily discharges and water levels from 111 and 69 stream gauges, respectively. Then, we performed a validation against remote sensing derived hydrological products, including (i) monthly Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS) anomalies derived from GRACE, (ii) river water levels derived from ENVISAT satellite altimetry data (212 virtual stations from Santos da Silva et al., 2010) and (iii) a multi-satellite monthly global inundation extent dataset at ~25 x 25 km spatial resolution (Papa et al., 2010). Validation against river discharges shows good performance of the MGB-IPH model. For 70% of the stream gauges, the Nash and Suttcliffe efficiency index (ENS) is higher than 0.6 and at Óbidos, close to Amazon river outlet, ENS equals 0.9 and the model bias equals,-4.6%. Largest errors are located in drainage areas outside Brazil and we speculate that it is due to the poor quality of rainfall datasets in these areas poorly monitored and/or mountainous. Validation against water levels shows that model is performing well in the major tributaries. For 60% of virtual stations, ENS is higher than 0.6. But, similarly, largest errors are also located in drainage areas outside Brazil, mostly Japurá River, and in the lower Amazon River. In the latter, correlation with observations is high but the model underestimates the amplitude of water levels. We also found a large bias between model and ENVISAT water levels, ranging from -3 to -15 m. The model provided TWS in good accordance with GRACE estimates. ENS values for TWS over the whole Amazon equals 0.93. We also analyzed results in 21 sub-regions of 4 x 4°. ENS is smaller than 0.8 only in 5 areas, and these are found mostly in the northwest part of the Amazon, possibly due to same errors reported in discharge results. Flood extent validation is under development, but a previous analysis in Brazilian part of Solimões River basin suggests a good model performance. The authors are grateful for the financial and operational support from the brazilian agencies FINEP, CNPq and ANA and from the french observatories HYBAM and SOERE RBV.
DoD Global Emerging Infections System Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2000

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-01-01

partners in Peru , Bolivia, and Suriname and was conducted largely under the supervision of a CDC officer assigned to NMRCD. Surveillance in the Amazon ...pyrimethamine on the north coast of Peru . In the Amazon basin, resistance to both chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine is noted in the central Amazon ...the north coast and in the Amazon region, respectively.As a result of this work, Peru now has better and more up-to-date information on antimalarial
Living Rivers: Importance of Andes-Amazon Connectivity and Consequences of Hydropower Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, E.

2016-12-01

The inherent dynamism of rivers along elevational and longitudinal gradients underpins freshwater biodiversity, ecosystem function, and ecosystem services in the Andean-Amazon. While this region covers only a small part of the entire Amazon Basin, its influences on downstream ecology, biogeochemistry, and human wellbeing are disproportionate with its relative small size. Seasonal flow pulses from Andean rivers maintain habitat, signal migratory fishes, and export sediment, nutrients, and organic matter to distant ecosystems—like lowland Amazonia and the Atlantic coast of Brazil. Rivers are key transportation routes, and freshwater fisheries are a primary protein source for the >30 million people that inhabit the Amazon Basin. Numerous cultural traditions depend on free-flowing Andean rivers; examples include Kukama beliefs in the underwater cities of the Marañon River, where people who have drowned in rivers whose bodies are not recovered go to live, or the pre-dawn bathing rituals of the Peruvian Shawi, who gain energy and connect with ancestors in cold, fast-flowing Andean waters. Transformations in the Andean-Amazon landscape—in particular from dams—threaten to compromise flows critical for human and ecosystem wellbeing. Presently, at least 250 hydropower dams are in operation, under construction, or proposed for Andean-Amazon rivers. This presentation will discuss regional trends in hydropower development, quantify effects of existing and proposed dams on Andean-Amazon connectivity, and examine the social and cultural importance of free-flowing Andean-Amazon rivers.
Net Carbon Balance for the Brazilian Amazon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houghton, R. A.

1998-01-01

The general purpose of this research was to use recent satellite-based estimates of deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia to calculate the net flux of carbon associated with deforestation and subsequent regrowth of secondary forests. We have made such a calculation, in the process comparing two estimates of deforestation and two estimates of biomass for the region. Both estimates were based on the RADAMBRASIL survey. They differed in the equations used to convert wood-volumes to total biomass. The net flux of carbon from changes in land use seems to vary from year to year, perhaps by as much as a factor of 4.
Morton et al. Reply

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morton, Douglas C.; Nagol, Jyoteshwar; Carabajal, Claudia C.; Rosette, Jacqueline; Palace, Michael; Cook, Bruce D.; Vermote, Eric F.; Harding, David J.; North, Peter R. J.

2016-01-01

Multiple mechanisms could lead to up-regulation of dry-season photosynthesis in Amazon forests, including canopy phenology and illumination geometry. We specifically tested two mechanisms for phenology-driven changes in Amazon forests during dry-season months, and the combined evidence from passive optical and lidar satellite data was incompatible with large net changes in canopy leaf area or leaf reflectance suggested by previous studies. We therefore hypothesized that seasonal changes in the fraction of sunlit and shaded canopies, one aspect of bidirectional reflectance effects in Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, could alter light availability for dry-season photosynthesis and the photosynthetic capacity of Amazon forests without large net changes in canopy composition. Subsequent work supports the hypothesis that seasonal changes in illumination geometry and diffuse light regulate light saturation in Amazon forests. These studies clarify the physical mechanisms that govern light availability in Amazon forests from seasonal variability in direct and diffuse illumination. Previously, in the debate over light limitation of Amazon forest productivity, seasonal changes in the distribution of light within complex Amazon forest canopies were confounded with dry-season increases in total incoming photosynthetically active radiation. In the accompanying Comment, Saleska et al. do not fully account for this confounding effect of forest structure on photosynthetic capacity.
Successful Treatment of Suspected Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in a Mealy Amazon Parrot (Amazona farinose).

PubMed

Brady, Sean M; Burgdorf-Moisuk, Anne; Silverman, Sarah; Wack, Raymund F

2016-12-01

A 25-year-old, male mealy Amazon parrot (Amazona farinose) with a history of polycythemia, hepatomegaly, and epistaxis was evaluated for progressive lethargy and anorexia. Clinical laboratory testing revealed severe polycythemia (71%), hypophosphatemia (1.6 mg/dL), and mild hypokalemia (2.8 mEq/L). Radiographs showed marked hepatomegaly and loss of air sac space. Despite supportive treatments, the bird's condition deteriorated, and it developed ataxia, was unable to fly, and became oxygen dependent. An echocardiogram, including an air bubble study, revealed a right-to-left atrial shunt and presumed pulmonary arterial hypertension. The bird was started on periodic phlebotomy (5-10 mL/kg q6wk) to reduce packed cell volume and sildenafil citrate (2.5 mg/kg PO q8h) for treatment of suspected pulmonary arterial hypertension. One week later, the patient was weaned off oxygen, and 24 days after initial presentation, the parrot was returned to its outdoor exhibit. Intermittent periods of increased respiratory rate and effort have been reported but have resolved without additional treatments. Epistaxis, once common in this bird, has not been noted since initiating treatment with sildenafil citrate 15 months ago.
Isoprene over the Amazon Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rasmussen, R. A.; Khalil, M. A. K.

1988-01-01

Data obtained during the 1985 ABLE expedition to the Amazon are used to describe the diurnal and vertical variations of isoprene. Isoprene is a natural hydrocarbon emitted by many species of trees, particularly those in tropical forests. The concentrations of isoprene at lower levels in the atmosphere undergo large diurnal variations, with the highest concentrations during midday and the lowest during the night. At ground level, outside the forest, peak concentrations of about 3-parts per billion by volume (ppbv) of isoprene were observed around midday. Concentrations were nearly zero before sunrise, increased to their maximum values during the day, and declined after sunset. Concentrations of 1-2 ppbv of isoprene were observed up to 300 m. Near the canopy level, up to 8 ppbv of isoprene were observed. In the forest, concentrations are generally quite low below the canopy and are highest at the level of the canopy. Since the reaction of isoprene with OH radicals is extremely fast, its concentrations fall off rapidly with altitude, so that practically none of it was seen above the boundary layer. During nighttime, however, concentrations comparable to daytime values were observed at altitudes of 300 m and above.
Measuring the level of agreement between a veterinary and a human point-of-care glucometer and a laboratory blood analyzer in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis).

PubMed

Acierno, Mark J; Schnellbacher, Rodney; Tully, Thomas N

2012-12-01

Although abnormalities in blood glucose concentrations in avian species are not as common as they are in mammals, the inability to provide point-of-care glucose measurement likely results in underreporting and missed treatment opportunities. A veterinary glucometer that uses different optimization codes for specific groups of animals has been produced. To obtain data for a psittacine bird-specific optimization code, as well as to calculate agreement between the veterinary glucometer, a standard human glucometer, and a laboratory analyzer, blood samples were obtained from 25 Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis) in a 2-phase study. In the initial phase, blood samples were obtained from 20 parrots twice at a 2-week interval. For each sample, the packed cell volume was determined, and the blood glucose concentration was measured by the veterinary glucometer. The rest of each sample was placed into a lithium heparin microtainer tube and centrifuged, and plasma was removed and frozen at -30 degrees C. Within 5 days, tubes were thawed, and blood glucose concentrations were measured with a laboratory analyzer. The data from both procedures were used to develop a psittacine bird-specific code. For the second phase of the study, the same procedure was repeated twice at a 2-week interval in 25 birds to determine agreement between the veterinary glucometer, a standard human glucometer, and a laboratory analyzer. Neither glucometer was in good agreement with the laboratory analyzer (veterinary glucometer bias, 9.0; level of agreement, -38.1 to 56.2; standard glucometer bias, 69.4; level of agreement -17.8 to 156.7). Based on these results, the use of handheld glucometers in the diagnostic testing of Hispaniolan Amazon parrots and other psittacine birds cannot be recommended.
Mouths of the Amazon River, Brazil, South America

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

In this view of the Amazon River Mouth (0.0, 51.0W), a large sediment plume can be seen expanding outward into the Atlantic Ocean. The sediment plume can be seen hugging the coast north of the delta as a result of the northwest flowing coastal Guyana Current. In recent years, the flow of the Amazon has become heavily laden with sediment as soil runoff from the denuded landscape of the interior enters the Amazon River (and other rivers) drainage system.
Epidemiology of Spotted Fever Group and Typhus Group Rickettsial Infection in the Amazon Basin of Peru

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

MediCine and Hyg1cne Epidemiology of Spotted Fever Group and Typhus Group Rickettsial Infection in the Amazon Basin of Peru Brett M. Forshey, Allison...approximately 4% of acute febrile episodes detected in Iquitos, a city located in the Amazon region of northeast- ern Peru , could be attributed to SFGR...2010 to 00-00-2010 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Epidemiology Of Spotted Fever Group And Typhus Group Rickettsial Infection In The Amazon Basin Of Peru 5a
DoD Global Emerging Infections System Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1999

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-01-01

findings provided the impetus to the government of Peru to change national drug policy regarding treatment of malaria in the Peruvian Amazon . As soon as...feasible, a 13 14 Malaria Emerges in the Amazon Basin of Peru (Department of Loreto) 1992-1997 During the last 10-15 years, malaria has emerged as a major...public health problem in the Amazon basin of South America. In Peru the total number of malaria cases reported annually from the Peruvian Amazon
Act No. 24994 of 19 January 1989. Basic Law on the Rural Development of the Peruvian Amazon Region.

PubMed

1989-01-01

This Act sets forth the government's policy on rural development of the Peruvian Amazon region. Major objectives of the Act include the promotion of new rural settlements in the Amazon region, the promotion of migration from the Andes to the Amazon region, and the stimulation of agriculture, livestock, and forestry activities in the Amazon region. The following are the means that the government will use, among others, to attain these goals: 1) the development of Population Displacement Programmes, which will give individual persons and families economic and logistic support in moving; 2) the establishment of Civic Colonizing Services, temporary mobile units, which will offer settlers health services, education services, technical assistance with respect to agriculture and livestock, and promotional credits; 3) the creation of the Council for Amazon River Transport to coordinate and recommend activities to improve river transport; 4) the granting to settlers of land, free education for their children, medical care, technical training and assistance with respect to agriculture, and a supply of seeds; 5) the exemption of certain investors from payment of income taxes; and 6) the granting of a wide range of incentives for agricultural production. The Act also creates a Council for Planning and Development in the Amazon Region to draw up and approve a Plan for the Development of the Amazon Region. It calls for the rational use of the natural resources of the Amazon Region in the framework of preserving the ecosystem and preventing its ruin and delegates to the regional governments the authority to enter into contracts on the use of forest materials and to undertake reforestation programs. Finally, the Act provides various guarantees for the native population, including guarantees with respect to land and preservation of ethnic and social identity.
Open and Crowd-Sourced Data for Treaty Verification

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-01

the case of user - generated Internet content , such as Wikipedia, or Amazon reviews. Another example is the Zooniverse citizen science project,6 which...Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18 Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 1 INTRODUCTION 5 1.1 Charge to the Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2...number of potential observations can in many in- stances make up for relatively crude measurements made by the pub- lic. Users are motivated to
Tropical North Atlantic ocean-atmosphere interactions synchronize forest carbon losses from hurricanes and Amazon fires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yang; Randerson, James T.; Morton, Douglas C.

2015-08-01

We describe a climate mode synchronizing forest carbon losses from North and South America by analyzing time series of tropical North Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs), landfall hurricanes and tropical storms, and Amazon fires during 1995-2013. Years with anomalously high tropical North Atlantic SSTs during March-June were often followed by a more active hurricane season and a larger number of satellite-detected fires in the southern Amazon during June-November. The relationship between North Atlantic tropical cyclones and southern Amazon fires (r = 0.61, p < 0.003) was stronger than links between SSTs and either cyclones or fires alone, suggesting that fires and tropical cyclones were directly coupled to the same underlying atmospheric dynamics governing tropical moisture redistribution. These relationships help explain why seasonal outlook forecasts for hurricanes and Amazon fires both failed in 2013 and may enable the design of improved early warning systems for drought and fire in Amazon forests.
Intrinsic controls on the range of volumes, morphologies, and dimensions of submarine lobes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prélat, A.; Covault, J. A.; Hodgson, D. M.; Fildani, A.; Flint, S. S.

2010-12-01

Submarine lobe dimensions from six different systems are compared: 1) the exhumed Permian Fan 3 lobe complex of the Tanqua Karoo, South Africa; 2) the modern Amazon fan channel-mouth lobe complex, offshore Brazil; 3) a portion of the modern distal Zaïre fan, offshore Angola/Congo; 4) a Pleistocene fan of the Kutai basin, subsurface offshore Indonesia; 5) the modern Golo system, offshore east Corsica, France; and 6) a shallow subsurface lobe complex , offshore Nigeria. These six systems have significantly different source-to-sink configurations (shelf dimension and slope topography), sediment supply characteristics (available grain size range and supply rate), tectonic settings, (palaeo) latitude, and delivery systems. Despite these differences, lobe deposits share similar geometric and dimensional characteristics. Lobes are grouped into two distinct populations of geometries that can be related to basin floor topography. The first population corresponds to areally extensive but thin lobes (average width 14 km × length 35 km × thickness 12 m) that were deposited onto low relief basin floor areas. Examples of such systems include the Tanqua Karoo, the Amazon, and the Zaïre systems. The second population corresponds to areally smaller but thicker lobes (average width 5 km × length 8 km × thickness 30 m) that were deposited into settings with higher amplitude of relief, like in the Corsican trough, the Kutai basin, and offshore Nigeria. The two populations of lobe types, however, share similar volumes (a narrow range around 1 or 2 km 3), which suggests that there is a control to the total volume of sediment that individual lobes can reach before they shift to a new locus of deposition. This indicates that the extrinsic processes control the number of lobes deposited per unit time rather than their dimensions. Two alternative hypotheses are presented to explain the similarities in lobe volumes calculated from the six very different systems. The first states that the wide range of starting flow volume and grain size across all systems enters the basin floor as a narrow range due to slope 'filtering' via more overspill and intra-channel deposition in larger systems. The second hypothesis is a result of the gradual decrease in downstream gradient from the distributive channel base to the lobe top during lobe growth. This is not sustainable as the channel will start to aggrade, and when a steeper lateral gradient is present, an avulsion will occur to an adjacent depositional low, which will be used for flows to fill and build a new lobe. This analysis of submarine lobe volumes indicates that the basin floor topography influences lobe geometry, but the fact that lobe volumes have a narrow range indicates a strong influence of intrinsic processes.

Intrinsic controls on the range of volumes, morphologies, and dimensions of submarine lobes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Prelat, A.; Covault, J.A.; Hodgson, D.M.; Fildani, A.; Flint, S.S.

2010-01-01

Submarine lobe dimensions from six different systems are compared: 1) the exhumed Permian Fan 3 lobe complex of the Tanqua Karoo, South Africa; 2) the modern Amazon fan channel-mouth lobe complex, offshore Brazil; 3) a portion of the modern distal Za??re fan, offshore Angola/Congo; 4) a Pleistocene fan of the Kutai basin, subsurface offshore Indonesia; 5) the modern Golo system, offshore east Corsica, France; and 6) a shallow subsurface lobe complex , offshore Nigeria. These six systems have significantly different source-to-sink configurations (shelf dimension and slope topography), sediment supply characteristics (available grain size range and supply rate), tectonic settings, (palaeo) latitude, and delivery systems. Despite these differences, lobe deposits share similar geometric and dimensional characteristics. Lobes are grouped into two distinct populations of geometries that can be related to basin floor topography. The first population corresponds to areally extensive but thin lobes (average width 14km??length 35km??thickness 12m) that were deposited onto low relief basin floor areas. Examples of such systems include the Tanqua Karoo, the Amazon, and the Za??re systems. The second population corresponds to areally smaller but thicker lobes (average width 5km??length 8km??thickness 30m) that were deposited into settings with higher amplitude of relief, like in the Corsican trough, the Kutai basin, and offshore Nigeria. The two populations of lobe types, however, share similar volumes (a narrow range around 1 or 2km3), which suggests that there is a control to the total volume of sediment that individual lobes can reach before they shift to a new locus of deposition. This indicates that the extrinsic processes control the number of lobes deposited per unit time rather than their dimensions. Two alternative hypotheses are presented to explain the similarities in lobe volumes calculated from the six very different systems. The first states that the wide range of starting flow volume and grain size across all systems enters the basin floor as a narrow range due to slope 'filtering' via more overspill and intra-channel deposition in larger systems. The second hypothesis is a result of the gradual decrease in downstream gradient from the distributive channel base to the lobe top during lobe growth. This is not sustainable as the channel will start to aggrade, and when a steeper lateral gradient is present, an avulsion will occur to an adjacent depositional low, which will be used for flows to fill and build a new lobe. This analysis of submarine lobe volumes indicates that the basin floor topography influences lobe geometry, but the fact that lobe volumes have a narrow range indicates a strong influence of intrinsic processes. ?? 2010 Elsevier B.V.
Crop damage of Eriotheca gracilipes (Bombacaceae) by the Blue-Fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva, Psittacidae), in the Brazilian Cerrado.

PubMed

Ragusa-Netto, J

2014-11-01

Seed predation has major effects on the reproductive success of individuals, spatial patterns of populations, genetic variability, interspecific interactions and ultimately in the diversity of tree communities. At a Brazilian savanna, I evaluated the proportional crop loss of Eriotheca gracilipes due the Blue-Fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva) during a fruiting period. Also, I analyzed the relationship between proportional crop loss to Amazons and both fruit crop size and the distance from the nearest damaged conspecific. Trees produced from 1 to 109 fruits, so that Amazons foraged more often on trees bearing larger fruit crop size, while seldom visited less productive trees. Moreover, the relationship between fruit crop sizes and the number of depredated fruits was significant. However, when only damaged trees were assessed, I found a negative and significant relation between fruit crop size and proportional crop loss to Blue-Fronted Amazons. Taking into account this as a measure more directly related to the probability of seed survival, a negative density dependent effect emerged. Also, Amazons similarly damaged the fruit crops of either close or distant neighboring damaged trees. Hence, in spite of Blue-Fronted Amazons searched for E. gracilipes bearing large fruit crops, they were swamped due to the presence of more fruits than they could eat. Moderate seed predation by Blue-Fronted Amazons either at trees with large fruit crops or in areas where fruiting trees were aggregated implies in an enhanced probability of E. gracilipes seed survival and consequent regeneration success.
Resources and costs for microbial sequence analysis evaluated using virtual machines and cloud computing.

PubMed

Angiuoli, Samuel V; White, James R; Matalka, Malcolm; White, Owen; Fricke, W Florian

2011-01-01

The widespread popularity of genomic applications is threatened by the "bioinformatics bottleneck" resulting from uncertainty about the cost and infrastructure needed to meet increasing demands for next-generation sequence analysis. Cloud computing services have been discussed as potential new bioinformatics support systems but have not been evaluated thoroughly. We present benchmark costs and runtimes for common microbial genomics applications, including 16S rRNA analysis, microbial whole-genome shotgun (WGS) sequence assembly and annotation, WGS metagenomics and large-scale BLAST. Sequence dataset types and sizes were selected to correspond to outputs typically generated by small- to midsize facilities equipped with 454 and Illumina platforms, except for WGS metagenomics where sampling of Illumina data was used. Automated analysis pipelines, as implemented in the CloVR virtual machine, were used in order to guarantee transparency, reproducibility and portability across different operating systems, including the commercial Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), which was used to attach real dollar costs to each analysis type. We found considerable differences in computational requirements, runtimes and costs associated with different microbial genomics applications. While all 16S analyses completed on a single-CPU desktop in under three hours, microbial genome and metagenome analyses utilized multi-CPU support of up to 120 CPUs on Amazon EC2, where each analysis completed in under 24 hours for less than $60. Representative datasets were used to estimate maximum data throughput on different cluster sizes and to compare costs between EC2 and comparable local grid servers. Although bioinformatics requirements for microbial genomics depend on dataset characteristics and the analysis protocols applied, our results suggests that smaller sequencing facilities (up to three Roche/454 or one Illumina GAIIx sequencer) invested in 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, microbial single-genome and metagenomics WGS projects can achieve cost-efficient bioinformatics support using CloVR in combination with Amazon EC2 as an alternative to local computing centers.
Resources and Costs for Microbial Sequence Analysis Evaluated Using Virtual Machines and Cloud Computing

PubMed Central

Angiuoli, Samuel V.; White, James R.; Matalka, Malcolm; White, Owen; Fricke, W. Florian

2011-01-01

Background The widespread popularity of genomic applications is threatened by the “bioinformatics bottleneck” resulting from uncertainty about the cost and infrastructure needed to meet increasing demands for next-generation sequence analysis. Cloud computing services have been discussed as potential new bioinformatics support systems but have not been evaluated thoroughly. Results We present benchmark costs and runtimes for common microbial genomics applications, including 16S rRNA analysis, microbial whole-genome shotgun (WGS) sequence assembly and annotation, WGS metagenomics and large-scale BLAST. Sequence dataset types and sizes were selected to correspond to outputs typically generated by small- to midsize facilities equipped with 454 and Illumina platforms, except for WGS metagenomics where sampling of Illumina data was used. Automated analysis pipelines, as implemented in the CloVR virtual machine, were used in order to guarantee transparency, reproducibility and portability across different operating systems, including the commercial Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), which was used to attach real dollar costs to each analysis type. We found considerable differences in computational requirements, runtimes and costs associated with different microbial genomics applications. While all 16S analyses completed on a single-CPU desktop in under three hours, microbial genome and metagenome analyses utilized multi-CPU support of up to 120 CPUs on Amazon EC2, where each analysis completed in under 24 hours for less than $60. Representative datasets were used to estimate maximum data throughput on different cluster sizes and to compare costs between EC2 and comparable local grid servers. Conclusions Although bioinformatics requirements for microbial genomics depend on dataset characteristics and the analysis protocols applied, our results suggests that smaller sequencing facilities (up to three Roche/454 or one Illumina GAIIx sequencer) invested in 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, microbial single-genome and metagenomics WGS projects can achieve cost-efficient bioinformatics support using CloVR in combination with Amazon EC2 as an alternative to local computing centers. PMID:22028928
Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in free-living Amazon river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) from central Amazon, Brazil

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Toxoplasma gondii is an important pathogen in aquatic mammals and its presence in these animals may indicate water contamination of aquatic environment by oocysts. Serum samples from 95 dolphins from free-living Amazon River dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) from Sustainable Development Reserve Mamirauá (...
Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in free-living amazon river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) from central Amazon, Brazil

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Toxoplasma gondii is an important pathogen in aquatic mammals and its presence in these animals may indicate water contamination of aquatic environment by oocysts. Serum samples from 95 dolphins from free-living Amazon River dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) from Sustainable Development Reserve Mamirauá (...
Amazon River investigations, reconnaissance measurements of July 1963

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oltman, Roy Edwin; Sternberg, H. O'R.; Ames, F.C.; Davis, L.C.

1964-01-01

The first measurements of the flow of the Amazon River were made in July 1963 as a joint project of the University of Brazil, the Brazilian Navy, and the U.S. Geological Survey. The discharge of the Amazon River at Obidos was 7,640,000 cfs at an annual flood stage somewhat lower than the average. For comparison the maximum known discharge of the Mississippi River at Vicksburg is about 2,300,000 cfs. Dissolved-solids concentrations and sediment loads of the Amazon River and of several major tributaries were found to be low.
Spectrometry of Pasture Condition and Biogeochemistry in the Central Amazon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Asner, Gregory P.; Townsend, Alan R.; Bustamante, Mercedes M. C.

1999-01-01

Regional analyses of Amazon cattle pasture biogeochemistry are difficult due to the complexity of human, edaphic, biotic and climatic factors and persistent cloud cover in satellite observations. We developed a method to estimate key biophysical properties of Amazon pastures using hyperspectral reflectance data and photon transport inverse modeling. Remote estimates of live and senescent biomass were strongly correlated with plant-available forms of soil phosphorus and calcium. These results provide a basis for monitoring pasture condition and biogeochemistry in the Amazon Basin using spaceborne hyperspectral sensors.
Forest-rainfall cascades buffer against drought across the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staal, Arie; Tuinenburg, Obbe A.; Bosmans, Joyce H. C.; Holmgren, Milena; van Nes, Egbert H.; Scheffer, Marten; Zemp, Delphine Clara; Dekker, Stefan C.

2018-06-01

Tree transpiration in the Amazon may enhance rainfall for downwind forests. Until now it has been unclear how this cascading effect plays out across the basin. Here, we calculate local forest transpiration and the subsequent trajectories of transpired water through the atmosphere in high spatial and temporal detail. We estimate that one-third of Amazon rainfall originates within its own basin, of which two-thirds has been transpired. Forests in the southern half of the basin contribute most to the stability of other forests in this way, whereas forests in the south-western Amazon are particularly dependent on transpired-water subsidies. These forest-rainfall cascades buffer the effects of drought and reveal a mechanism by which deforestation can compromise the resilience of the Amazon forest system in the face of future climatic extremes.
Surveillance, health promotion and control of Chagas disease in the Amazon Region - Medical attention in the Brazilian Amazon Region: a proposal

PubMed Central

Coura, José Rodrigues; Junqueira, Angela CV

2015-01-01

We refer to Oswaldo Cruz's reports dating from 1913 about the necessities of a healthcare system for the Brazilian Amazon Region and about the journey of Carlos Chagas to 27 locations in this region and the measures that would need to be adopted. We discuss the risks of endemicity of Chagas disease in the Amazon Region. We recommend that epidemiological surveillance of Chagas disease in the Brazilian Amazon Region and Pan-Amazon region should be implemented through continuous monitoring of the human population that lives in the area, their housing, the environment and the presence of triatomines. The monitoring should be performed with periodic seroepidemiological surveys, semi-annual visits to homes by health agents and the training of malaria microscopists and healthcare technicians to identify Trypanosoma cruzi from patients' samples and T. cruzi infection rates among the triatomines caught. We recommend health promotion and control of Chagas disease through public health policies, especially through sanitary education regarding the risk factors for Chagas disease. Finally, we propose a healthcare system through base hospitals, intermediate-level units in the areas of the Brazilian Amazon Region and air transportation, considering the distances to be covered for medical care. PMID:26560976
Separating the Effects of Tropical Atlantic and Pacific SST-driven Climate Variability on Amazon Carbon Exchange

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liptak, J.; Keppel-Aleks, G.

2016-12-01

Amazon forests store an estimated 25% percent of global terrestrial carbon per year1, 2, but the responses of Amazon carbon uptake to climate change is highly uncertain. One source of this uncertainty is tropical sea surface temperature variability driven by teleconnections. El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a key driver of year-to-year Amazon carbon exchange, with associated temperature and precipitation changes favoring net carbon storage in La Nina years, and net carbon release during El Nino years3. To determine how Amazon climate and terrestrial carbon fluxes react to ENSO alone and in concert with other SST-driven teleconnections such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), we force the atmosphere (CAM5) and land (CLM4) components of the CESM(BGC) with prescribed monthly SSTs over the period 1950—2014 in a Historical control simulation. We then run an experiment (PAC) with time-varying SSTs applied only to the tropical equatorial Pacific Ocean, and repeating SST seasonal cycle climatologies elsewhere. Limiting SST variability to the equatorial Pacific indicates that other processes enhance ENSO-driven Amazon climate anomalies. Compared to the Historical control simulation, warming, drying and terrestrial carbon loss over the Amazon during El Nino periods are lower in the PAC simulation, especially prior to 1990 during the cool phase of the AMO. Cooling, moistening, and net carbon uptake during La Nina periods are also reduced in the PAC simulation, but differences are greater after 1990 during the warm phase of the AMO. By quantifying the relationships among climate drivers and carbon fluxes in the Historical and PAC simulations, we both assess the sensitivity of these relationships to the magnitude of ENSO forcing and quantify how other teleconnections affect ENSO-driven Amazon climate feedbacks. We expect that these results will help us improve hypotheses for how Atlantic and Pacific climate trends will affect future Amazon carbon carbon cycling. Pan, Y. et al. A large and persistent carbon sink in the world's forests. Science 333, 988-993 (2011) Brienen, Roel J. W. et al. Long-term decline of the Amazon carbon sink. Nature 519, 344-348 (2015) Botta, A. et al. Long-term variations of climate and carbon fluxes over the Amazon basin. Geophys. Res. Lett. 29 (2002)
Repeat-Pass Multi-Temporal Interferometric SAR Coherence Variations with Amazon Floodplain and Lake Habitats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, H.; Alsdorf, D.

2006-12-01

Monitoring discharge in the main channels of rivers and upland tributaries as well as storage changes in floodplain lakes is necessary for understanding flooding hazards, methane production, sediment transport, and nutrient exchange. Interferometric processing of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data may enable hydrologists to detect environmental and ecological changes in hydrological systems over space and time. An aim of our experiments is to characterize interferometric SAR coherence variations that occur in Amazon aquatic habitats. We analyze coherence variations in JERS-1 data at three central Amazon sites; Lake Balbina, the Cabaliana floodplain, and the confluence of the Purus and Amazon rivers. Because radar pulse interactions with inundated vegetation typically follow a double-bounce travel path which returns energy to the antenna, coherence will vary with vegetation type, physical baseline, and temporal baseline. Balbina's vegetation consists mostly of forest and inundated trunks of dead, leafless trees as opposed to Cabaliana and Amazon- Purus (dominated by flooded forests), thus it serves to isolate the vegetation signal. Coherence variations with baselines were determined from 253 interferograms at Balbina, 210 at Calbaliana, and 153 at Purus. The average temporal and perpendicular baselines (mean std.) are 574 394 days and 1708 1159 m at Balbina, 637 435 days and 1381 981 m at Cabaliana, and 587 425 days and 1430 964 m at Purus. Balbina has a stronger coherence than either Cabaliana or Amazon-Purus. With results of Mann-Whitney statistical tests, Balbina has a difference between terre-firme and flooded coherence values plotted with perpendicular baseline but Cabaliana and Amazon-Purus do not show this difference. Balbina has a linearly decreasing trend in coherence plotted with temporal baseline whereas Cabaliana and Amazon-Purus have a steep drop-off, non- linear change. A strong annual periodicity is evident on power spectrums of the coherence values for Cabaliana and Amazon-Purus, but not in Balbina and is likely an indicator of the annual Amazon flood wave. Each ecological habitat is delineated in the Balbina coherence values plotted with temporal baseline, but only during high water and time-periods less than 2 years is such delineation visible in the Cabaliana and Amazon-Purus regions. Taken together, these observations suggest terre-firme does not have a seasonal variation whereas flooded areas vary with the season.
Perception of local inhabitants regarding the socioeconomic impact of tourism focused on provisioning wild dolphins in Novo Airão, Central Amazon, Brazil.

PubMed

Alves, Luiz C P S; Zappes, Camilah A; Oliveira, Rafael G; Andriolo, Artur; Azevedo, Alexandre de F

2013-01-01

Botos (Inia geoffrensis) are currently provisioned for use in tourist attractions in five sites in the Brazilian Amazon. Despite the known negative effects associated with human-wild dolphin interactions, this activity has been regulated and licensed in the Anavilhanas National Park in Novo Airão, Amazonas State, Brazil. We present an updated evaluation of the perception of the local community concerning the possible socioeconomic impacts of this tourism in Novo Airão. In April 2011, 45 interviews were conducted with inhabitants. A small segment of Novo Airão perceives currently itself as being economically dependent on the botos feeding tourism. Despite that, the economic benefits of this controversial activity apparently are not shared among most inhabitants, and botos feeding tourism is perceived as generating diverse negative effects. We conclude that if the activity was banned or modified into a less impacting tourist activity, this action would probably not majorly affect the lives of the general population.
Comparing Amazon's Mechanical Turk Platform to Conventional Data Collection Methods in the Health and Medical Research Literature.

PubMed

Mortensen, Karoline; Hughes, Taylor L

2018-04-01

The goal of this article is to conduct an assessment of the peer-reviewed primary literature with study objectives to analyze Amazon.com 's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) as a research tool in a health services research and medical context. Searches of Google Scholar and PubMed databases were conducted in February 2017. We screened article titles and abstracts to identify relevant articles that compare data from MTurk samples in a health and medical context to another sample, expert opinion, or other gold standard. Full-text manuscript reviews were conducted for the 35 articles that met the study criteria. The vast majority of the studies supported the use of MTurk for a variety of academic purposes. The literature overwhelmingly concludes that MTurk is an efficient, reliable, cost-effective tool for generating sample responses that are largely comparable to those collected via more conventional means. Caveats include survey responses may not be generalizable to the US population.
Using S3 cloud storage with ROOT and CvmFS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arsuaga-Ríos, María; Heikkilä, Seppo S.; Duellmann, Dirk; Meusel, René; Blomer, Jakob; Couturier, Ben

2015-12-01

Amazon S3 is a widely adopted web API for scalable cloud storage that could also fulfill storage requirements of the high-energy physics community. CERN has been evaluating this option using some key HEP applications such as ROOT and the CernVM filesystem (CvmFS) with S3 back-ends. In this contribution we present an evaluation of two versions of the Huawei UDS storage system stressed with a large number of clients executing HEP software applications. The performance of concurrently storing individual objects is presented alongside with more complex data access patterns as produced by the ROOT data analysis framework. Both Huawei UDS generations show a successful scalability by supporting multiple byte-range requests in contrast with Amazon S3 or Ceph which do not support these commonly used HEP operations. We further report the S3 integration with recent CvmFS versions and summarize the experience with CvmFS/S3 for publishing daily releases of the full LHCb experiment software stack.
Terrestrial Carbon Fluxes from Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado Regions Predicted from MODIS Satellite Data and Ecosystem Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klooster, S.; Potter, C.; Genovese, V.

2008-12-01

The NASA-CASA (Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach) simulation model based on satellite observations of monthly vegetation cover from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was used to estimate tropical forest and savanna (Cerrado) carbon pools for the Brazilian Amazon region over the period 2000-2004. Adjustments for mean age of forest stands were carried out across the region, resulting in a new mapping of aboveground biomass pools based on MODIS satellite data. Yearly maps of newly deforested lands from the Brazilian PRODES (Programa de calculo do desflorestamento da Amazonia ) project were combined with these NASA-CASA biomass predictions to generate seasonal budgets of potential carbon and nitrogen trace gas losses from biomass burning events. Simulations of plant residue and soil carbon decomposition were conducted in the NASA-CASA model during and following deforestation events to track the fate of aboveground biomass pools that were cut and burned each year across the region.
Dissolved organic carbon in rainwater from areas heavily impacted by sugar cane burning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coelho, C. H.; Francisco, J. G.; Nogueira, R. F. P.; Campos, M. L. A. M.

This work reports on rainwater dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from Ribeirão Preto (RP) and Araraquara over a period of 3 years. The economies of these two cities, located in São Paulo state (Brazil), are based on agriculture and related industries, and the region is strongly impacted by the burning of sugar cane foliage before harvesting. Highest DOC concentrations were obtained when air masses traversed sugar cane fields burned on the same day as the rain event. Significant increases in the DOC volume weighted means (VWM) during the harvest period, for both sites, and a good linear correlation ( r = 0.83) between DOC and K (a biomass burning marker) suggest that regional scale organic carbon emissions prevail over long-range transport. The DOC VWMs and standard deviations were 272 ± 22 μmol L -1 ( n = 193) and 338 ± 40 μmol L -1 ( n = 80) for RP and Araraquara, respectively, values which are at least two times higher than those reported for other regions influenced by biomass burning, such as the Amazon. These high DOC levels are discussed in terms of agricultural activities, particularly the large usage of biogenic fuels in Brazil, as well as the analytical method used in this work, which includes volatile organic carbon when reporting DOC values. Taking into account rainfall volume, estimated annual rainwater DOC fluxes for RP (4.8 g C m -2 yr -1) and Araraquara (5.4 g C m -2 yr -1) were close to that previously found for the Amazon region (4.8 g C m -2 yr -1). This work also discusses whether previous calculations of the global rainwater carbon flux may have been underestimated, since they did not consider large inputs from biomass combustion sources, and suffered from a possible analytical bias.
Emergent Hydrological Regimes in Amazonia Determine Vegetation Productivity and Structure.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahlström, A.; Canadell, J.; Schurgers, G.; Berry, J. A.; Guan, K.; Jackson, R. B.

2016-12-01

The Amazon rain forest has a disproportionate significance for global CO2 storage and biodiversity. Earth system models (ESMs) that estimate future climate and vegetation show little agreement in simulations in Amazonia. Here we show that evapotranspiration (ET), gross primary productivity (GPP) and above ground biomass in both models and empirical data align on an emergent hydrologically determined relationship that describes a functional relationship with annual precipitation (P). The physical relationship describes the potential for plant productivity and has a breakpoint at 2000 mm annual precipitation, where the system transitions between water and radiation limitation of annual ET. While ESM GPP is generally underestimated due to a low-bias in their internally generated P, their response to annual precipitation generally matches empirical data. It is different for biomass: ESMs show some ability in capturing biomass levels in the energy-limited wet hydrological regime above 2000 mm annual precipitation but they do not fully capture the biomass structure tipping point found in empirical data at the hydrological regime breakpoint that coincide with the forest-savanna transition. This discrepancy is likely due to the relatively simple representation of disturbances, primarily fires, and vegetation dynamics found in ESMs, and implies that ESMs likely overestimate the resilience to a potential future drying of the Amazon. Future elevated CO2 may increase plant water use efficiency and shift GPP upwards, but it will not affect the breakpoint between the regimes or the susceptibility of the forest which are both determined by precipitation and its role in determining the hydrological regime. This analysis reconciles and explains the findings of many studies on the Amazon. Our results suggests that future Amazonian biomass is governed by changes in precipitation, vegetation dynamics and disturbances, none of which are well predicted and represented by ESMs. Improvements of these processes are the most pressing challenges for more accurate future predictions on the fate of the Amazon and the global tropics.
Maternal near miss among women using the public health system in the Amazon and Northeast regions of Brazil.

PubMed

Cecatti, José G; Souza, Renato T; Pacagnella, Rodolfo C; Leal, Maria C; Moura, Erly C; Santos, Leonor M P

2015-05-01

To assess the prevalence of pregnancy complications identified as maternal near miss (MNM) and associated factors among women using the public health care system in the Amazon and Northeast regions of Brazil. A secondary analysis of a population-based survey conducted in 2010 was performed focusing on women self-reporting maternal complications. The main outcome was MNM, pragmatically defined as intensive care unit admission, eclampsia, hysterectomy, or blood transfusion. In addition, the risk of MNM was estimated for certain sociodemographics and characteristics of care received. Poisson regression was performed, generating adjusted prevalence ratios (PRadj) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). A total of 13 044 women (77%) who had given birth during the prior year using the public health system were interviewed. At least one complication was reported by 37.5%, with hemorrhage (28.4%) and infection (8.3%) being the most frequent. The overall MNM ratio was 31.5 per 1 000 live births, higher for the Amazon region than for the Northeast. Factors with a higher risk for developing MNM were: indigenous ethnicity (PRadj 2.77; 95% CI: 1.50-5.14), more than one hour to reach the hospital (PRadj 1.55; 95%CI: 1.06-2.25), being refused by a full hospital and having to find another one (PRadj 1.49; 95%CI: 1.03-2.16), cesarean section (PRadj 2.56; 95%CI: 1.90-3.44), and public prenatal care (PRadj 1.95; 95%CI: 1.06-3.61). Users of public health system in the Amazon and Northeast regions of Brazil have high MNM rates. Some characteristics of the women and of the care they received represent inequalities associated with higher risk for MNM. Specific actions are required to improve maternal health programs in these expansive areas of the country.
Multi-stage approach to estimate forest biomass in degraded area by fire and selective logging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, E. G.; Shimabukuro, Y. E.; Arai, E.; Duarte, V.; Jorge, A.; Gasparini, K.

2017-12-01

The Amazon forest has been the target of several threats throughout the years. Anthropogenic disturbances in the region can significantly alter this environment, affecting directly the dynamics and structure of tropical forests. Monitoring these threats of forest degradation across the Amazon is of paramount to understand the impacts of disturbances in the tropics. With the advance of new technologies such as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) the quantification and development of methodologies to monitor forest degradation in the Amazon is possible and may bring considerable contributions to this topic. The objective of this study was to use remote sensing data to assess and estimate the aboveground biomass (AGB) across different levels of degradation (fire and selective logging) using multi-stage approach between airborne LiDAR and orbital image. The study area is in the northern part of the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. It is predominantly characterized by agricultural land and remnants of the Amazon Forest intact and degraded by either anthropic or natural reasons (selective logging and/or fire). More specifically, the study area corresponds to path/row 226/69 of OLI/Landsat 8 image. With a forest mask generated from the multi-resolution segmentation, agriculture and forest areas, forest biomass was calculated from LiDAR data and correlated with texture images, vegetation indices and fraction images by Linear Spectral Unmixing of OLI/Landsat 8 image and extrapolated to the entire scene 226/69 and validated with field inventories. The results showed that there is a moderate to strong correlation between forest biomass and texture data, vegetation indices and fraction images. With that, it is possible to extract biomass information and create maps using optical data, specifically by combining vegetation indices, which contain forest greening information with texture data that contains forest structure information. Then it was possible to extrapolate the biomass to the entire scene (226/69) from the optical data and to obtain an overview of the biomass distribution throughout the area.

Soil Organic Carbon Transport in Headwater Tributaries of the Amazon River Traced by Branched GDGTs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirkels, F.; Peterse, F.; Ponton, C.; Feakins, S. J.; West, A. J.

2016-12-01

Transfer of soil organic carbon from land to sea by rivers plays a key role in the global carbon cycle by enabling long-term storage upon deposition in the marine environment, and generates archives of paleoinformation. Specific soil bacterial membrane lipids (branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers, brGDGTs) can trace soil inputs to a river. BrGDGT distributions relate to soil pH and mean annual air temperature and can be inferred by a novel calibration [1]. In the Amazon Fan, down-core changes in brGDGTs have been used for paleoclimate reconstructions [2]. However, the effects of fluvial sourcing and transport on brGDGT signals in sedimentary deposits are largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the implications of upstream dynamics and hydrological variability (wet/dry season) on brGDGT distributions carried by the Madre de Dios River (Peru), a tributary of the upper Amazon River. The Madre de Dios basin covers a 4.5 km elevation gradient draining the eastern flank of the Andes to the Amazonian floodplains [3], along which we examined organic and mineral soils, and river suspended particulate matter (SPM). BrGDGT signals of SPM indicate sourcing of soils within the catchment, with concentrations increasing downstream indicating accumulation of this biomarker. River depth profiles demonstrated uniform brGDGT distributions and concentrations, suggesting no preferential transport and that brGDGTs are well-mixed in the river. These findings add to prior studies on brGDGTs in the downstream Amazon River [4, 5]. Our study highlights the importance of the upstream drainage basin to constrain the source of brGDGTs in rivers, to better interpret climate reconstructions with this proxy. [1] De Jonge et al. (2014) Geochim Cosmochim Act 141, 97-112 [2] Bendle et al. (2010) Geochem Geoph Geosy 11 [3] Ponton et al. (2014) Geophys. Res. Lett 41, 6420-6427. [4] Kim et al. (2012) Geochim Cosmochim Act 90, 163-180. [5] Zell et al. (2013) Front Microbio 4, 228.
Land-use and climate change risks in the Amazon and the need of a novel sustainable development paradigm

PubMed Central

Nobre, Carlos A.; Sampaio, Gilvan; Borma, Laura S.; Castilla-Rubio, Juan Carlos; Silva, José S.; Cardoso, Manoel

2016-01-01

For half a century, the process of economic integration of the Amazon has been based on intensive use of renewable and nonrenewable natural resources, which has brought significant basin-wide environmental alterations. The rural development in the Amazonia pushed the agricultural frontier swiftly, resulting in widespread land-cover change, but agriculture in the Amazon has been of low productivity and unsustainable. The loss of biodiversity and continued deforestation will lead to high risks of irreversible change of its tropical forests. It has been established by modeling studies that the Amazon may have two “tipping points,” namely, temperature increase of 4 °C or deforestation exceeding 40% of the forest area. If transgressed, large-scale “savannization” of mostly southern and eastern Amazon may take place. The region has warmed about 1 °C over the last 60 y, and total deforestation is reaching 20% of the forested area. The recent significant reductions in deforestation—80% reduction in the Brazilian Amazon in the last decade—opens up opportunities for a novel sustainable development paradigm for the future of the Amazon. We argue for a new development paradigm—away from only attempting to reconcile maximizing conservation versus intensification of traditional agriculture and expansion of hydropower capacity—in which we research, develop, and scale a high-tech innovation approach that sees the Amazon as a global public good of biological assets that can enable the creation of innovative high-value products, services, and platforms through combining advanced digital, biological, and material technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in progress. PMID:27638214
Land-use and climate change risks in the Amazon and the need of a novel sustainable development paradigm.

PubMed

Nobre, Carlos A; Sampaio, Gilvan; Borma, Laura S; Castilla-Rubio, Juan Carlos; Silva, José S; Cardoso, Manoel

2016-09-27

For half a century, the process of economic integration of the Amazon has been based on intensive use of renewable and nonrenewable natural resources, which has brought significant basin-wide environmental alterations. The rural development in the Amazonia pushed the agricultural frontier swiftly, resulting in widespread land-cover change, but agriculture in the Amazon has been of low productivity and unsustainable. The loss of biodiversity and continued deforestation will lead to high risks of irreversible change of its tropical forests. It has been established by modeling studies that the Amazon may have two "tipping points," namely, temperature increase of 4 °C or deforestation exceeding 40% of the forest area. If transgressed, large-scale "savannization" of mostly southern and eastern Amazon may take place. The region has warmed about 1 °C over the last 60 y, and total deforestation is reaching 20% of the forested area. The recent significant reductions in deforestation-80% reduction in the Brazilian Amazon in the last decade-opens up opportunities for a novel sustainable development paradigm for the future of the Amazon. We argue for a new development paradigm-away from only attempting to reconcile maximizing conservation versus intensification of traditional agriculture and expansion of hydropower capacity-in which we research, develop, and scale a high-tech innovation approach that sees the Amazon as a global public good of biological assets that can enable the creation of innovative high-value products, services, and platforms through combining advanced digital, biological, and material technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in progress.
Land-use and climate change risks in the Amazon and the need of a novel sustainable development paradigm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nobre, Carlos A.; Sampaio, Gilvan; Borma, Laura S.; Castilla-Rubio, Juan Carlos; Silva, José S.; Cardoso, Manoel

2016-09-01

For half a century, the process of economic integration of the Amazon has been based on intensive use of renewable and nonrenewable natural resources, which has brought significant basin-wide environmental alterations. The rural development in the Amazonia pushed the agricultural frontier swiftly, resulting in widespread land-cover change, but agriculture in the Amazon has been of low productivity and unsustainable. The loss of biodiversity and continued deforestation will lead to high risks of irreversible change of its tropical forests. It has been established by modeling studies that the Amazon may have two “tipping points,” namely, temperature increase of 4 °C or deforestation exceeding 40% of the forest area. If transgressed, large-scale “savannization” of mostly southern and eastern Amazon may take place. The region has warmed about 1 °C over the last 60 y, and total deforestation is reaching 20% of the forested area. The recent significant reductions in deforestation—80% reduction in the Brazilian Amazon in the last decade—opens up opportunities for a novel sustainable development paradigm for the future of the Amazon. We argue for a new development paradigm—away from only attempting to reconcile maximizing conservation versus intensification of traditional agriculture and expansion of hydropower capacity—in which we research, develop, and scale a high-tech innovation approach that sees the Amazon as a global public good of biological assets that can enable the creation of innovative high-value products, services, and platforms through combining advanced digital, biological, and material technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in progress.
Holocene palaeoenvironmental history of the Amazonian mangrove belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohen, Marcelo Cancela Lisboa; Pessenda, Luiz Carlos Ruiz; Behling, Hermann; de Fátima Rossetti, Dilce; França, Marlon Carlos; Guimarães, José Tasso Felix; Friaes, Yuri; Smith, Clarisse Beltrão

2012-11-01

Wetland dynamic in the northern Brazilian Amazon region during the Holocene was reviewed using palynological, carbon and nitrogen isotopes records, and C/N ratio previously published. The integration of 72 radiocarbon dates recorded in 34 sediment cores sampled along the marine and fluvial littoral, and mainly influenced by the Amazon River, reveals that marine influence and mangrove vegetation were wider than today on the mouth of Amazon River between >8990-8690 and 2300-2230 cal yr BP, forming a continuous mangrove belt along the northern Brazilian Amazon littoral. The establishment of this mangrove strip is a direct consequence of the marine incursion caused by post-glacial sea-level rise possibly associated with tectonic subsidence during the Early and Middle Holocene. In the Late Holocene, in areas influenced by the Amazon River discharge, the mangroves were replaced by freshwater vegetation, and the coast morphology evolved from an estuarine dominated into a rectilinear coast due to coastal progradation. Nevertheless, the marine-influenced littoral, which is currently dominated by mangroves and salt-marsh vegetation, has persistently had brackish water vegetation over tidal mud flats throughout the entire Holocene. Likely, the fragmentation of this continuous mangrove line during the Late Holocene was caused by the increase of river freshwater discharge associated to the change from dry into wet climates in the Late Holocene. This caused a significant decrease of tidal water salinity in areas near the mouth of Amazon River. These changes in the Amazon discharge are probably associated with dry and wet periods in the northern Amazon region during the Holocene.
Introduction: Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, S. T.; Artaxo, P.; Machado, L. A. T.; Manzi, A. O.; Souza, R. A. F.; Schumacher, C.; Wang, J.; Andreae, M. O.; Barbosa, H. M. J.; Fan, J.; Fisch, G.; Goldstein, A. H.; Guenther, A.; Jimenez, J. L.; Pöschl, U.; Silva Dias, M. A.; Smith, J. N.; Wendisch, M.

2016-04-01

The Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) Experiment was carried out in the environs of Manaus, Brazil, in the central region of the Amazon basin for 2 years from 1 January 2014 through 31 December 2015. The experiment focused on the complex interactions among vegetation, atmospheric chemistry, and aerosol production on the one hand and their connections to aerosols, clouds, and precipitation on the other. The objective was to understand and quantify these linked processes, first under natural conditions to obtain a baseline and second when altered by the effects of human activities. To this end, the pollution plume from the Manaus metropolis, superimposed on the background conditions of the central Amazon basin, served as a natural laboratory. The present paper, as the introduction to the special issue of GoAmazon2014/5, presents the context and motivation of the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment. The nine research sites, including the characteristics and instrumentation of each site, are presented. The sites range from time point zero (T0) upwind of the pollution, to T1 in the midst of the pollution, to T2 just downwind of the pollution, to T3 furthest downwind of the pollution (70 km). In addition to the ground sites, a low-altitude G-159 Gulfstream I (G-1) observed the atmospheric boundary layer and low clouds, and a high-altitude Gulfstream G550 (HALO) operated in the free troposphere. During the 2-year experiment, two Intensive Operating Periods (IOP1 and IOP2) also took place that included additional specialized research instrumentation at the ground sites as well as flights of the two aircraft. GoAmazon2014/5 IOP1 was carried out from 1 February to 31 March 2014 in the wet season. GoAmazon2014/5 IOP2 was conducted from 15 August to 15 October 2014 in the dry season. The G-1 aircraft flew during both IOP1 and IOP2, and the HALO aircraft flew during IOP2. In the context of the Amazon basin, the two IOPs also correspond to the clean and biomass burning seasons, respectively. The Manaus plume is present year-round, and it is transported by prevailing northeasterly and easterly winds in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. This introduction also organizes information relevant to many papers in the special issue. Information is provided on the vehicle fleet, power plants, and industrial activities of Manaus. The mesoscale and synoptic meteorologies relevant to the two IOPs are presented. Regional and long-range transport of emissions during the two IOPs is discussed based on satellite observations across South America and Africa. Fire locations throughout the airshed are detailed. In conjunction with the context and motivation of GoAmazon2014/5 as presented in this introduction, research articles including thematic overview articles are anticipated in this special issue to describe the detailed results and findings of the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment.
Disease Vector Ecology Profile: Colombia

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-12-01

the Amazon Basin. Unknown. Unknown. Culex gnomatus VEE (Ecuador, Peru ) Many mammals and birds, but equines are key reservoirs with high...Arboviruses other than Dengue or Yellow Fever in the Amazon Basin and Associated Northwestern Regions of South America...widespread (Amazonia, Orinoquia, Cauca Valley, Caribbean regions), and to mefloquine and amodiaquine ( Amazon Basin). Plasmodium vivax resistance
Selective logging in the Brazilian Amazon.

Treesearch

G. P. Asner; D. E. Knapp; E. N. Broadbent; P. J. C. Oliveira; M Keller; J. N. Silva

2005-01-01

Amazon deforestation has been measured by remote sensing for three decades. In comparison, selective logging has been mostly invisible to satellites. We developed a large-scale, high-resolution, automated remote-sensing analysis of selective logging in the top five timber-producing states of the Brazilian Amazon. Logged areas ranged from 12,075 to 19,823 square...
The Green Ocean: Precipitation Insights from the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment

DOE PAGES

Wang, Die; Giangrande, Scott E.; Bartholomew, Mary Jane; ...

2018-02-07

This study summarizes the precipitation properties collected during the GoAmazon2014/5 campaign near Manaus in central Amazonia, Brazil. Precipitation breakdowns, summary radar rainfall relationships and self-consistency concepts from a coupled disdrometer and radar wind profiler measurements are presented. The properties of Amazon cumulus and associated stratiform precipitation are discussed, including segregations according to seasonal (Wet/Dry regime) variability, cloud echo-top height and possible aerosol influences on the apparent oceanic characteristics of the precipitation drop size distributions. Overall, we observe that the Amazon precipitation straddles behaviors found during previous U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurements program (ARM) tropical deployments, with distributions favoringmore » higher concentrations of smaller drops than ARM continental examples. Oceanic type precipitation characteristics are predominantly observed during the Amazon Wet seasons. Finally, an exploration of the controls on Wet season precipitation properties reveals that wind direction, as compared with other standard radiosonde thermodynamic parameters or aerosol count/regime classifications performed at the ARM site, provides a good indicator for those Wet season Amazon events having an oceanic character for their precipitation drop size distributions.« less
The Green Ocean: Precipitation Insights from the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Die; Giangrande, Scott E.; Bartholomew, Mary Jane

This study summarizes the precipitation properties collected during the GoAmazon2014/5 campaign near Manaus in central Amazonia, Brazil. Precipitation breakdowns, summary radar rainfall relationships and self-consistency concepts from a coupled disdrometer and radar wind profiler measurements are presented. The properties of Amazon cumulus and associated stratiform precipitation are discussed, including segregations according to seasonal (Wet/Dry regime) variability, cloud echo-top height and possible aerosol influences on the apparent oceanic characteristics of the precipitation drop size distributions. Overall, we observe that the Amazon precipitation straddles behaviors found during previous U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurements program (ARM) tropical deployments, with distributions favoringmore » higher concentrations of smaller drops than ARM continental examples. Oceanic type precipitation characteristics are predominantly observed during the Amazon Wet seasons. Finally, an exploration of the controls on Wet season precipitation properties reveals that wind direction, as compared with other standard radiosonde thermodynamic parameters or aerosol count/regime classifications performed at the ARM site, provides a good indicator for those Wet season Amazon events having an oceanic character for their precipitation drop size distributions.« less
InSAR Deformation Time Series Processed On-Demand in the Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horn, W. B.; Weeden, R.; Dimarchi, H.; Arko, S. A.; Hogenson, K.

2017-12-01

During this past year, ASF has developed a cloud-based on-demand processing system known as HyP3 (http://hyp3.asf.alaska.edu/), the Hybrid Pluggable Processing Pipeline, for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. The system makes it easy for a user who doesn't have the time or inclination to install and use complex SAR processing software to leverage SAR data in their research or operations. One such processing algorithm is generation of a deformation time series product, which is a series of images representing ground displacements over time, which can be computed using a time series of interferometric SAR (InSAR) products. The set of software tools necessary to generate this useful product are difficult to install, configure, and use. Moreover, for a long time series with many images, the processing of just the interferograms can take days. Principally built by three undergraduate students at the ASF DAAC, the deformation time series processing relies the new Amazon Batch service, which enables processing of jobs with complex interconnected dependencies in a straightforward and efficient manner. In the case of generating a deformation time series product from a stack of single-look complex SAR images, the system uses Batch to serialize the up-front processing, interferogram generation, optional tropospheric correction, and deformation time series generation. The most time consuming portion is the interferogram generation, because even for a fairly small stack of images many interferograms need to be processed. By using AWS Batch, the interferograms are all generated in parallel; the entire process completes in hours rather than days. Additionally, the individual interferograms are saved in Amazon's cloud storage, so that when new data is acquired in the stack, an updated time series product can be generated with minimal addiitonal processing. This presentation will focus on the development techniques and enabling technologies that were used in developing the time series processing in the ASF HyP3 system. Data and process flow from job submission through to order completion will be shown, highlighting the benefits of the cloud for each step.
Aqua-planet simulations of the formation of the South Atlantic convergence zone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nieto Ferreira, Rosana; Chao, Winston C.

2013-01-01

The impact of Amazon Basin convection and cold fronts on the formation and maintenance of the South Atlantic convergence zone (SACZ) is studied using aqua-planet simulations with a general circulation model. In the model, a circular patch of warm sea-surface temperature (SST) is used to mimic the effect of the Amazon Basin on South American monsoon convection. The aqua-planet simulations were designed to study the effect of the strength and latitude of Amazon Basin convection on the formation of the SACZ. The simulations indicate that the strength of the SACZ increases as the Amazon convection intensifies and is moved away from the equator. Of the two controls studied here, the latitude of the Amazon convection exerts the strongest effect on the strength of the SACZ. An analysis of the synoptic-scale variability in the simulations shows the importance of frontal systems in the formation of the aqua-planet SACZ. Composite time series of frontal systems that occurred in the simulations show that a robust SACZ occurs when fronts penetrate into the subtropics and become stationary there as they cross eastward of the longitude of the Amazon Basin. Moisture convergence associated with these frontal systems produces rainfall not along the model SACZ region and along a large portion of the northern model Amazon Basin. Simulations in which the warm SST patch was too weak or too close to the equator did not produce frontal systems that extended into the tropics and became stationary, and did not form a SACZ. In the model, the SACZ forms as Amazon Basin convection strengthens and migrates far enough southward to allow frontal systems to penetrate into the tropics and stall over South America. This result is in agreement with observations that the SACZ tends to form after the onset of the monsoon season in the Amazon Basin.
Response of Free-Living Nitrogen-Fixing Microorganisms to Land Use Change in the Amazon Rainforest

PubMed Central

Mirza, Babur S.; Potisap, Chotima; Nüsslein, Klaus; Bohannan, Brendan J. M.

2014-01-01

The Amazon rainforest, the largest equatorial forest in the world, is being cleared for pasture and agricultural use at alarming rates. Tropical deforestation is known to cause alterations in microbial communities at taxonomic and phylogenetic levels, but it is unclear whether microbial functional groups are altered. We asked whether free-living nitrogen-fixing microorganisms (diazotrophs) respond to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, using analysis of the marker gene nifH. Clone libraries were generated from soil samples collected from a primary forest, a 5-year-old pasture originally converted from primary forest, and a secondary forest established after pasture abandonment. Although diazotroph richness did not significantly change among the three plots, diazotroph community composition was altered with forest-to-pasture conversion, and phylogenetic similarity was higher among pasture communities than among those in forests. There was also 10-fold increase in nifH gene abundance following conversion from primary forest to pasture. Three environmental factors were associated with the observed changes: soil acidity, total N concentration, and C/N ratio. Our results suggest a partial restoration to initial levels of abundance and community structure of diazotrophs following pasture abandonment, with primary and secondary forests sharing similar communities. We postulate that the response of diazotrophs to land use change is a direct consequence of changes in plant communities, particularly the higher N demand of pasture plant communities for supporting aboveground plant growth. PMID:24162570
Exploiting parallel R in the cloud with SPRINT.

PubMed

Piotrowski, M; McGilvary, G A; Sloan, T M; Mewissen, M; Lloyd, A D; Forster, T; Mitchell, L; Ghazal, P; Hill, J

2013-01-01

Advances in DNA Microarray devices and next-generation massively parallel DNA sequencing platforms have led to an exponential growth in data availability but the arising opportunities require adequate computing resources. High Performance Computing (HPC) in the Cloud offers an affordable way of meeting this need. Bioconductor, a popular tool for high-throughput genomic data analysis, is distributed as add-on modules for the R statistical programming language but R has no native capabilities for exploiting multi-processor architectures. SPRINT is an R package that enables easy access to HPC for genomics researchers. This paper investigates: setting up and running SPRINT-enabled genomic analyses on Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), the advantages of submitting applications to EC2 from different parts of the world and, if resource underutilization can improve application performance. The SPRINT parallel implementations of correlation, permutation testing, partitioning around medoids and the multi-purpose papply have been benchmarked on data sets of various size on Amazon EC2. Jobs have been submitted from both the UK and Thailand to investigate monetary differences. It is possible to obtain good, scalable performance but the level of improvement is dependent upon the nature of the algorithm. Resource underutilization can further improve the time to result. End-user's location impacts on costs due to factors such as local taxation. Although not designed to satisfy HPC requirements, Amazon EC2 and cloud computing in general provides an interesting alternative and provides new possibilities for smaller organisations with limited funds.
Metagenomics Analysis of Microorganisms in Freshwater Lakes of the Amazon Basin.

PubMed

Toyama, Danyelle; Kishi, Luciano Takeshi; Santos-Júnior, Célio Dias; Soares-Costa, Andrea; de Oliveira, Tereza Cristina Souza; de Miranda, Fernando Pellon; Henrique-Silva, Flávio

2016-12-22

The Amazon Basin is the largest hydrographic basin on the planet, and the dynamics of its aquatic microorganisms strongly impact global biogeochemical cycles. However, it remains poorly studied. This metagenome project was performed to obtain a snapshot of prokaryotic microbiota from four important lakes in the Amazon Basin. Copyright © 2016 Toyama et al.
Globally scalable generation of high-resolution land cover from multispectral imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stutts, S. Craig; Raskob, Benjamin L.; Wenger, Eric J.

2017-05-01

We present an automated method of generating high resolution ( 2 meter) land cover using a pattern recognition neural network trained on spatial and spectral features obtained from over 9000 WorldView multispectral images (MSI) in six distinct world regions. At this resolution, the network can classify small-scale objects such as individual buildings, roads, and irrigation ponds. This paper focuses on three key areas. First, we describe our land cover generation process, which involves the co-registration and aggregation of multiple spatially overlapping MSI, post-aggregation processing, and the registration of land cover to OpenStreetMap (OSM) road vectors using feature correspondence. Second, we discuss the generation of land cover derivative products and their impact in the areas of region reduction and object detection. Finally, we discuss the process of globally scaling land cover generation using cloud computing via Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Oil and gas projects in the Western Amazon: threats to wilderness, biodiversity, and indigenous peoples.

PubMed

Finer, Matt; Jenkins, Clinton N; Pimm, Stuart L; Keane, Brian; Ross, Carl

2008-08-13

The western Amazon is the most biologically rich part of the Amazon basin and is home to a great diversity of indigenous ethnic groups, including some of the world's last uncontacted peoples living in voluntary isolation. Unlike the eastern Brazilian Amazon, it is still a largely intact ecosystem. Underlying this landscape are large reserves of oil and gas, many yet untapped. The growing global demand is leading to unprecedented exploration and development in the region. We synthesized information from government sources to quantify the status of oil development in the western Amazon. National governments delimit specific geographic areas or "blocks" that are zoned for hydrocarbon activities, which they may lease to state and multinational energy companies for exploration and production. About 180 oil and gas blocks now cover approximately 688,000 km(2) of the western Amazon. These blocks overlap the most species-rich part of the Amazon. We also found that many of the blocks overlap indigenous territories, both titled lands and areas utilized by peoples in voluntary isolation. In Ecuador and Peru, oil and gas blocks now cover more than two-thirds of the Amazon. In Bolivia and western Brazil, major exploration activities are set to increase rapidly. Without improved policies, the increasing scope and magnitude of planned extraction means that environmental and social impacts are likely to intensify. We review the most pressing oil- and gas-related conservation policy issues confronting the region. These include the need for regional Strategic Environmental Impact Assessments and the adoption of roadless extraction techniques. We also consider the conflicts where the blocks overlap indigenous peoples' territories.
On Dams in the Amazon Basin, Teleconnected Impacts, and Neighbors Unaware of the Damage to their Natural Resources and Assets.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latrubesse, E. M.; Park, E.

2017-12-01

In a recent study, Latrubesse et al., (2017) demonstrated that the accumulated negative environmental effects of more than one hundred existing dams and at least 288 proposed dams, if constructed, will trigger massive hydrophysical and biotic disturbances that will affect the Amazon basin's floodplains, estuary and sediment plume. The authors introduced a Dam Environmental Vulnerability Index (DEVI) to quantify the current and potential impacts of dams in the basin. The current and potential vulnerabilities of different regions of the Amazon basin was assessed, and the results highlighted the need for a more efficient and integrative legal framework involving all nine countries of the basin in an anticipatory assessment to minimize the negative socio-environmental and biotic impacts of hydropower developments. Here we present expanded information on the potential impacts of dams in the lower Amazon and the northeast Atlantic coast of South America, and revisit our proposed integrative strategies for basin management which are based on the adaptation and functionality of the institutional and legal framework already existing in the Amazon countries. Participative strategies involving members from the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) countries, and additional members (for example, France), such as the creation of a basin committee -as defined by the Brazilian Law of Waters of Brazil-, and the creation of an Amazon Basin Panel allowing the participation of scientists that could have a policy-relevant role but should be not policy-prescriptive, are also discussed. ReferencesLatrubesse, E., Arima E. Dunne T., Park E., Baker V, Horta F.,Wight, C., Wittmann F., Zuanon, J., Baker P., Ribas C, Norgaard R., Filizola N., Ansar A., Flyvbjerg B., Stevaux, J. 2017. Damming the rivers of the Amazon basin. Nature, 546, 363-369.
Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon: Threats to Wilderness, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples

PubMed Central

Finer, Matt; Jenkins, Clinton N.; Pimm, Stuart L.; Keane, Brian; Ross, Carl

2008-01-01

Background The western Amazon is the most biologically rich part of the Amazon basin and is home to a great diversity of indigenous ethnic groups, including some of the world's last uncontacted peoples living in voluntary isolation. Unlike the eastern Brazilian Amazon, it is still a largely intact ecosystem. Underlying this landscape are large reserves of oil and gas, many yet untapped. The growing global demand is leading to unprecedented exploration and development in the region. Methodology/Principal Findings We synthesized information from government sources to quantify the status of oil development in the western Amazon. National governments delimit specific geographic areas or “blocks” that are zoned for hydrocarbon activities, which they may lease to state and multinational energy companies for exploration and production. About 180 oil and gas blocks now cover ∼688,000 km2 of the western Amazon. These blocks overlap the most species-rich part of the Amazon. We also found that many of the blocks overlap indigenous territories, both titled lands and areas utilized by peoples in voluntary isolation. In Ecuador and Peru, oil and gas blocks now cover more than two-thirds of the Amazon. In Bolivia and western Brazil, major exploration activities are set to increase rapidly. Conclusions/Significance Without improved policies, the increasing scope and magnitude of planned extraction means that environmental and social impacts are likely to intensify. We review the most pressing oil- and gas-related conservation policy issues confronting the region. These include the need for regional Strategic Environmental Impact Assessments and the adoption of roadless extraction techniques. We also consider the conflicts where the blocks overlap indigenous peoples' territories. PMID:18716679
Earth Observations taken by the Expedition 17 Crew

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-08-19

ISS017-E-013856 (19 Aug. 2008) --- Amazon River, Brazil is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 17 crewmember on the International Space Station. This image shows the huge sunglint zone, common to oblique views from space, of the setting sun shining off the Amazon River and numerous lakes on its floodplain. About 150 kilometers of the sinuous Amazon course is shown here, as it appears about 1,000 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean. The Uatuma River enters on the north side of the Amazon (top). A small side channel of the very large Madeira River enters the view from the left. Tupinambarama Island occupies the swampy wetlands between the Amazon and Madeira rivers. Sunglint images reveal great detail in waterbodies -- in this case the marked difference between the smooth outline of the Amazon and the jagged shoreline of the Uatuma River. The jagged shoreline results from valley sides being eroded in relatively hard rocks. The Uatuma River has since been dammed up by the sediment mass of the Amazon floodplain. Because the Amazon flows in its own soft sediment, its huge water discharge smooths the banks. Another dammed valley (known as a ria) is visible beneath the cirrus cloud of a storm (bottom). Although no smoke plumes from forest fires are visible in the view, two kinds of evidence show that there is smoke in the atmosphere. The coppery color of the sunglint is typically produced by smoke particles and other aerosols scattering yellow and red light. Second, a small patch of cloud (top right) casts a distinct shadow. The shadow, say scientists, is visible because so many particles in the surrounding sunlit parts of the atmosphere reflect light to the camera.

The Climate Effects of Deforestation the Amazon Rainforest under Global Warming Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werth, D.; Avissar, R.

2006-12-01

Replacement of tropical rainforests has been observed to have a strong drying effect in Amazon simulations, with effects reaching high into the atmospheric column and into the midlatitudes. The drying effects of deforestation, however, can be moderated by the effects of global warming, which should accelerate the hydrologic cycle of the Amazon. The effects of a prescribed, time-varying Amazon deforestation done in conjunction with a steady, moderate increase in CO2 concentrations are determined using a climate model. The model agrees with previous studies when each forcing is applied individually - compared to a control run, Amazon deforestation decreases the local precipitation and global warming increases it. When both are applied, however, the precipitation and other hydrologic variables decrease, but to a lesser extent than when deforestation alone was applied. In effect, the two effects act opposite to one another and bring the simulated climate closer to that of the control.
Amazon Molly, Poecilia formosa, as a model for studies of the effects of ionizing radiation. [Radiosensitivity of Poecilia formosa, Carassius auratus, Ictalurus punctatus, and Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in laboratory environments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Woodhead, A.D.; Setlow, R.B.; Hart, R.W.

1977-01-01

It is suggested that the viviparous teleost, Poecilia formosa, (Amazon molly) may have wide potential use for aquatic radiation studies. The Amazon molly is a naturally occurring gynogenetic species, in which the eggs are activated after mating with the males of closely related species, without the subsequent genetic contribution from the male. The offspring of a single original female constitute a clone, having identical genotypes. Clones of the genetically homogeneous Amazon molly may prove to be equally as valuable to aquatic radiobiologists as the inbred rodent lines have been to mammalian studies. In many other respects the Amazon molly ismore » a satisfactory laboratory animal. It is robust, easy to rear, and has large broods of young when fully grown. Maintenance costs are low. Details are given of the conditions under which colonies reproduce.« less
High-Resiliency and Auto-Scaling of Large-Scale Cloud Computing for OCO-2 L2 Full Physics Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hua, H.; Manipon, G.; Starch, M.; Dang, L. B.; Southam, P.; Wilson, B. D.; Avis, C.; Chang, A.; Cheng, C.; Smyth, M.; McDuffie, J. L.; Ramirez, P.

2015-12-01

Next generation science data systems are needed to address the incoming flood of data from new missions such as SWOT and NISAR where data volumes and data throughput rates are order of magnitude larger than present day missions. Additionally, traditional means of procuring hardware on-premise are already limited due to facilities capacity constraints for these new missions. Existing missions, such as OCO-2, may also require high turn-around time for processing different science scenarios where on-premise and even traditional HPC computing environments may not meet the high processing needs. We present our experiences on deploying a hybrid-cloud computing science data system (HySDS) for the OCO-2 Science Computing Facility to support large-scale processing of their Level-2 full physics data products. We will explore optimization approaches to getting best performance out of hybrid-cloud computing as well as common issues that will arise when dealing with large-scale computing. Novel approaches were utilized to do processing on Amazon's spot market, which can potentially offer ~10X costs savings but with an unpredictable computing environment based on market forces. We will present how we enabled high-tolerance computing in order to achieve large-scale computing as well as operational cost savings.
Introduction: Observations and modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Martin, S. T.; Artaxo, P.; Machado, L. A. T.

The Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) Experiment was carried out in the environs of Manaus, Brazil, in the central region of the Amazon basin for 2 years from 1 January 2014 through 31 December 2015. The experiment focused on the complex interactions among vegetation, atmospheric chemistry, and aerosol production on the one hand and their connections to aerosols, clouds, and precipitation on the other. The objective was to understand and quantify these linked processes, first under natural conditions to obtain a baseline and second when altered by the effects of human activities. To this end, the pollution plume from themore » Manaus metropolis, superimposed on the background conditions of the central Amazon basin, served as a natural laboratory. The present paper, as the introduction to the special issue of GoAmazon2014/5, presents the context and motivation of the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment. The nine research sites, including the characteristics and instrumentation of each site, are presented. The sites range from time point zero (T0) upwind of the pollution, to T1 in the midst of the pollution, to T2 just downwind of the pollution, to T3 furthest downwind of the pollution (70 km). In addition to the ground sites, a low-altitude G-159 Gulfstream I (G-1) observed the atmospheric boundary layer and low clouds, and a high-altitude Gulfstream G550 (HALO) operated in the free troposphere. During the 2-year experiment, two Intensive Operating Periods (IOP1 and IOP2) also took place that included additional specialized research instrumentation at the ground sites as well as flights of the two aircraft. GoAmazon2014/5 IOP1 was carried out from 1 February to 31 March 2014 in the wet season. GoAmazon2014/5 IOP2 was conducted from 15 August to 15 October 2014 in the dry season. In addition, the G-1 aircraft flew during both IOP1 and IOP2, and the HALO aircraft flew during IOP2. In the context of the Amazon basin, the two IOPs also correspond to the clean and biomass burning seasons, respectively. The Manaus plume is present year-round, and it is transported by prevailing northeasterly and easterly winds in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. This introduction also organizes information relevant to many papers in the special issue. Information is provided on the vehicle fleet, power plants, and industrial activities of Manaus. The mesoscale and synoptic meteorologies relevant to the two IOPs are presented. Regional and long-range transport of emissions during the two IOPs is discussed based on satellite observations across South America and Africa. Fire locations throughout the airshed are detailed. In conjunction with the context and motivation of GoAmazon2014/5 as presented in this introduction, research articles including thematic overview articles are anticipated in this special issue to describe the detailed results and findings of the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment.« less
Introduction: Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, S. T.; Artaxo, P.; Machado, L. A. T.; Manzi, A. O.; Souza, R. A. F.; Schumacher, C.; Wang, J.; Andreae, M. O.; Barbosa, H. M. J.; Fan, J.; Fisch, G.; Goldstein, A. H.; Guenther, A.; Jimenez, J. L.; Pöschl, U.; Silva Dias, M. A.; Smith, J. N.; Wendisch, M.

2015-11-01

The Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) Experiment was carried out in the environs of Manaus, Brazil, in the central region of the Amazon basin during two years from 1 January 2014 through 31 December 2015. The experiment focused on the complex interactions among vegetation, atmospheric chemistry, and aerosol production on the one hand and their connections to aerosols, clouds, and precipitation on the other. The objective was to understand and quantify these linked processes, first under natural conditions to obtain a baseline and second when altered by the effects of human activities. To this end, the pollution plume from the Manaus metropolis, superimposed on the background conditions of the central Amazon basin, served as a natural laboratory. The present paper, as the Introduction to the GoAmazon2014/5 Special Issue, presents the context and motivation of the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment. The nine research sites, including the characteristics and instrumentation of each site, are presented. The sites range from time point zero (T0) upwind of the pollution, to T1 in the midst of the pollution, to T2 just downwind of the pollution, to T3 furthest downwind of the pollution (70 km). In addition to the ground sites, a low-altitude G-159 Gulfstream I (G1) observed the atmospheric boundary layer and low clouds, and a high-altitude Gulfstream G550 (HALO) operated in the free troposphere. During the two-year experiment, two Intensive Operating Periods (IOP1 and IOP2) also took place that included additional specialized research instrumentation at the ground sites as well as flights of the two aircraft. GoAmazon2014/5 IOP1 was carried out from 1 February to 31 March 2014 in the wet season. GoAmazon2014/5 IOP2 was conducted from 15 August to 15 October 2014 in the dry season. The G1 aircraft flew during both IOP1 and IOP2, and the HALO aircraft flew during IOP2. In the context of the Amazon basin, the two IOPs also correspond to the clean and biomass burning seasons, respectively. The Manaus plume is present year round, and it is transported by prevailing northeasterly and easterly winds in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. This Introduction also organizes information relevant to many papers in the Special Issue. Information is provided on the vehicle fleet, power plants, and industrial activities of Manaus. The mesoscale and synoptic meteorologies relevant to the two IOPs are presented. Regional and long-range transport of emissions during the two IOPs is discussed based on satellite observations across South America and Africa. Fire locations throughout the airshed are detailed. In conjunction with the context and motivation of GoAmazon2014/5, as presented herein in this Introduction, research articles published in this Special Issue are anticipated in the near future to describe the detailed results and findings of the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment.
Introduction: Observations and modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5)

DOE PAGES

Martin, S. T.; Artaxo, P.; Machado, L. A. T.; ...

2016-04-19

The Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) Experiment was carried out in the environs of Manaus, Brazil, in the central region of the Amazon basin for 2 years from 1 January 2014 through 31 December 2015. The experiment focused on the complex interactions among vegetation, atmospheric chemistry, and aerosol production on the one hand and their connections to aerosols, clouds, and precipitation on the other. The objective was to understand and quantify these linked processes, first under natural conditions to obtain a baseline and second when altered by the effects of human activities. To this end, the pollution plume from themore » Manaus metropolis, superimposed on the background conditions of the central Amazon basin, served as a natural laboratory. The present paper, as the introduction to the special issue of GoAmazon2014/5, presents the context and motivation of the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment. The nine research sites, including the characteristics and instrumentation of each site, are presented. The sites range from time point zero (T0) upwind of the pollution, to T1 in the midst of the pollution, to T2 just downwind of the pollution, to T3 furthest downwind of the pollution (70 km). In addition to the ground sites, a low-altitude G-159 Gulfstream I (G-1) observed the atmospheric boundary layer and low clouds, and a high-altitude Gulfstream G550 (HALO) operated in the free troposphere. During the 2-year experiment, two Intensive Operating Periods (IOP1 and IOP2) also took place that included additional specialized research instrumentation at the ground sites as well as flights of the two aircraft. GoAmazon2014/5 IOP1 was carried out from 1 February to 31 March 2014 in the wet season. GoAmazon2014/5 IOP2 was conducted from 15 August to 15 October 2014 in the dry season. In addition, the G-1 aircraft flew during both IOP1 and IOP2, and the HALO aircraft flew during IOP2. In the context of the Amazon basin, the two IOPs also correspond to the clean and biomass burning seasons, respectively. The Manaus plume is present year-round, and it is transported by prevailing northeasterly and easterly winds in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. This introduction also organizes information relevant to many papers in the special issue. Information is provided on the vehicle fleet, power plants, and industrial activities of Manaus. The mesoscale and synoptic meteorologies relevant to the two IOPs are presented. Regional and long-range transport of emissions during the two IOPs is discussed based on satellite observations across South America and Africa. Fire locations throughout the airshed are detailed. In conjunction with the context and motivation of GoAmazon2014/5 as presented in this introduction, research articles including thematic overview articles are anticipated in this special issue to describe the detailed results and findings of the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment.« less
A Slippery Slope: Children's Perceptions of Their Role in Environmental Preservation in the Peruvian Amazon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galeano, Rebecca

2013-01-01

Despite international attention and attempts to preserve the environmental diversity of the Amazon, it is an accepted fact that those who inhabit the forest must be the ones who preserve it. This article presents an analysis of how children in small rural riverine communities along the Amazon understand the importance of environmental preservation…
Comparative Phylogeography of Neotropical Birds

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-01

of lowland Neotropical rainforest birds that have populations isolated on either side of the Andes, Amazon River, and Madeira River. I found widely...Unlike canopy species, understory birds were structured at smaller spatial scales, particularly across riverine barriers of the Amazon basin...expansive complementary forest of the Amazon Basin. This divide is relatively young as the northern Andes were only half their present elevation
Surveying the area of deforestation of the Amazon by LANDSAT satellite imagery. [Mato grosso, Goias and Para, Brazil

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dejesusparada, N. (Principal Investigator); Tardin, A. T.; Dossantos, A. P.; Lee, D. C. L.; Soaresmaia, F. C.; Mendonca, F. J.; Assuncao, G. V.; Rodrigues, J. E.; Demouraabdon, M.; Novaes, R. A.

1979-01-01

LANDSAT imagery was used to determine the amount of deforestation in a study area comprising 55 million hectares of the Amazon region. Results show that more than 4 million hectares were deforested. Maps and pictures of the deforested area in relation to the total area of the Amazon are included.
Sources, Properties, Aging, and Anthropogenic Influences on OA and SOA over the Southeast US and the Amazon duing SOAS, DC3, SEAC4RS, and GoAmazon

EPA Science Inventory

The SE US and the Amazon have large sources of biogenic VOCs, varying anthropogenic pollution impacts, and often poor organic aerosol (OA) model performance. Recent results on the sources, properties, aging, and impact of anthropogenic pollution on OA and secondary OA (SOA) over ...
Damming the rivers of the Amazon basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latrubesse, Edgardo M.; Arima, Eugenio Y.; Dunne, Thomas; Park, Edward; Baker, Victor R.; D'Horta, Fernando M.; Wight, Charles; Wittmann, Florian; Zuanon, Jansen; Baker, Paul A.; Ribas, Camila C.; Norgaard, Richard B.; Filizola, Naziano; Ansar, Atif; Flyvbjerg, Bent; Stevaux, Jose C.

2017-06-01

More than a hundred hydropower dams have already been built in the Amazon basin and numerous proposals for further dam constructions are under consideration. The accumulated negative environmental effects of existing dams and proposed dams, if constructed, will trigger massive hydrophysical and biotic disturbances that will affect the Amazon basin’s floodplains, estuary and sediment plume. We introduce a Dam Environmental Vulnerability Index to quantify the current and potential impacts of dams in the basin. The scale of foreseeable environmental degradation indicates the need for collective action among nations and states to avoid cumulative, far-reaching impacts. We suggest institutional innovations to assess and avoid the likely impoverishment of Amazon rivers.
Damming the rivers of the Amazon basin.

PubMed

Latrubesse, Edgardo M; Arima, Eugenio Y; Dunne, Thomas; Park, Edward; Baker, Victor R; d'Horta, Fernando M; Wight, Charles; Wittmann, Florian; Zuanon, Jansen; Baker, Paul A; Ribas, Camila C; Norgaard, Richard B; Filizola, Naziano; Ansar, Atif; Flyvbjerg, Bent; Stevaux, Jose C

2017-06-14

More than a hundred hydropower dams have already been built in the Amazon basin and numerous proposals for further dam constructions are under consideration. The accumulated negative environmental effects of existing dams and proposed dams, if constructed, will trigger massive hydrophysical and biotic disturbances that will affect the Amazon basin's floodplains, estuary and sediment plume. We introduce a Dam Environmental Vulnerability Index to quantify the current and potential impacts of dams in the basin. The scale of foreseeable environmental degradation indicates the need for collective action among nations and states to avoid cumulative, far-reaching impacts. We suggest institutional innovations to assess and avoid the likely impoverishment of Amazon rivers.
Modelling conservation in the Amazon basin.

PubMed

Soares-Filho, Britaldo Silveira; Nepstad, Daniel Curtis; Curran, Lisa M; Cerqueira, Gustavo Coutinho; Garcia, Ricardo Alexandrino; Ramos, Claudia Azevedo; Voll, Eliane; McDonald, Alice; Lefebvre, Paul; Schlesinger, Peter

2006-03-23

Expansion of the cattle and soy industries in the Amazon basin has increased deforestation rates and will soon push all-weather highways into the region's core. In the face of this growing pressure, a comprehensive conservation strategy for the Amazon basin should protect its watersheds, the full range of species and ecosystem diversity, and the stability of regional climates. Here we report that protected areas in the Amazon basin--the central feature of prevailing conservation approaches--are an important but insufficient component of this strategy, based on policy-sensitive simulations of future deforestation. By 2050, current trends in agricultural expansion will eliminate a total of 40% of Amazon forests, including at least two-thirds of the forest cover of six major watersheds and 12 ecoregions, releasing 32 +/- 8 Pg of carbon to the atmosphere. One-quarter of the 382 mammalian species examined will lose more than 40% of the forest within their Amazon ranges. Although an expanded and enforced network of protected areas could avoid as much as one-third of this projected forest loss, conservation on private lands is also essential. Expanding market pressures for sound land management and prevention of forest clearing on lands unsuitable for agriculture are critical ingredients of a strategy for comprehensive conservation.
Sources of water vapor to economically relevant regions in Amazonia and the effect of deforestation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pires, G. F.; Fontes, V. C.

2017-12-01

The Amazon rain forest helps regulate the regional humid climate. Understanding the effects of Amazon deforestation is important to preserve not only the climate, but also economic activities that depend on it, in particular, agricultural productivity and hydropower generation. This study calculates the source of water vapor contributing to the precipitation on economically relevant regions in Amazonia according to different scenarios of deforestation. These regions include the state of Mato Grosso, which produces about 9% of the global soybean production, and the basins of the Xingu and Madeira, with infrastructure under construction that will be capable to generate 20% of the electrical energy produced in Brazil. The results show that changes in rainfall after deforestation are stronger in regions nearest to the ocean and indicate the importance of the continental water vapor source to the precipitation over southern Amazonia. In the two more continental regions (Madeira and Mato Grosso), decreases in the source of water vapor in one region were offset by increases in contributions from other continental regions, whereas in the Xingu basin, which is closer to the ocean, this mechanism did not occur. As a conclusion, the geographic location of the region is an important determinant of the resiliency of the regional climate to deforestation-induced regional climate change. The more continental the geographic location, the less climate changes after deforestation.
Crop classification and mapping based on Sentinel missions data in cloud environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavreniuk, M. S.; Kussul, N.; Shelestov, A.; Vasiliev, V.

2017-12-01

Availability of high resolution satellite imagery (Sentinel-1/2/3, Landsat) over large territories opens new opportunities in agricultural monitoring. In particular, it becomes feasible to solve crop classification and crop mapping task at country and regional scale using time series of heterogenous satellite imagery. But in this case, we face with the problem of Big Data. Dealing with time series of high resolution (10 m) multispectral imagery we need to download huge volumes of data and then process them. The solution is to move "processing chain" closer to data itself to drastically shorten time for data transfer. One more advantage of such approach is the possibility to parallelize data processing workflow and efficiently implement machine learning algorithms. This could be done with cloud platform where Sentinel imagery are stored. In this study, we investigate usability and efficiency of two different cloud platforms Amazon and Google for crop classification and crop mapping problems. Two pilot areas were investigated - Ukraine and England. Google provides user friendly environment Google Earth Engine for Earth observation applications with a lot of data processing and machine learning tools already deployed. At the same time with Amazon one gets much more flexibility in implementation of his own workflow. Detailed analysis of pros and cons will be done in the presentation.
Satellite Reveals How Much Saharan Dust Feeds Amazon's Plants

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-02-24

What connects Earth's largest, hottest desert to its largest tropical rainforest? The Sahara Desert is a near-uninterrupted brown band of sand and scrub across the northern third of Africa. The Amazon rainforest is a dense green mass of humid jungle that covers northeast South America. But after strong winds sweep across the Sahara, a tan cloud rises in the air, stretches between the continents, and ties together the desert and the jungle. It’s dust. And lots of it. For the first time, a NASA satellite has quantified in three dimensions how much dust makes this trans-Atlantic journey. Scientists have not only measured the volume of dust, they have also calculated how much phosphorus – a natural plant fertilizer present in Saharan sands from part of the desert’s past as a lake bed – gets carried across the ocean from one of the planet’s most desolate places to one of its most fertile. NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram
Hematological markers and biochemical profiles in terms of gender and age of captive collared peccaries (Tayassu tajacu) in eastern Amazon.

PubMed

Jorge, E M; Silva, C J O; Ritter, R A; Monteiro, M V B; Albuquerque, N I; Kahwage, P R; Monteiro, F O B; Costa, C T C; Rahal, S C; Silva Filho, E

2015-11-25

Complete blood counts and blood biochemical analyses are laboratory tests that allow the monitoring of physiological condition, nutrition, and health in free-living or captive wild animals. When interpreting these tests, it is essential to compare the results with reference ranges that are suitable for the species. Few studies have been conducted on the hematological and biochemical characteristics of Tayassu tajacu, particularly for animals raised in the Amazon biome. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the influence of age and gender on the hematological and biochemical profiles of captive T. tajacu, and to establish reference intervals for these parameters. Complete blood counts and biochemical analyses were performed using manual methods and semi-automatic equipment, respectively. There were significant differences in relation to age in hematocrit and hemoglobin levels, and mean cell volumes, in captive T. tajacu. No basophils were observed, and the neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio was less than 1. Levels of total protein, urea, phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase were significantly affected by age (P < 0.05). Gender did not affect any of the results. The hematological and biochemical parameters for this species were determined, and may be used as reference ranges for captive T. tajacu.
Annual Variations in Water Storage and Precipitation in the Amazon Basin: Bounding Sink Terms in the Terrestrial Hydrological Balance using GRACE Satellite Gravity Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crowley, John W.; Mitrovica, Jerry X.; Bailey, Richard C.; Tamisiea, Mark E.; Davis, James L.

2007-01-01

We combine satellite gravity data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and precipitation measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center's (CPC) Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), over the period from mid-2002 to mid-2006, to investigate the relative importance of sink (runoff and evaporation) and source (precipitation) terms in the hydrological balance of the Amazon Basin. When linear and quadratic terms are removed, the time series of land water storage variations estimated from GRACE exhibits a dominant annual signal of 250 mm peak-to-peak, which is equivalent to a water volume change of approximately 1800 cubic kilometers. A comparison of this trend with accumulated (i.e., integrated) precipitation shows excellent agreement and no evidence of basin saturation. The agreement indicates that the net runoff and evaporation contributes significantly less than precipitation to the annual hydrological mass balance. Indeed, raw residuals between the detrended water storage and precipitation anomalies range from plus or minus 40 mm. This range is consistent with streamflow measurements from the region, although the latter are characterized by a stronger annual signal than ow residuals, suggesting that runoff and evaporation may act to partially cancel each other.
Mouths of the Amazon River, Brazil, South America

NASA Image and Video Library

1992-08-08

STS046-80-009 (31 July-8 Aug. 1992) --- A view of the mouth of the Amazon River and the Amazon Delta shows a large sediment plume expanding outward into the Atlantic Ocean. The sediment plume can be seen hugging the coast north of the Delta. This is caused by the west-northwest flowing Guyana Current. The large island of Marajo is partially visible through the clouds.
The dispersal of the Amazon's water

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Muller-Karger, Frank E.; Mcclain, Charles R.; Richardson, Philip L.

1988-01-01

New information obtained with NASA's Coastal Zone Color Scanner and with drifting buoys reveals that the discharge of the Amazon is carried offshore around a retroflection of the North Brazil Current and into the North Equatorial Countercurrent towards Africa between June and January each year. From about February to May, the countercurrent and the retroflection weaken or vanish, and Amazon water flows northwestward toward the Caribbean Sea.

Atmospheric correction analysis on LANDSAT data over the Amazon region. [Manaus, Brazil

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parada, N. D. J. (Principal Investigator); Dias, L. A. V.; Dossantos, J. R.; Formaggio, A. R.

1983-01-01

The Amazon Region natural resources were studied in two ways and compared. A LANDSAT scene and its attributes were selected, and a maximum likelihood classification was made. The scene was atmospherically corrected, taking into account Amazonic peculiarities revealed by (ground truth) of the same area, and the subsequent classification. Comparison shows that the classification improves with the atmospherically corrected images.
Amazon Forest Structure from IKONOS Satellite Data and the Automated Characterization of Forest Canopy Properties

Treesearch

Michael Palace; Michael Keller; Gregory P. Asner; Stephen Hagen; Bobby Braswell

2008-01-01

We developed an automated tree crown analysis algorithm using 1-m panchromatic IKONOS satellite images to examine forest canopy structure in the Brazilian Amazon. The algorithm was calibrated on the landscape level with tree geometry and forest stand data at the Fazenda Cauaxi (3.75◦ S, 48.37◦ W) in the eastern Amazon, and then compared with forest...
Amazon Surveillance System (SIVAM): U.S. and Brazilian Cooperation

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-12-01

Controle de Träfe go Aereo) Clutter Effects Model Parliamentary Investigation Commission (Comissäo Parlamentär de Inqutrito) Weather Forecasting...de Pesquisas Espaciais) INPA National Institute of Amazon Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia ) IR Infrared KW Kilowatt (a...VSAT System for Surveillance of the Amazon (Sistema de Vigiläncia da Amazonia ) Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Subsecretaria de Inteligencia
Spectral tuning of Amazon parrot feather coloration by psittacofulvin pigments and spongy structures.

PubMed

Tinbergen, Jan; Wilts, Bodo D; Stavenga, Doekele G

2013-12-01

The feathers of Amazon parrots are brightly coloured. They contain a unique class of pigments, the psittacofulvins, deposited in both barbs and barbules, causing yellow or red coloured feathers. In specific feather areas, spongy nanostructured barb cells exist, reflecting either in the blue or blue-green wavelength range. The blue-green spongy structures are partly enveloped by a blue-absorbing, yellow-colouring pigment acting as a spectral filter, thus yielding a green coloured barb. Applying reflection and transmission spectroscopy, we characterized the Amazons' pigments and spongy structures, and investigated how they contribute to the feather coloration. The reflectance spectra of Amazon feathers are presumably tuned to the sensitivity spectra of the visual photoreceptors.
Boundary layer ozone - An airborne survey above the Amazon Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gregory, Gerald L.; Browell, Edward V.; Warren, Linda S.

1988-01-01

Ozone data obtained over the forest canopy of the Amazon Basin during July and August 1985 in the course of NASA's Amazon Boundary Layer Experiment 2A are discussed, and ozone profiles obtained during flights from Belem to Tabatinga, Brazil, are analyzed to determine any cross-basin effects. The analyses of ozone data indicate that the mixed layer of the Amazon Basin, for the conditions of undisturbed meteorology and in the absence of biomass burning, is a significant sink for tropospheric ozone. As the coast is approached, marine influences are noted at about 300 km inland, and a transition from a forest-controlled mixed layer to a marine-controlled mixed layer is noted.
First report of Panstrongylus megistus (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae) in the State of Acre and Rondônia, Amazon, Brazil.

PubMed

Ribeiro Castro, Mariane Albuquerque Lima; de Souza Castro, Gabriela Vieira; de Souza, Janis Lunier; de Souza, Cláudio Rodrigues; Ramos, Leandro José; de Oliveira, Jader; da Rosa, João Aristeu; Aranha Camargo, Luis Marcelo; Meneguetti, Dionatas Ulises de Oliveira

2018-06-01

This article reports, for the first time, the occurrence of Panstrongylus megistus in the Brazilian Western Amazon. Specimens of P. megistus were collected in the cities of Rio Branco, Acre and Extrema, Rondônia. The number of triatomine species in the State of Acre increased from eight to nine and in Rondônia from seven to eight. This was also the first report of P. megistus in the Brazilian Western Amazon. The occurrence of P. megistus in the Western Amazon evidences an epidemiological alert, since it is an important vector of T. cruzi. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Lipid Panel Reference Intervals for Amazon Parrots (Amazona species).

PubMed

Ravich, Michelle; Cray, Carolyn; Hess, Laurie; Arheart, Kristopher L

2014-09-01

The lipoprotein panel is a useful diagnostic tool that allows clinicians to evaluate blood lipoprotein fractions. It is a standard diagnostic test in human medicine but is poorly understood in avian medicine. Amazon parrots (Amazona species) are popular pets that frequently lead a sedentary lifestyle and are customarily fed high-fat diets. Similar to people with comparable diets and lifestyles, Amazon parrots are prone to obesity and atherosclerosis. In human medicine, these conditions are typically correlated with abnormalities in the lipoprotein panel. To establish reference intervals for the lipoprotein panel in Amazon parrots, plasma samples from 31 captive Amazon parrots were analyzed for concentrations of cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL). The data were also grouped according to sex, diet, body condition score, and age. Aside from HDL levels, which were significantly different between male and female parrots, no intergroup differences were found for any of the lipoprotein fractions.
Decadal covariability of Atlantic SSTs and western Amazon dry-season hydroclimate in observations and CMIP5 simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandes, Katia; Giannini, Alessandra; Verchot, Louis; Baethgen, Walter; Pinedo-Vasquez, Miguel

2015-08-01

The unusual severity and return time of the 2005 and 2010 dry-season droughts in western Amazon is attributed partly to decadal climate fluctuations and a modest drying trend. Decadal variability of western Amazon hydroclimate is highly correlated to the Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) north-south gradient (NSG). Shifts of dry and wet events frequencies are also related to the NSG phase, with a 66% chance of 3+ years of dry events per decade when NSG > 0 and 19% when NSG < 0. The western Amazon and NSG decadal covariability is well reproduced in general circulation models (GCMs) historical (HIST) and preindustrial control (PIC) experiments of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). The HIST and PIC also reproduce the shifts in dry and wet events probabilities, indicating potential for decadal predictability based on GCMs. Persistence of the current NSG positive phase favors above normal frequency of western Amazon dry events in coming decades.
Backwater effects in the Amazon River basin of Brazil

USGS Publications Warehouse

Meade, R.H.; Rayol, J.M.; Da Conceicao, S.C.; Natividade, J.R.G.

1991-01-01

The Amazon River mainstem of Brazil is so regulated by differences in the timing of tributary inputs and by seasonal storage of water on floodplains that maximum discharges exceed minimum discharges by a factor of only 3. Large tributaries that drain the southern Amazon River basin reach their peak discharges two months earlier than does the mainstem. The resulting backwater in the lowermost 800 km of two large southern tributaries, the Madeira and Puru??s rivers, causes falling river stages to be as much as 2-3 m higher than rising stages at any given discharge. Large tributaries that drain the northernmost Amazon River basin reach their annual minimum discharges three to four months later than does the mainstem. In the lowermost 300-400 km of the Negro River, the largest northern tributary and the fifth largest river in the world, the lowest stages of the year correspond to those of the Amazon River mainstem rather than to those in the upstream reaches of the Negro River. ?? 1991 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Analysis and Evaluation of the Reconfigured Exponential Troposphere Model (ETM)

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-10

Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, Amazon Rainforest , Sahara Desert, and Australia) have been selected for comparison based on their climate extremes, such as...of Appendix B Appendix B presents angle errors for the Middle East, the Amazon Rainforest , Northeast Asia, and Southeast Asia using the ETM Monthly...and calibration should be carefully implemented in this region for RF communication, application, and operation. For the Amazon Rainforest region, data
Peru: Current Conditions and U.S. Relations

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-21

to development and poverty reduction. Of Peru’s 173 million acres of rainforest in the Amazon basin, about 70% has been granted or offered as...investment that will benefit the country as a whole. Indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest counter that the government is ignoring and/or...sent police to break up blockades set up by thousands of indigenous protesters in the Amazon . The deadly clash between the indigenous protesters and
A Strategic Market Analysis of the Open Market Corridor

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-06-01

flourish. Amazon.com CEO, Jeff Bezos , initially considered a genius (when Amazon.com stock was selling for $113, is now facing a depressed economy...annual revenue exceeding one million dollars (Afuah, p. 339). In an extraordinary focus to “put customers first,” founder Jeff Bezos introduced...Accordingly, when faced with a paradoxically successful business model, and a rather amorphous market medium, Jeff Bozos and Amazon.com have taken a
ATLAS@AWS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gehrcke, Jan-Philip; Kluth, Stefan; Stonjek, Stefan

2010-04-01

We show how the ATLAS offline software is ported on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). We prepare an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) on the basis of the standard ATLAS platform Scientific Linux 4 (SL4). Then an instance of the SLC4 AMI is started on EC2 and we install and validate a recent release of the ATLAS offline software distribution kit. The installed software is archived as an image on the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) and can be quickly retrieved and connected to new SL4 AMI instances using the Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS). ATLAS jobs can then configure against the release kit using the ATLAS configuration management tool (cmt) in the standard way. The output of jobs is exported to S3 before the SL4 AMI is terminated. Job status information is transferred to the Amazon SimpleDB service. The whole process of launching instances of our AMI, starting, monitoring and stopping jobs and retrieving job output from S3 is controlled from a client machine using python scripts implementing the Amazon EC2/S3 API via the boto library working together with small scripts embedded in the SL4 AMI. We report our experience with setting up and operating the system using standard ATLAS job transforms.
Revisiting the hierarchy of urban areas in the Brazilian Amazon: a multilevel approach

PubMed Central

Costa, Sandra; Brondízio, Eduardo

2012-01-01

The Legal Brazilian Amazon, while the largest rainforest in the world, is also a region where most residents are urban. Despite close linkages between rural and urban processes in the region, rural areas have been the predominant focus of Amazon-based population-environment scholarship. Offering a focus on urban areas within the Brazilian Amazon, this paper examines the emergence of urban hierarchies within the region. Using a combination of nationally representative data and community based surveys, applied to a multivariate cluster methodology (Grade of Membership), we observe the emergence of sub-regional urban networks characterized by economic and political inter-dependency, population movement, and provision of services. These networks link rural areas, small towns, and medium and large cities. We also identify the emergence of medium-size cities as important nodes at a sub-regional level. In all, the work provides insight on the proposed model of ‘disarticulated urbanization’ within the Amazon by calling attention to the increasing role of regional and sub-regional urban networks in shaping the future expansion of land use and population distribution in the Amazon. We conclude with a discussion of implications for increasing intra-regional connectivity and fragmentation of conservation areas and ecosystems in the region. PMID:23129877
Influence of longer dry seasons in the Southern Amazon on patterns of water vapor transport over northern South America and the Caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agudelo, Jhoana; Arias, Paola A.; Vieira, Sara C.; Martínez, J. Alejandro

2018-06-01

Several studies have identified a recent lengthening of the dry season over the southern Amazon during the last three decades. Some explanations to this lengthening suggest the influence of changes in the regional circulation over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, whereas others point to the influence of vegetation changes over the Amazon rainforest. This study aims to understand the implications of more frequent long dry seasons in this forest on atmospheric moisture transport toward northern South America and the Caribbean region. Using a semi-Langrangian model for water vapor tracking, results indicate that longer dry seasons in the southern Amazon relate to reductions of water vapor content over the southern and eastern Amazon basin, due to significant reductions of evaporation and recycled precipitation rates in these regions, especially during the transition from dry to wet conditions in the southern Amazon. On the other hand, longer dry seasons also relate to enhanced atmospheric moisture content over the Caribbean and northern South America regions, mainly due to increased contributions of water vapor from oceanic regions and the increase of surface moisture convergence over the equatorial region. This highlights the importance of understanding the relative role of regional circulation and local surface conditions on modulating water vapor transport toward continental regions.
Methane airborne measurements and comparison to global models during BARCA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, Veronika; Chen, Huilin; Gerbig, Christoph; Bergamaschi, Peter; Bruhwiler, Lori; Houweling, Sander; Röckmann, Thomas; Kolle, Olaf; Steinbach, Julia; Koch, Thomas; Sapart, Célia J.; van der Veen, Carina; Frankenberg, Christian; Andreae, Meinrat O.; Artaxo, Paulo; Longo, Karla M.; Wofsy, Steven C.

2012-08-01

Tropical regions, especially the Amazon region, account for large emissions of methane (CH4). Here, we present CH4 observations from two airborne campaigns conducted within the BARCA (Balanço Atmosférico Regional de Carbono na Amazônia) project in the Amazon basin in November 2008 (end of the dry season) and May 2009 (end of the wet season). We performed continuous measurements of CH4 onboard an aircraft for the first time in the Amazon region, covering the whole Amazon basin with over 150 vertical profiles between altitudes of 500 m and 4000 m. The observations support the finding of previous ground-based, airborne, and satellite measurements that the Amazon basin is a large source of atmospheric CH4. Isotope analysis verified that the majority of emissions can be attributed to CH4 emissions from wetlands, while urban CH4 emissions could be also traced back to biogenic origin. A comparison of five TM5 based global CH4 inversions with the observations clearly indicates that the inversions using SCIAMACHY observations represent the BARCA observations best. The calculated CH4 flux estimate obtained from the mismatch between observations and TM5-modeled CH4 fields ranges from 36 to 43 mg m-2 d-1 for the Amazon lowland region.
Infection rates and genotypes of Trypanosoma rangeli and T. cruzi infecting free-ranging Saguinus bicolor (Callitrichidae), a critically endangered primate of the Amazon Rainforest.

PubMed

Maia da Silva, F; Naiff, R D; Marcili, A; Gordo, M; D'Affonseca Neto, J A; Naiff, M F; Franco, A M R; Campaner, M; Valente, V; Valente, S A; Camargo, E P; Teixeira, M M G; Miles, M A

2008-08-01

Parasites of wild primates are important for conservation biology and human health due to their high potential to infect humans. In the Amazon region, non-human primates are commonly infected by Trypanosoma cruzi and T. rangeli, which are also infective to man and several mammals. This is the first survey of trypanosomiasis in a critically endangered species of tamarin, Saguinus bicolor (Callitrichidae), from the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest. Of the 96 free-ranging specimens of S. bicolor examined 45 (46.8%) yielded blood smears positive for trypanosomes. T. rangeli was detected in blood smears of 38 monkeys (39.6%) whereas T. cruzi was never detected. Seven animals (7.3%) presented trypanosomes of the subgenus Megatrypanum. Hemocultures detected 84 positive tamarins (87.5%). Seventy-two of 84 (85.7%) were morphologically diagnosed as T. rangeli and 3 (3.1%) as T. cruzi. Nine tamarins (9.4%) yielded mixed cultures of these two species, which after successive passages generated six cultures exclusively of T. cruzi and two of T. rangeli, with only one culture remaining mixed. Of the 72 cultures positive for T. rangeli, 62 remained as established cultures and were genotyped: 8 were assigned to phylogenetic lineage A (12.9%) and 54 to lineage B (87.1%). Ten established cultures of T. cruzi were genotyped as TCI lineage (100%). Transmission of both trypanosome species, their potential risk to this endangered species and the role of wild primates as reservoirs for trypanosomes infective to humans are discussed.
Atlas2 Cloud: a framework for personal genome analysis in the cloud

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Until recently, sequencing has primarily been carried out in large genome centers which have invested heavily in developing the computational infrastructure that enables genomic sequence analysis. The recent advancements in next generation sequencing (NGS) have led to a wide dissemination of sequencing technologies and data, to highly diverse research groups. It is expected that clinical sequencing will become part of diagnostic routines shortly. However, limited accessibility to computational infrastructure and high quality bioinformatic tools, and the demand for personnel skilled in data analysis and interpretation remains a serious bottleneck. To this end, the cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technologies can help address these issues. Results We successfully enabled the Atlas2 Cloud pipeline for personal genome analysis on two different cloud service platforms: a community cloud via the Genboree Workbench, and a commercial cloud via the Amazon Web Services using Software-as-a-Service model. We report a case study of personal genome analysis using our Atlas2 Genboree pipeline. We also outline a detailed cost structure for running Atlas2 Amazon on whole exome capture data, providing cost projections in terms of storage, compute and I/O when running Atlas2 Amazon on a large data set. Conclusions We find that providing a web interface and an optimized pipeline clearly facilitates usage of cloud computing for personal genome analysis, but for it to be routinely used for large scale projects there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way we develop tools, in standard operating procedures, and in funding mechanisms. PMID:23134663
Atlas2 Cloud: a framework for personal genome analysis in the cloud.

PubMed

Evani, Uday S; Challis, Danny; Yu, Jin; Jackson, Andrew R; Paithankar, Sameer; Bainbridge, Matthew N; Jakkamsetti, Adinarayana; Pham, Peter; Coarfa, Cristian; Milosavljevic, Aleksandar; Yu, Fuli

2012-01-01

Until recently, sequencing has primarily been carried out in large genome centers which have invested heavily in developing the computational infrastructure that enables genomic sequence analysis. The recent advancements in next generation sequencing (NGS) have led to a wide dissemination of sequencing technologies and data, to highly diverse research groups. It is expected that clinical sequencing will become part of diagnostic routines shortly. However, limited accessibility to computational infrastructure and high quality bioinformatic tools, and the demand for personnel skilled in data analysis and interpretation remains a serious bottleneck. To this end, the cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technologies can help address these issues. We successfully enabled the Atlas2 Cloud pipeline for personal genome analysis on two different cloud service platforms: a community cloud via the Genboree Workbench, and a commercial cloud via the Amazon Web Services using Software-as-a-Service model. We report a case study of personal genome analysis using our Atlas2 Genboree pipeline. We also outline a detailed cost structure for running Atlas2 Amazon on whole exome capture data, providing cost projections in terms of storage, compute and I/O when running Atlas2 Amazon on a large data set. We find that providing a web interface and an optimized pipeline clearly facilitates usage of cloud computing for personal genome analysis, but for it to be routinely used for large scale projects there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way we develop tools, in standard operating procedures, and in funding mechanisms.
Future drying of the southern Amazon and central Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoon, J.; Zeng, N.; Cook, B.

2008-12-01

Recent climate modeling suggests that the Amazon rainforest could exhibit considerable dieback under future climate change, a prediction that has raised considerable interest as well as controversy. To determine the likelihood and causes of such changes, we analyzed the output of 15 models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC/AR4) and a dynamic vegetation model VEGAS driven by these climate output. Our results suggest that the core of the Amazon rainforest should remain largely stable. However, the periphery, notably the southern edge, is in danger of drying out, driven by two main processes. First, a decline in precipitation of 24% in the southern Amazon lengthens the dry season and reduces soil moisture, despite of an increase in precipitation during the wet season, due to the nonlinear response in hydrology and ecosystem dynamics. Two dynamical mechanisms may explain the lower dry season precipitation: (1) a stronger north-south tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature gradient; (2) a general subtropical drying under global warming when the dry season southern Amazon is under the control of the subtropical high pressure. Secondly, evaporation will increase due to the general warming, thus also reducing soil moisture. As a consequence, the median of the models projects a reduction of vegetation by 20%, and enhanced fire carbon flux by 10-15% in the southern Amazon, central Brazil, and parts of the Andean Mountains. Because the southern Amazon is also under intense human influence, the double pressure of deforestation and climate change may subject the region to dramatic changes in the 21st century.

Projections of future meteorological drought and wet periods in the Amazon

PubMed Central

Duffy, Philip B.; Brando, Paulo; Asner, Gregory P.; Field, Christopher B.

2015-01-01

Future intensification of Amazon drought resulting from climate change may cause increased fire activity, tree mortality, and emissions of carbon to the atmosphere across large areas of Amazonia. To provide a basis for addressing these issues, we examine properties of recent and future meteorological droughts in the Amazon in 35 climate models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). We find that the CMIP5 climate models, as a group, simulate important properties of historical meteorological droughts in the Amazon. In addition, this group of models reproduces observed relationships between Amazon precipitation and regional sea surface temperature anomalies in the tropical Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans. Assuming the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario for future drivers of climate change, the models project increases in the frequency and geographic extent of meteorological drought in the eastern Amazon, and the opposite in the West. For the region as a whole, the CMIP5 models suggest that the area affected by mild and severe meteorological drought will nearly double and triple, respectively, by 2100. Extremes of wetness are also projected to increase after 2040. Specifically, the frequency of periods of unusual wetness and the area affected by unusual wetness are projected to increase after 2040 in the Amazon as a whole, including in locations where annual mean precipitation is projected to decrease. Our analyses suggest that continued emissions of greenhouse gases will increase the likelihood of extreme events that have been shown to alter and degrade Amazonian forests. PMID:26460046
Idealized Simulations of the Effects of Amazon Convection and Baroclinic Waves on the South Atlantic Convergence Zone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferreira, Rosana Nieto; Suarez, Max J.; Nigam, Sumant; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ) is a NW-SE oriented, stationary region of enhanced convergence and convection that extends southeastward from the ITCZ convection anchored over the Amazon region. On daily satellite images each SACZ episode is seen as a progression of one or several midlatitude cold fronts that intrude into the subtropics and tropics, becoming stationary over southeastern Brazil for a few days. Previous studies have shown that while Amazon convection plays a fundamental role in the formation of the SACZ, Atlantic sea surface temperatures and the Andes Mountains play a relatively minor role in the strength and location of the SACZ. The role of interactions between Amazon convection and midlatitude baroclinic waves in establishing the origin, position, and maintenance of the SACZ is studied here using idealized dry, multilayer global model simulations that do not include the effects of topography. The model simulations produce SACZ-like regions of low-level convergence in the presence of Amazon convection embedded in a mean-flow that contains propagating baroclinic waves. The results of these simulations indicate that Amazon convection plays two fundamental roles in the formation and location of the SACZ. First, it produces a NW-SE oriented region of low-level convergence to the SE of Amazon convection. Second, it produces a storm-track region and accompanying stronger midlatitude baroclinic waves in the region of the SACZ. It is suggested that in the presence of moist effects, the 'seedling' SACZ regions produced in these simulations can be enhanced to produce the observed SACZ.
The Belterra Clay: The Last Terrestrial Connection Between the Brazilian Shield and the Guiana Shield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, K.

2016-12-01

The Belterra Clay is a sedimentary deposit that covers much of the eastern Amazon Basin in Brazil. It is notable in forming a very flat plain that occurs on both sides of the Amazon River, the Tapajos River, the Xingu River, and many smaller, tributary rivers east of 56° 32' W. The origin of the Belterra Clay is very controversial, with proponents of both allochthonous and autochthonous means of formation. There is little agreement as to its age. The fact that it occurs on both sides of the Amazon River indicates that its origin predates the formation of the modern Amazon River system, the timing of origin of which is itself highly controversial, with age estimates given for the river system formation that extend from the late Miocene, or 10 mya, to the late Pleistocene. From the time of origin of the Belterra Clay deposit until the modern Amazon River evolved, it formed an unbroken, terrestrial connection between the Brazilian Shield to the south and the Guiana Shield to the north, as well as east-west connections across what are today major river valleys, such as the Tapajos River and Xingu River. The formation and later severing of this once unbroken plain are predicted to have had major impacts on the distribution and evolutionary pathways of biotas inhabiting the region as once disparate communities were joined and later separated once again. Molecular clock ages for sister taxa north and south of the Amazon River have the potential of dating the time of formation of the Amazon River.
African Dust Fertilizing the Amazon Rainforest: An Assessment with Seven-year Record of CALIOP Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, H.; Chin, M.; Yuan, T.; Bian, H.; Prospero, J. M.; Omar, A. H.; Remer, L. A.; Winker, D. M.; Yang, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Z.

2014-12-01

The productivity of Amazon rainforest is constrained by the availability of nutrients, in particular phosphorus (P). Deposition of transported African dust in boreal winter and spring is considered an important nutrient input for the Amazon Basin, though its magnitude is not well qunatified. This study provides a remote sensing observation-based estimate of dust deposition in the Amazon Basin using a 7-year (2007-2013) record of three dimensional (3D) distributions of aerosol in both cloud-free and above-cloud conditions from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). It is estimated that the 7-year average of dust deposition into the Amazon Basin amounts to 15.1 ~ 32.1 Tg a-1 (Tg = 1012 g). This imported dust could provide 0.012 ~ 0.025 Tg P a-1 or equivalent to 12 ~ 26 g P ha-1 a-1 to fertilize the Amazon rainforest, which largely compensates the hydrological loss of P. The CLAIOP-based estimate agrees better with estimates from in-situ measurements and model simulations than what has been reported in literature. The closer agreement benefits from a more realistic geographic definition of the Amazon Basin and inclusion of meridional dust transport calculation in addition to the 3D nature of CALIOP aerosol measurements. The trans-Atlantic transport and deposition of dust shows strong interannual variations that are found to correlate with the North Atlantic Oscillation index in the winter season and anticorrelate with the prior-year Sahel Precipitation Index on an annual basis. Uncertainties associated with the estimate will also be discussed.
Higher absorbed solar radiation partly offset the negative effects of water stress on the photosynthesis of Amazon forests during the 2015 drought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xing; Xiao, Jingfeng; He, Binbin

2018-04-01

Amazon forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle and Earth’s climate. The vulnerability of Amazon forests to drought remains highly controversial. Here we examine the impacts of the 2015 drought on the photosynthesis of Amazon forests to understand how solar radiation and precipitation jointly control forest photosynthesis during the severe drought. We use a variety of gridded vegetation and climate datasets, including solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF), photosynthetic active radiation (PAR), the fraction of absorbed PAR (APAR), leaf area index (LAI), precipitation, soil moisture, cloud cover, and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) in our analysis. Satellite-derived SIF observations provide a direct diagnosis of plant photosynthesis from space. The decomposition of SIF to SIF yield (SIFyield) and APAR (the product of PAR and fPAR) reveals the relative effects of precipitation and solar radiation on photosynthesis. We found that the drought significantly reduced SIFyield, the emitted SIF per photon absorbed. The higher APAR resulting from lower cloud cover and higher LAI partly offset the negative effects of water stress on the photosynthesis of Amazon forests, leading to a smaller reduction in SIF than in SIFyield and precipitation. We further found that SIFyield anomalies were more sensitive to precipitation and VPD anomalies in the southern regions of the Amazon than in the central and northern regions. Our findings shed light on the relative and combined effects of precipitation and solar radiation on photosynthesis, and can improve our understanding of the responses of Amazon forests to drought.
DNA Sequencing Technologies within the Chemical and Biological Defense Enterprise: How to Position the Department of Defense to Maximize the Use of These Emerging Technologies - JUPITR

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-01

sharing, the Pathosphere.org open-system architecture is now deployed and available on the Amazon cloud . The site has over 100 users from...SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT: To generate accurate and actionable disease data that can be integrated into the broader Department of Defense...PREFACE The work described in this report was authorized under the Joint United States Forces Korea Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition
Cloud-based MOTIFSIM: Detecting Similarity in Large DNA Motif Data Sets.

PubMed

Tran, Ngoc Tam L; Huang, Chun-Hsi

2017-05-01

We developed the cloud-based MOTIFSIM on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. The tool is an extended version from our web-based tool version 2.0, which was developed based on a novel algorithm for detecting similarity in multiple DNA motif data sets. This cloud-based version further allows researchers to exploit the computing resources available from AWS to detect similarity in multiple large-scale DNA motif data sets resulting from the next-generation sequencing technology. The tool is highly scalable with expandable AWS.
Lessons from forest FACE experiments provide guidance for Amazon-FACE science plan (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norby, R. J.; Lapola, D. M.

2013-12-01

Free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments have provided novel insights into the ecological mechanisms controlling the cycling and storage of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems, and they provide a strong foundation for next-generation experiments in unexplored biomes. Specific lessons from FACE experiments include: (1) Carbon cycle responses are time-dependent because component processes have different rate constants: for example, net primary productivity is increased by elevated CO2, but the response may diminish with time as N cycling feedbacks become important. (2) Carbon partitioning patterns determine the fate of the extra C taken up by CO2-enriched plants, but partitioning responses remain an important challenge for ecosystem models. (3) The influence of N cycling on plant and ecosystem C cycling continues to be a critical uncertainty, and new experiments, especially in the tropics, must also consider P cycling. (4) Plant community structure can influence the ecosystem response to elevated CO2, but dynamic vegetation effects have not been adequately addressed. These experiences from FACE experiments in temperate forests are now guiding the development of a science plan for a FACE experiment in Amazonia. Models and small-scale experimental results agree that elevated CO2 will affect the metabolism of tropical ecosystems, but the qualitative and quantitative expression of the effects are largely unknown, representing a major source of uncertainty that limits our capacity to assess the vulnerability of the Amazon forest to climate change. Recognizing the high importance of the forests of the Amazon basin on global carbon, water, and energy cycles, biodiversity conservation, and the provision of essential services in Latin America, a consortium of Brazilian researchers and international collaborators have developed a science plan for Amazon-FACE. While the challenges presented both by infrastructure needs (roads, electricity, and provision of CO2) and biology (the size and diversity of the forest) are substantial, preliminary evaluation and past experience from temperate forest FACE experiments have supported the feasibility of an experiment comprising replicated 30-m diameter FACE plots in primary forest. The proposed site is the ZF2 research area 60 km north of Manaus and administered by Brazil's National Institute for Amazonia Research (INPA). The vegetation is representative of a dominant fraction of the forests occurring in the Amazon basin: old-growth closed-canopy terra firme (non-flooded) forest with trees 30-35 m in height on well drained clay soils. The major science questions guiding the experiment are closely informed by results of past FACE experiment and involve carbon metabolism, water use, nutrient cycling, interactions with environmental stressors, and the relationship between plant functional traits and community composition. FACE experiments can define ecological processes and mechanisms of responses for predictive models of ecosystem response, and models of CO2 response can define critical uncertainties and testable hypotheses for experiments; hence, the Amazon FACE experiment will feature a close integration of modeling and experimental approaches.
Sediment supply as a driver of river evolution in the Amazon Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, Joshua; Constantine, José Antonio; Dunne, Thomas; Legleiter, Carl; Lazarus, Eli D.

2015-04-01

The Amazon represents the only large river basin in the world where there is a sufficient range of sediment supplies and a lack of engineering controls to assess how sediment supply drives the evolution of meandering rivers. Despite recent analytical advances (Asahi et al., 2013; Pittaluga and Seminara, 2011), modern theory does not yet identify or explain the effects of externally imposed sediment supplies, a fundamental river characteristic, on meandering river evolution. These sediment supplies would be radically reduced by the construction of large dams proposed for the Amazon Basin (Finer and Jenkins, 2012). Here, we demonstrate that the sediment loads imposed by their respective drainage basins determine planform changes in lowland rivers across the Amazon. Our analysis, based on Landsat image sequences, indicates that rivers with high sediment loads draining the Andes and associated foreland basin experience annual migration rates that are on average four times faster than rivers with lower sediment loads draining the Central Amazon Trough and shields. Incidents of meander cutoff also occur more frequently along the rivers of the Andes and foreland basin, where the number of oxbows in the floodplains is more than twice that observed in the floodplains of the Central Amazon Trough and shields. Our results, which cannot be explained by differences in channel slope or hydrology, highlight the importance of sediment supply in modulating the ability of meandering alluvial rivers to reshape the floodplain environment through river migration. Asahi, K., Shimizu, Y., Nelson, J., Parker, G., 2013. Numerical simulation of river meandering with self-evolving banks. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 118(4), 2013JF002752. Finer, M., Jenkins, C.N., 2012. Proliferation of hydroelectric dams in the Andean Amazon and implications for Andes-Amazon connectivity. PLOS One, 7(4), e35126. Pittaluga, M.B., Seminara, G., 2011. Nonlinearity and unsteadiness in river meandering: a review of progress in theory and modelling. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 36(1), 20-38.
Catalogue of Diptera of Colombia: an introduction.

PubMed

Wolff, Marta; Nihei, Silvio S; Carvalho, Claudio J B De

2016-06-14

Colombia has an imposing natural wealth due to its topography has many unique characteristics as a consequence of having Caribbean and Pacific shores, as well as sharing part of the Amazon basin and northern Andes mountains. Thus, many natural and biological features are due to the convergence of three biogeographical regions: Pacific, Andes and Amazonia. The Andean uplift created a complex mosaic of mountains and isolated valleys, including eleven biogeographical provinces (Morrone 2006). The Andes dominate the Colombian topography and cross the country south to north. There are three mountain ranges (Western, Central, and Eastern) with a maximum elevation of 5,775 m, and an average elevation of 2,000 m. The Magdalena and Cauca River valleys separate these ranges, that along with the Putumayo and Caquetá Rivers, the Catatumbo watershed, the Darién, Pique Hill, the Orinoquia Region (with its savannas), the Amazon region (with tropical rainforests), and some lower mountain ranges (Macarena and Chiribiquete), have generated the conditions for very high levels of endemism. This variety of conditions has resulted in an extremely diverse plant and animal biota, and in which 48% of the nation remains unexplored.
Use of a new Trichoderma harzianum strain isolated from the Amazon rainforest with pretreated sugar cane bagasse for on-site cellulase production.

PubMed

Delabona, Priscila da Silva; Farinas, Cristiane Sanchez; da Silva, Mateus Ribeiro; Azzoni, Sindelia Freitas; Pradella, José Geraldo da Cruz

2012-03-01

The on-site production of cellulases is an important strategy for the development of sustainable second-generation ethanol production processes. This study concerns the use of a specific cellulolytic enzyme complex for hydrolysis of pretreated sugar cane bagasse. Glycosyl hydrolases (FPase, xylanase, and β-glucosidase) were produced using a new strain of Trichoderma harzianum, isolated from the Amazon rainforest and cultivated under different conditions. The influence of the carbon source was first investigated using shake-flask cultures. Selected carbon sources were then further studied under different pH conditions using a stirred tank bioreactor. Enzymatic activities up to 121 FPU/g, 8000 IU/g, and 1730 IU/g of delignified steam-exploded bagasse+sucrose were achieved for cellulase, xylanase and β-glucosidase, respectively. This enzymatic complex was used to hydrolyze pretreated sugar cane bagasse. A comparative evaluation, using an enzymatic extract from Trichoderma reesei RUTC30, indicated similar performance of the T. harzianum enzyme complex, being a potential candidate for on-site production of enzymes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Interannual rainfall variability in the Amazon basin and sea-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific and the tropical Atlantic Oceans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ronchail, Josyane; Cochonneau, Gérard; Molinier, Michel; Guyot, Jean-Loup; Chaves, Adriana Goretti De Miranda; Guimarães, Valdemar; de Oliveira, Eurides

2002-11-01

Rainfall variability in the Amazon basin is studied in relation to sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the equatorial Pacific and the northern and southern tropical Atlantic during the 1977-99 period, using the HiBAm original rainfall data set and complementary cluster and composite analyses.The northeastern part of the basin, north of 5 °S and east of 60 °W, is significantly related with tropical SSTs: a rainier wet season is observed when the equatorial Pacific and the northern (southern) tropical Atlantic are anomalously cold (warm). A shorter and drier wet season is observed during El Niño events and negative rainfall anomalies are also significantly associated with a warm northern Atlantic in the austral autumn and a cold southern Atlantic in the spring. The northeastern Amazon rainfall anomalies are closely related with El Niño-southern oscillation during the whole year, whereas the relationships with the tropical Atlantic SST anomalies are mainly observed during the autumn. A time-space continuity is observed between El Niño-related rainfall anomalies in the northeastern Amazon, those in the northern Amazon and south-eastern Amazon, and those in northern South America and in the Nordeste of Brazil.A reinforcement of certain rainfall anomalies is observed when specific oceanic events combine. For instance, when El Niño and cold SSTs in the southern Atlantic are associated, very strong negative anomalies are observed in the whole northern Amazon basin. Nonetheless, the comparison of the cluster and the composite analyses results shows that the rainfall anomalies in the northeastern Amazon are not always associated with tropical SST anomalies.In the southern and western Amazon, significant tropical SST-related rainfall anomalies are very few and spatially variable. The precipitation origins differ from those of the northeastern Amazon: land temperature variability, extratropical perturbations and moisture advection are important rainfall factors, as well as SSTs. This could partially explain why: (a) the above-mentioned signals weaken or disappear, with the exception of the relative dryness that is observed at the peak of an El Niño event and during the dry season when northern Atlantic SSTs are warmer than usual; (b) rainfall anomalies tend to resemble those of southeastern South America, noticeably at the beginning and the end of El Niño and La Niña events; (c) some strong excesses of rain are not associated with any SST anomalies and merit further investigation.
Evidence of new species for malaria vector Anopheles nuneztovari sensu lato in the Brazilian Amazon region.

PubMed

Scarpassa, Vera Margarete; Cunha-Machado, Antonio Saulo; Saraiva, José Ferreira

2016-04-12

Anopheles nuneztovari sensu lato comprises cryptic species in northern South America, and the Brazilian populations encompass distinct genetic lineages within the Brazilian Amazon region. This study investigated, based on two molecular markers, whether these lineages might actually deserve species status. Specimens were collected in five localities of the Brazilian Amazon, including Manaus, Careiro Castanho and Autazes, in the State of Amazonas; Tucuruí, in the State of Pará; and Abacate da Pedreira, in the State of Amapá, and analysed for the COI gene (Barcode region) and 12 microsatellite loci. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using the maximum likelihood (ML) approach. Intra and inter samples genetic diversity were estimated using population genetics analyses, and the genetic groups were identified by means of the ML, Bayesian and factorial correspondence analyses and the Bayesian analysis of population structure. The Barcode region dataset (N = 103) generated 27 haplotypes. The haplotype network suggested three lineages. The ML tree retrieved five monophyletic groups. Group I clustered all specimens from Manaus and Careiro Castanho, the majority of Autazes and a few from Abacate da Pedreira. Group II clustered most of the specimens from Abacate da Pedreira and a few from Autazes and Tucuruí. Group III clustered only specimens from Tucuruí (lineage III), strongly supported (97 %). Groups IV and V clustered specimens of A. nuneztovari s.s. and A. dunhami, strongly (98 %) and weakly (70 %) supported, respectively. In the second phylogenetic analysis, the sequences from GenBank, identified as A. goeldii, clustered to groups I and II, but not to group III. Genetic distances (Kimura-2 parameters) among the groups ranged from 1.60 % (between I and II) to 2.32 % (between I and III). Microsatellite data revealed very high intra-population genetic variability. Genetic distances showed the highest and significant values (P = 0.005) between Tucuruí and all the other samples, and between Abacate da Pedreira and all the other samples. Genetic distances, Bayesian (Structure and BAPS) analyses and FCA suggested three distinct biological groups, supporting the barcode region results. The two markers revealed three genetic lineages for A. nuneztovari s.l. in the Brazilian Amazon region. Lineages I and II may represent genetically distinct groups or species within A. goeldii. Lineage III may represent a new species, distinct from the A. goeldii group, and may be the most ancestral in the Brazilian Amazon. They may have differences in Plasmodium susceptibility and should therefore be investigated further.
Inter-Seasonal and Annual Co-Variation of Smallholder Production Portfolios, Volumes and Incomes with Rainfall and Flood Levels in the Amazon Estuary: Implications for Building Livelihood Resilience to Increasing Variability of Hydro-Climatic Regimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogt, N. D.; Fernandes, K.; Pinedo-Vasquez, M.; Brondizio, E. S.; Almeida, O.; Rivero, S.; Rabelo, F. R.; Dou, Y.; Deadman, P.

2014-12-01

In this paper we investigate inter-seasonal and annual co-variations of rainfall and flood levels with Caboclo production portfolios, and proportions of it they sell and consume, in the Amazon Estuary from August 2012 to August 2014. Caboclos of the estuary maintain a diverse and flexible land-use portfolio, with a shift in dominant use from agriculture to agroforestry and forestry since WWII (Vogt et al., 2014). The current landscape is configured for acai, shrimp and fish production. In the last decade the frequency of wet seasons with anomalous flood levels and duration has increased primarily from changes in rainfall and discharge from upstream basins. Local rainfall, though with less influence on extreme estuarine flood levels, is reported to be more sporadic and intense in wet season and variable in both wet and dry seasons, for yet unknown reasons. The current production portfolio and its flexibility are felt to build resilience to these increases in hydro-climatic variability and extreme events. What is less understood, for time and costliness of daily measures at household levels, is how variations in flood and rainfall levels affect shifts in the current production portfolio of estuarine Caboclos, and the proportions of it they sell and consume. This is needed to identify what local hydro-climatic thresholds are extreme for current livelihoods, that is, that most adversely affect food security and income levels. It is also needed identify the large-scale forcings driving those extreme conditions to build forecasts for when they will occur. Here we present results of production, rainfall and flood data collected daily in households from both the North and South Channel of the Amazon estuary over last two years to identify how they co-vary, and robustness of current production portfolio under different hydro-climatic conditions.
Two Preliminary SRTM DEMs Within the Amazon Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alsdorf, D.; Hess, L.; Melack, J.; Dunne, T.; Mertes, L.; Ballantine, A.; Biggs, T.; Holmes, K.; Sheng, Y.; Hendricks, G.

2002-12-01

Digital topography provides important measures, such as hillslope lengths and flow path networks, for understanding hydrologic and geomorphic processes (e.g., runoff response to land use change and floodplain inundation volume). Two preliminary Shuttle Radar Topography Mission digital elevation models of Manaus (1S to 5S and 59W to 63W) and Rondonia (9S to 12S and 61W to 64W) were received from NASA JPL in August 2002. The "PI Processor" produced these initial DEM segments and we are using them to assess the initial accuracy of the interferometrically derived heights and for hydrologic research. The preliminary SRTM derived absolute elevations across the Amazon floodplain in the Cabaliana region generally range from 5 to 15 m with reported errors of 1 to 3 m. This region also includes some preliminary elevations that are erroneously negative. However, topographic contours on 1:100,000 scale quadrangles of 1978 to 1980 vintage indicate elevations of 20 to 30 m. Because double-bounce travel paths are possible over the sparsely vegetated and very-flat 2400 sq-km water surface of the Balbina reservoir near Manaus, it serves to identify the relative accuracy of the SRTM heights. Here, cell-to-cell height changes are generally 0 to 1 m and changes across a ~100 km transect rarely exceed 3 m. Reported errors throughout the transect range from 1 to 2 m with some errors up to 5 m. Deforestation in Rondonia is remarkably clear in the C-band DEM where elevations are recorded from the canopy rather than bare earth. Here, elevation changes are ~30 m (with reported 1 to 2 m errors) across clear-cut areas. Field derived canopy heights are in agreement with this change. Presently, we are deriving stream networks in the Amazon floodplain for comparison with our previous network extraction from JERS-1 SAR mosaics and for hydrologic modeling.
The ticks (Acari: Ixodida: Argasidae, Ixodidae) of Paraguay

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

comprises the Amazonic and Chaco domains. The Amazonic domain is represented by the Cerrado phyto–geographical province (CePP) in the north–east and by the...geographical provinces of Cerrado and Paranaense belong to the Amazonic domain whereas Chaco province is within the Chaco domain. 258 NAVA ET AL. RESULTS...Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. Ornithodoros talaje (Guérin-Méneville)/ Ornithodoros puertoricensis Fox. Cordero et al. (1928) found adults of Orn
Enhanced Methane Emissions during Amazonian Drought by Biomass Burning

PubMed Central

Ito, Akihiko; Yokota, Tatsuya; Maksyutov, Shamil

2016-01-01

The Amazon is a significant source of atmospheric methane, but little is known about the source response to increasing drought severity and frequency. We investigated satellite observations of atmospheric column-averaged methane for the 2010 drought and subsequent 2011 wet year in the Amazon using an atmospheric inversion scheme. Our analysis indicates an increase in atmospheric methane over the southern Amazon region during the drought, representing an increase in annual emissions relative to the wet year. We attribute the increase to emissions from biomass burning driven by intense drought, combined with carbon monoxide showing seasonal variations corresponding to methane variations. We show that there is probably a strong correspondence between drought and methane emissions in the Amazon. PMID:27851783
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Martin, Scot T.

The Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) Experiment was carried out in the environs of Manaus, Brazil, in the central region of the Amazon basin during two years from 1 January 2014 through 31 December 2015. The experiment focused on the complex interactions among vegetation, atmospheric chemistry, and aerosol production on the one hand and their connections to aerosols, clouds, and precipitation on the other. The objective was to understand and quantify these linked processes, first under natural conditions to obtain a baseline and second when altered by the effects of human activities. To this end, themore » pollution plume from the Manaus metropolis, superimposed on the background conditions of the central Amazon basin, served as a natural laboratory. The present paper, as Introduction to the GoAmazon2014/5 Special Issue, presents the context and motivation of the GoAmazon2014/5 Experiment. The nine research sites, including the characteristics and instrumentation of each site, are presented. The sites range from time point zero (T0) upwind of the pollution, to T1 in the midst of the pollution, to T2 just downwind of the pollution, to T3 furthest downwind of the pollution (70 km). In addition to the ground sites, a low-altitude G-159 Gulfstream I (G1) observed the atmospheric boundary layer and low clouds, and a high-altitude Gulfstream G550 (HALO) operated in the free troposphere. During the two-year experiment, two Intensive Operating Periods (IOP1 and IOP2) also took place that included additional specialized research instrumentation at the ground sites as well as flights of the two aircraft. GoAmazon2014/5 IOP1 was carried out from 1 February to 31 March 2014 in the wet season. GoAmazon2014/5 IOP2 was conducted from 15 August to 15 October 2014 in the dry season. The G1 aircraft flew during both IOP1 and IOP2, and the HALO aircraft flew during IOP2. In the context of the Amazon basin, the two IOPs also correspond to the clean and biomass burning seasons, respectively. The Manaus plume is present year round, and it is transported by prevailing northeasterly and easterly winds in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. This Introduction also organizes information relevant to many papers in the Special Issue. Information is provided on the vehicle fleet, power plants, and industrial activities of Manaus. The mesoscale and synoptic meteorology relevant to the two IOPs is presented. Regional and long-range transport of emissions for the two IOPs is discussed based on satellite observations across South America and Africa. Fire locations throughout the airshed are detailed. In conjunction with the context and motivation of GoAmazon2014/5, as presented herein in this Introduction, research articles published in this Special Issue are anticipated in the near future to describe the detailed results and findings of GoAmazon2014/5.« less
How Amazonian deforestation can alter the South American circulation regime: Insights from a non-linear moisture transport model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boers, Niklas; Marwan, Norbert; Barbosa, Henrique; Kurths, Jürgen

2015-04-01

A key driver of South American climate are the low-level trade winds from the tropical Atlantic Ocean towards the continent. After crossing the Amazon Basin, they are blocked by the Andes mountain range, and forced southward to the subtropics. These winds are crucial for the atmospheric moisture supply in most parts of South America. In particular, the hydrology of the two largest river basins of the Continent, namely the Amazon and the La Plata Basins, strongly depend on the moisture inflow provided by the trade winds. In turn, the Amazon rainforest can be assumed to have a strong influence on this low-level moisture circulation over South America by exchanging moisture with the atmosphere through precipitation and evapotranspiration. A pronounced positive feedback in this context is established through precipitation-induced release of latent heat over the Amazon Basin, which significantly enhances the moisture inflow from the tropical Atlantic Ocean toward the continent and can thus be considered to be crucial for the existence of today's South American climate. Ongoing deforestation and resulting reduction in evapotranspiration rates in particular in the eastern Amazon carry the risk of a strongly nonlinear response in these interactions with the low-level atmosphere. We propose a simple differential transport model describing the cascading moisture transport from the eastern coast of South America across the Amazon Basin to the Andes, taking into account the nonlinearity associated with the release of latent heat. The results of the model suggest that the system is indeed very sensitive to relatively small reductions of the evapotranspiration rates in the eastern Amazon Basin. These reductions increase river runoff, but limit the moisture availability farther west. This leads to a reduction in precipitation rates and thereby diminishes the release of latent heat which, in turn, reduces the overall moisture inflow. We show that, according to our model, there exist critical thresholds on the spatial extents and intensities of deforestation. Beyond these thresholds, the positive feedback between the Amazon rainforest and the low-level circulation would collapse, resulting in substantial reductions in moisture available for precipitation in the western part of the Amazon Basin and further downstream of the low-level flow, including most of subtropical South America.
Auto-recognition of surfaces and auto-generation of material removal volume for finishing process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kataraki, Pramod S.; Salman Abu Mansor, Mohd

2018-03-01

Auto-recognition of a surface and auto-generation of material removal volumes for the so recognised surfaces has become a need to achieve successful downstream manufacturing activities like automated process planning and scheduling. Few researchers have contributed to generation of material removal volume for a product but resulted in material removal volume discontinuity between two adjacent material removal volumes generated from two adjacent faces that form convex geometry. The need for limitation free material removal volume generation was attempted and an algorithm that automatically recognises computer aided design (CAD) model’s surface and also auto-generate material removal volume for finishing process of the recognised surfaces was developed. The surfaces of CAD model are successfully recognised by the developed algorithm and required material removal volume is obtained. The material removal volume discontinuity limitation that occurred in fewer studies is eliminated.

Tree-Ring Reconstruction of Wet Season Rainfall Totals in the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stahle, D. W.; Lopez, L.; Granato-Souza, D.; Barbosa, A. C. M. C.; Torbenson, M.; Villalba, R.; Pereira, G. D. A.; Feng, S.; Schongart, J.; Cook, E. R.

2017-12-01

The Amazon Basin is a globally important center of deep atmospheric convection, energy balance, and biodiversity, but only a handful of weather stations in this vast Basin have recorded rainfall measurements for at least 50 years. The available rainfall and river level observations suggest that the hydrologic cycle in the Amazon may have become amplified in the last 40-years, with more extreme rainfall and streamflow seasonality, deeper droughts, and more severe flooding. These changes in the largest hydrological system on earth may be early evidence of the expected consequences of anthropogenic climate change and deforestation in the coming century. Placing these observed and simulated changes in the context of natural climate variability during the late Holocene is a significant challenge for high-resolution paleoclimatology. We have developed exactly dated and well-replicated annual tree-ring chronologies from two native Amazonian tree species (Cedrela sp and Centrolobium microchaete). These moisture sensitive chronologies have been used to compute two reconstructions of wet season rainfall totals, one in the southern Amazon based on Centrolobium and another in the eastern equatorial Amazon using Cedrela. Both reconstructions are over 200-years long and extend the available instrumental observations in each region by over 150-years. These reconstructions are well correlated with the same regional and large-scale climate dynamics that govern the inter-annual variability of the instrumental wet season rainfall totals. Increased multi-decadal variability is reconstructed after 1950 with the Centrolobium chronologies in the southern Amazon. The Cedrela reconstruction from the eastern Amazon exhibits changes in the spatial pattern of correlation with regional rainfall stations and the large-scale sea surface temperature field after 1990 that may be consistent with recent changes in the mean position of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone in March over the western Atlantic and South American sector.
Effects of seasonality and land-use change on carbon and water fluxes across the Amazon basin: synthesizing results from satellite-based remote sensing, towers, and models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saleska, S.; Goncalves, L. G.; Baker, I.; Costa, M.; Poulter, B.; Christoffersen, B.; Da Rocha, H. R.; Didan, K.; Huete, A.; Imbuziero, H.; Kruijt, B.; Manzi, A.; von Randow, C.; Restrepo-Coupe, N.; Silva, R.; Tota, J.; Denning, S.; Gulden, L.; Rosero, E.; Zeng, X.

2008-12-01

Amazon forests play an important and complex role in the global carbon cycle, and important advances have been made in understanding Amazon processes in recent years. However, reconciling modeled mechanisms of carbon cycling with observations across scales remains a challenge. To better address this challenge, we initiated a Model intercomparison Project for the 'Large-Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia' (LBA-MIP) to integrate modeling and observational studies for improved understanding of Amazon basin carbon cycling. Here, we report on the initial results of this project, which used the network of meteorological and climate data (sunlight, radiation, precipitation) from Amazon tower sites in forest and converted lands to drive a suite of 20 ecosystem models that simulate energy, water and CO2 fluxes. We compared model mechanisms to each other and to the relevant flux observations from those towers, as well as from satellite data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Remote sensing and flux tower observations tend to show higher primary forest photosynthetic activity in the dry season than in the wet season in central Amazon, a broad pattern that is now captured in many models, but for different reasons. A reversal from the primary forest pattern was observed in areas converted to pasture, agriculture, or secondary forests, likely a consequence of the elimination of deep root access to deep soil waters which often persist through the dry season. Testing the models with observed fluxes under different land use patterns, and across different spatial scales with remote sensing, is enabling us to distinguish correct vs. incorrect model mechanisms and improve understanding of Amazon processes.
A geomorphological assessments of the distribution of sediment sinks along the lower Amazon River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, E.; Latrubesse, E. M.

2017-12-01

Floodplain sediment storage budget is examined along the 1,000 km reach of the lower Amazon River based on extensive sets of remote sensing data and field measurements. Incorporating the washload discharges at gauge stations at the main channel and major tributaries, we analyzed the roles of vast floodplain on the Amazon River seasonal variability in sediment discharges. Annual washload accumulation rate on floodplain along the reach in between Manacapuru and Obidos of is estimated to be 79 Mt over inter-annual average. Period that the net loss over to the floodplain of washload coincide with discharge rising phase of the Amazon River at Obidos, when the river water level rises to make hydrologic connections to floodplain. Only during the early falling phase (July-August), 3.6 Mt of washload net gain occurred in a year, which was less than 5% of the annual net loss to the floodplain. To assess the spatial distribution of sediment sinks along the lower Amazon, we incorporated various hydro-geomorphic factors regarding floodplain geomorphic styles and morphometric parameters, such floodplain width, levee heights, water-saturated area, suspended sediment distribution over floodplain and distribution of impeded floodplain. Impeded floodplain that contains numerous large rounded lakes is the definition of active sediment sinks along the lower Amazon, which seasonally stores most of the water and traps sediment from the river. The results of these hydro-geomorphic factors collectively indicate that the extent and magnitudes of sediment sinks becomes larger downstream (from Manacapuru to Monte Alegre), which is proportionally related to the development of the water-saturated floodplain. This indicates the nonlinear geomorphic evolution of the Amazon floodplain through its longitudinal profile since the late Holocene that downstream reaches are still to be infilled with sediments (incomplete floodplain) thus acting as sediment sinks.
Evapotranspiration seasonality across the Amazon Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eiji Maeda, Eduardo; Ma, Xuanlong; Wagner, Fabien Hubert; Kim, Hyungjun; Oki, Taikan; Eamus, Derek; Huete, Alfredo

2017-06-01

Evapotranspiration (ET) of Amazon forests is a main driver of regional climate patterns and an important indicator of ecosystem functioning. Despite its importance, the seasonal variability of ET over Amazon forests, and its relationship with environmental drivers, is still poorly understood. In this study, we carry out a water balance approach to analyse seasonal patterns in ET and their relationships with water and energy drivers over five sub-basins across the Amazon Basin. We used in situ measurements of river discharge, and remotely sensed estimates of terrestrial water storage, rainfall, and solar radiation. We show that the characteristics of ET seasonality in all sub-basins differ in timing and magnitude. The highest mean annual ET was found in the northern Rio Negro basin (˜ 1497 mm year-1) and the lowest values in the Solimões River basin (˜ 986 mm year-1). For the first time in a basin-scale study, using observational data, we show that factors limiting ET vary across climatic gradients in the Amazon, confirming local-scale eddy covariance studies. Both annual mean and seasonality in ET are driven by a combination of energy and water availability, as neither rainfall nor radiation alone could explain patterns in ET. In southern basins, despite seasonal rainfall deficits, deep root water uptake allows increasing rates of ET during the dry season, when radiation is usually higher than in the wet season. We demonstrate contrasting ET seasonality with satellite greenness across Amazon forests, with strong asynchronous relationships in ever-wet watersheds, and positive correlations observed in seasonally dry watersheds. Finally, we compared our results with estimates obtained by two ET models, and we conclude that neither of the two tested models could provide a consistent representation of ET seasonal patterns across the Amazon.
Cancer mortality and oil production in the Amazon Region of Ecuador, 1990-2005.

PubMed

Kelsh, Michael A; Morimoto, Libby; Lau, Edmund

2009-02-01

To compare cancer mortality rates in Amazon cantons (counties) with and without long-term oil exploration and extraction activities. Mortality (1990 through 2005) and population census (1990 and 2001) data for cantons in the provinces of the northern Amazon Region (Napo, Orellana, Sucumbios, and Pastaza), as well as the province with the capital city of Quito (Pichincha province) were obtained from the National Statistical Office of Ecuador, Instituto Nacional del Estadistica y Censos (INEC). Age- and sex-adjusted mortality rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated to evaluate total and cause-specific mortality in the study regions. Among Amazon cantons with long-term oil extraction, activities there was no evidence of increased rates of death from all causes (RR = 0.98; 95% CI = 0.95-1.01) or from overall cancer (RR = 0.82; 95% CI = 0.73-0.92), and relative risk estimates were also lower for most individual site-specific cancer deaths. Mortality rates in the Amazon provinces overall were significantly lower than those observed in Pichincha for all causes (RR = 0.82; 95% CI = 0.81-0.83), overall cancer (RR = 0.46; 95% CI = 0.43-0.49), and for all site-specific cancers. In regions with incomplete cancer registration, mortality data are one of the few sources of information for epidemiologic assessments. However, epidemiologic assessments in this region of Ecuador are limited by underreporting, exposure and disease misclassification, and study design limitations. Recognizing these limitations, our analyses of national mortality data of the Amazon Region in Ecuador does not provide evidence for an excess cancer risk in regions of the Amazon with long-term oil production. These findings were not consistent or supportive of earlier studies in this region that suggested increased cancer risks.
A century of Amazon burning driven by Atlantic climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makou, M.; Thompson, L. G.; Davis, M. E.; Eglinton, T. I.

2011-12-01

Very little is known about annual burning trends in the Amazon Basin prior to remote sensing of fires beginning in the late 1970's. Fires reduce Amazon forest biomass and species richness, release pollutant aerosols, and impact the carbon cycle, compelling further investigation of fire-climate dynamics. We measured organic compounds derived from vegetation burning in ice core samples from the Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru at better than annual resolution to reconstruct wet and dry season burning throughout the Twentieth Century. Variations in the abundance of methyl hexadecanoate, which is produced by thermal alteration of vascular plant alkanoic acids, were used as a proxy for past fire activity. Concentrations of this compound in Quelccaya ice varied strongly on seasonal, interannual, and decadal time scales over the last 100 years, with high-amplitude dry season variability and muted, decadal-scale changes in wet season fire activity. Decade-long periods of repeatedly enhanced burning occurred during the 1930's and 1960's when dry season precipitation was perpetually reduced, as evidenced by low stages of the Rio Negro. These decadal trends suggest that changes in dry season precipitation drive fire activity in the western Amazon and highlight the potential of Amazon forests to undergo repeated strong burning. Fires occurred during years when sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the north tropical Atlantic were elevated and the north-south tropical Atlantic SST gradient was enhanced; this SST pattern likely displaced the intertropical convergence zone northward, driving subsidence and drought in the western and southern Amazon basin. Thus, our novel ice core record suggests that Amazon forest fire activity during the Twentieth Century was driven primarily by Atlantic climate processes, and future forest health will depend heavily on the evolution of tropical climate.
Susceptibility of Peruvian Mosquitoes to Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-01

the Amazon Basin, near Iquitos, Peru , and used in experimental studies to evaluate their susceptibility to strains of eastern equine encephalitis virus...the repeated isolation of strains of EEEV from Cx. pedroi captured in the Amazon Basin region of Peru , suggests that Cx. pedroi may be the primary...in the Amazon Basin region in Peru , mosquitoes were cap- tured and identiÞed and tested for arboviruses (Pecor et al. 2000, Jones et al. 2004, Turell
Seasonal Distribution, Biology, and Human Attraction Patterns of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in a Rural Village and Adjacent Forested Site Near Iquitos, Peru

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-01

and malarial activity in the Amazon Basin, Loreto Department, Peru , to determine the relative abundance, species diversity, and seasonal and vertical...populations. KEY WORDS Anopheles, bionomics, mosquito ecology, Amazon Basin, Peru Malaria and other arthropod-vectored diseases are on the increase...in the Amazon Basin region of Peru to date. The Puerto Almendra area was selected because human cases of dengue, malaria, Mayaro, Oropouche
Using Innovative Knowledge Management Tools for Information Technology Development, Acquisition, and Integration in the United States Army

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-15

Jeff Bezos , at Jeff @Amazon.com. Ultimately, this exchange produced no verification of the information I was able to garner from the Internet, to...that conventional brick-and-mortar and mail-order bookstores could. Jeff Bezos , President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board...was aptly chosen and has truly become synonymous with voluminous Amazon River. Jeff Bezos , Amazon.com President and CEO, changed the name from
Interactions among Amazon land use, forests and climate: prospects for a near-term forest tipping point.

PubMed

Nepstad, Daniel C; Stickler, Claudia M; Filho, Britaldo Soares-; Merry, Frank

2008-05-27

Some model experiments predict a large-scale substitution of Amazon forest by savannah-like vegetation by the end of the twenty-first century. Expanding global demands for biofuels and grains, positive feedbacks in the Amazon forest fire regime and drought may drive a faster process of forest degradation that could lead to a near-term forest dieback. Rising worldwide demands for biofuel and meat are creating powerful new incentives for agro-industrial expansion into Amazon forest regions. Forest fires, drought and logging increase susceptibility to further burning while deforestation and smoke can inhibit rainfall, exacerbating fire risk. If sea surface temperature anomalies (such as El Niño episodes) and associated Amazon droughts of the last decade continue into the future, approximately 55% of the forests of the Amazon will be cleared, logged, damaged by drought or burned over the next 20 years, emitting 15-26Pg of carbon to the atmosphere. Several important trends could prevent a near-term dieback. As fire-sensitive investments accumulate in the landscape, property holders use less fire and invest more in fire control. Commodity markets are demanding higher environmental performance from farmers and cattle ranchers. Protected areas have been established in the pathway of expanding agricultural frontiers. Finally, emerging carbon market incentives for reductions in deforestation could support these trends.
The Amazons and an analysis of breast mutilation from a plastic surgeon's perspective.

PubMed

Karacalar, Ahmet

2007-03-01

The Amazon philosophy has been increasing in popularity because of the evolving status of women in society. Many references point to Themiscrya on the southern coast of the Black Sea in Anatolia as the Amazon homeland. The primary objective of this article is to discuss the different femininity of the Amazons and their breast mutilation from the perspective of a plastic surgeon who has been living in this region that the Amazons inhabited. Findings from archaeology, linguistics, anthropology, medicine, history, psychology, and the fine arts were integrated. The hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the method of breast mutilation include amputation, cauterization, breast searing, and breast pinching. It is generally believed that the primary purpose was to facilitate the efficient use of a bow. Another explanation would be that breast mutilation was performed for medical reasons, including the prevention of breast pain, the development of a tender lump, or cancer. There is another school of thought on this involving religious and sociological reasons that breast mutilation was a badge of honor for warrior women and a sign that a woman had become a real warrior and a sacrifice to Artemis as a sign of service. Much indirect proof and archaeological evidence point to their historical existence. The Amazons, who lived in an autonomous and original social model, changed their image and function to suit the needs of the society and the times.
Trans-Amazon Drilling Project (TADP): origins and evolution of the forests, climate, and hydrology of the South American tropics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, P. A.; Fritz, S. C.; Silva, C. G.; Rigsby, C. A.; Absy, M. L.; Almeida, R. P.; Caputo, M.; Chiessi, C. M.; Cruz, F. W.; Dick, C. W.; Feakins, S. J.; Figueiredo, J.; Freeman, K. H.; Hoorn, C.; Jaramillo, C.; Kern, A. K.; Latrubesse, E. M.; Ledru, M. P.; Marzoli, A.; Myrbo, A.; Noren, A.; Piller, W. E.; Ramos, M. I. F.; Ribas, C. C.; Trnadade, R.; West, A. J.; Wahnfried, I.; Willard, D. A.

2015-12-01

This article presents the scientific rationale for an ambitious ICDP drilling project to continuously sample Late Cretaceous to modern sediment in four different sedimentary basins that transect the equatorial Amazon of Brazil, from the Andean foreland to the Atlantic Ocean. The goals of this project are to document the evolution of plant biodiversity in the Amazon forests and to relate biotic diversification to changes in the physical environment, including climate, tectonism, and the surface landscape. These goals require long sedimentary records from each of the major sedimentary basins across the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, which can only be obtained by drilling because of the scarcity of Cenozoic outcrops. The proposed drilling will provide the first long, nearly continuous regional records of the Cenozoic history of the forests, their plant diversity, and the associated changes in climate and environment. It also will address fundamental questions about landscape evolution, including the history of Andean uplift and erosion as recorded in Andean foreland basins and the development of west-to-east hydrologic continuity between the Andes, the Amazon lowlands, and the equatorial Atlantic. Because many modern rivers of the Amazon basin flow along the major axes of the old sedimentary basins, we plan to locate drill sites on the margin of large rivers and to access the targeted drill sites by navigation along these rivers.
Trans-Amazon Drilling Project (TADP): origins and evolution of the forests, climate, and hydrology of the South American tropics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baker, P.A.; Fritz, S.C.; Silva, C.G.; Rigsby, C.A.; Absy, M.L.; Almeida, R.P.; Caputo, Maria C.; Chiessi, C.M.; Cruz, F.W.; Dick, C.W.; Feakins, S.J.; Figueiredo, J.; Freeman, K.H.; Hoorn, C.; Jaramillo, C.A.; Kern, A.; Latrubesse, E.M.; Ledru, M.P.; Marzoli, A.; Myrbo, A.; Noren, A.; Piller, W.E.; Ramos, M.I.F.; Ribas, C.C.; Trinadade, R.; West, A.J.; Wahnfried, I.; Willard, Debra A.

2015-01-01

This article presents the scientific rationale for an ambitious ICDP drilling project to continuously sample Late Cretaceous to modern sediment in four different sedimentary basins that transect the equatorial Amazon of Brazil, from the Andean foreland to the Atlantic Ocean. The goals of this project are to document the evolution of plant biodiversity in the Amazon forests and to relate biotic diversification to changes in the physical environment, including climate, tectonism, and the surface landscape. These goals require long sedimentary records from each of the major sedimentary basins across the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, which can only be obtained by drilling because of the scarcity of Cenozoic outcrops. The proposed drilling will provide the first long, nearly continuous regional records of the Cenozoic history of the forests, their plant diversity, and the associated changes in climate and environment. It also will address fundamental questions about landscape evolution, including the history of Andean uplift and erosion as recorded in Andean foreland basins and the development of west-to-east hydrologic continuity between the Andes, the Amazon lowlands, and the equatorial Atlantic. Because many modern rivers of the Amazon basin flow along the major axes of the old sedimentary basins, we plan to locate drill sites on the margin of large rivers and to access the targeted drill sites by navigation along these rivers.
Spatially complex land change: The Indirect effect of Brazil's agricultural sector on land use in Amazonia

PubMed Central

Richards, Peter D.; Walker, Robert T.; Arima, Eugenio Y.

2014-01-01

Soybean farming has brought economic development to parts of South America, as well as environmental hopes and concerns. A substantial hope resides in the decoupling of Brazil's agricultural sector from deforestation in the Amazon region, in which case expansive agriculture need not imply forest degradation. However, concerns have also been voiced about the potential indirect effects of agriculture. This article addresses these indirect effects forthe case of the Brazilian Amazon since 2002. Our work finds that as much as thirty-two percent of deforestation, or the loss of more than 30,000 km2 of Amazon forest, is attributable, indirectly, to Brazil's soybean sector. However, we also observe that the magnitude of the indirect impact of the agriculture sector on forest loss in the Amazon has declined markedly since 2006. We also find a shift in the underlying causes of indirect land use change in the Amazon, and suggest that land appreciation in agricultural regions has supplanted farm expansions as a source of indirect land use change. Our results are broadly congruent with recent work recognizing the success of policy changes in mitigating the impact of soybean expansion on forest loss in the Amazon. However, they also caution that the soybean sector may continue to incentivize land clearings through its impact on regional land markets. PMID:25492993
Satellite Observation of El Nino Effects on Amazon Forest Phenology and Productivity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Asner, Gregory P.; Townsend, Alan R.; Braswell, Bobby H.

2000-01-01

Climate variability may affect the functioning of Amazon moist tropical forests, and recent modeling analyses suggest that the carbon dynamics of the region vary interannually in response to precipitation and temperature anomalies. However, due to persistent orbital and atmospheric artifacts in the satellite record, remote sensing observations have not provided quantitative evidence that climate variation affects Amazon forest phenology or productivity, We developed a method to minimize and quantify non-biological artifacts in NOAA AVHRR satellite data, providing a record of estimated forest phenological variation from 1982-1993. The seasonal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) amplitude (a proxy for phenology) increased throughout much of the basin during El Nino periods when rainfall was anomalously low. Wetter La Nina episodes brought consistently smaller NDVI amplitudes. Using radiative transfer and terrestrial biogeochemical models driven by these satellite data, we estimate that canopy-energy absorption and net primary production of Amazon forests varied interannually by as much as 21% and 18%, respectively. These results provide large-scale observational evidence for interannual sensitivity to El Nino of plant phenology and carbon flux in Amazon forests.
Spatial Pattern of Standing Timber Value across the Brazilian Amazon

PubMed Central

Ahmed, Sadia E.; Ewers, Robert M.

2012-01-01

The Amazon is a globally important system, providing a host of ecosystem services from climate regulation to food sources. It is also home to a quarter of all global diversity. Large swathes of forest are removed each year, and many models have attempted to predict the spatial patterns of this forest loss. The spatial patterns of deforestation are determined largely by the patterns of roads that open access to frontier areas and expansion of the road network in the Amazon is largely determined by profit seeking logging activities. Here we present predictions for the spatial distribution of standing value of timber across the Amazon. We show that the patterns of timber value reflect large-scale ecological gradients, determining the spatial distribution of functional traits of trees which are, in turn, correlated with timber values. We expect that understanding the spatial patterns of timber value across the Amazon will aid predictions of logging movements and thus predictions of potential future road developments. These predictions in turn will be of great use in estimating the spatial patterns of deforestation in this globally important biome. PMID:22590520
Amazon Forests Maintain Consistent Canopy Structure and Greenness During the Dry Season

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morton, Douglas C.; Nagol, Jyoteshwar; Carabajal, Claudia C.; Rosette, Jacqueline; Palace, Michael; Cook, Bruce D.; Vermote, Eric F.; Harding, David J.; North, Peter R. J.

2014-01-01

The seasonality of sunlight and rainfall regulates net primary production in tropical forests. Previous studies have suggested that light is more limiting than water for tropical forest productivity, consistent with greening of Amazon forests during the dry season in satellite data.We evaluated four potential mechanisms for the seasonal green-up phenomenon, including increases in leaf area or leaf reflectance, using a sophisticated radiative transfer model and independent satellite observations from lidar and optical sensors. Here we show that the apparent green up of Amazon forests in optical remote sensing data resulted from seasonal changes in near-infrared reflectance, an artefact of variations in sun-sensor geometry. Correcting this bidirectional reflectance effect eliminated seasonal changes in surface reflectance, consistent with independent lidar observations and model simulations with unchanging canopy properties. The stability of Amazon forest structure and reflectance over seasonal timescales challenges the paradigm of light-limited net primary production in Amazon forests and enhanced forest growth during drought conditions. Correcting optical remote sensing data for artefacts of sun-sensor geometry is essential to isolate the response of global vegetation to seasonal and interannual climate variability.
Amazon forests maintain consistent canopy structure and greenness during the dry season.

PubMed

Morton, Douglas C; Nagol, Jyoteshwar; Carabajal, Claudia C; Rosette, Jacqueline; Palace, Michael; Cook, Bruce D; Vermote, Eric F; Harding, David J; North, Peter R J

2014-02-13

The seasonality of sunlight and rainfall regulates net primary production in tropical forests. Previous studies have suggested that light is more limiting than water for tropical forest productivity, consistent with greening of Amazon forests during the dry season in satellite data. We evaluated four potential mechanisms for the seasonal green-up phenomenon, including increases in leaf area or leaf reflectance, using a sophisticated radiative transfer model and independent satellite observations from lidar and optical sensors. Here we show that the apparent green up of Amazon forests in optical remote sensing data resulted from seasonal changes in near-infrared reflectance, an artefact of variations in sun-sensor geometry. Correcting this bidirectional reflectance effect eliminated seasonal changes in surface reflectance, consistent with independent lidar observations and model simulations with unchanging canopy properties. The stability of Amazon forest structure and reflectance over seasonal timescales challenges the paradigm of light-limited net primary production in Amazon forests and enhanced forest growth during drought conditions. Correcting optical remote sensing data for artefacts of sun-sensor geometry is essential to isolate the response of global vegetation to seasonal and interannual climate variability.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Giangrande, Scott E.; Feng, Zhe; Jensen, Michael P.

Routine cloud, precipitation and thermodynamic observations collected by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF) and Aerial Facility (AAF) during the 2-year US Department of Energy (DOE) ARM Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) campaign are summarized. These observations quantify the diurnal to large-scale thermodynamic regime controls on the clouds and precipitation over the undersampled, climatically important Amazon basin region. The extended ground deployment of cloud-profiling instrumentation enabled a unique look at multiple cloud regimes at high temporal and vertical resolution. This longer-term ground deployment, coupled with two short-term aircraft intensive observing periods, allowed new opportunitiesmore » to better characterize cloud and thermodynamic observational constraints as well as cloud radiative impacts for modeling efforts within typical Amazon wet and dry seasons.« less
Molecular Epidemiology of Epidemic Severe Malaria Caused by Plasmodium vivax in the State of Amazonas, Brazil

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

Quinnan Jr. M.D., PMB Malaria in South America is a major public health problem. In Brazil, most of the cases occur in the Amazon Region...chain reaction products from DNA extracted from blood smears collected from patients with malaria in the Amazon Region in the 1970s 62 Figure 17...267 1 Hypothesis and Specific Aims In Brazil, malaria is largely restricted to the Amazon Region, and is particularly prevalent in

Vector Competence of Peruvian Mosquitoes (Diptera:Culicidae) for a Subtype IIIC Strain in the Venezuelan Equine Encephalomyelitis Complex Isolated from Mosquitoes Captured in Peru

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

Amazon Basin, near Iquitos, Peru , for their suscep- tibility to a subtype IIIC strain of the Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis complex. This virus...As part of a field ecology study of mosquitoes in the Amazon Basin region of Peru (Jones et al. 2004), over 160 virus isolations were made from...distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT We evaluated mosquitoes collected in the Amazon Basin, near Iquitos, Peru , for their
Proceedings of the Department of Defense (DoD) Symposium. DoD Entomology: Global, Diverse, and Improving Public Health

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-14

Parasitology in the Amazon city of Iquitos, Peru , where NAMRU-6 has 90 permanent field and laboratory staff. Over 10 years of research have focused on...laboratory in Iquitos, Peru , a city of approximately 380,000 people (INEI 2008) in the Amazon Basin (Figures 3 and 4). The mission of NAMRU-6 is... Amazon Malaria Initiative and a military-to-military training program in Peru , Ecuador, and Colombia (Figure 5). NAMRU-6 Entomology has been
Effects of Point Mutations in Plasmodium falciparum Dihydrofolate Reductase and Dihydropterate Synthase Genes on Clinical Outcomes and In Vitro Susceptibility to Sulfadoxine and Pyrimethamine

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

therapeutic efficacy of SP in two locations in the Amazon rainforest region of Peru, and to correlate the presence of molecular markers associated with...pyrimethamine at two locations in the Peruvian Amazon enrolling 99 patients of which, 86 patients completed the protocol specified 28 day follow up. Our...the Amazon basin, it may be possible to predict treatment failure with sulfadoxine- pyrimethamine equally well by determination of either of the
The Amazon, measuring a mighty river

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1967-01-01

The Amazon, the world's largest river, discharges enough water into the sea each day to provide fresh water to the City of New York for over 9 years. Its flow accounts for about 15 percent of all the fresh water discharged into the oceans by all the rivers of the world. By comparison, the Amazon's flow is over 4 times that of the Congo River, the world's second largest river. And it is 10 times that of the Mississippi, the largest river on the North American Continent.
Hallux amputation after a freshwater stingray injury in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Monteiro, Wuelton Marcelo; Oliveira, Sâmella Silva de; Sachett, Jacqueline de Almeida Gonçalves; Silva, Iran Mendonça da; Ferreira, Luiz Carlos de Lima; Lacerda, Marcus Vinícius Guimarães

2016-01-01

Freshwater stingray injuries are a common problem in the Brazilian Amazon, affecting mostly riverine and indigenous populations. These injuries cause severe local and regional pain, swelling and erythema, as well as complications, such as local necrosis and bacterial infection. Herein, we report a case of bacterial infection and hallux necrosis, after a freshwater stingray injury in the Brazilian Amazon, which eventually required amputation. Different antimicrobial regimens were administered at different stages of the disease; however, avoiding amputation through effective treatment was not achieved.
Composition and formation of organic aerosol particles in the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pöhlker, C.; Wiedemann, K.; Sinha, B.; Shiraiwa, M.; Gunthe, S. S.; Artaxo, P.; Gilles, M. K.; Kilcoyne, A. L. D.; Moffet, R. C.; Smith, M.; Weigand, M.; Martin, S. T.; Pöschl, U.; Andreae, M. O.

2012-04-01

We applied scanning transmission X-ray microscopy with near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (STXM-NEXAFS) analysis to investigate the morphology and chemical composition of aerosol samples from a pristine tropical environment, the Amazon Basin. The samples were collected in the Amazonian rainforest during the rainy season and can be regarded as a natural background aerosol. The samples were found to be dominated by secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles in the fine and primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) in the coarse mode. Lab-generated SOA-samples from isoprene and terpene oxidation as well as pure organic compounds from spray-drying of aqueous solution were measured as reference samples. The aim of this study was to investigate the microphysical and chemical properties of a tropical background aerosol in the submicron size range and its internal mixing state. The lab-generated SOA and pure organic compounds occurred as spherical and mostly homogenous droplet-like particles, whereas the Amazonian SOA particles comprised a mixture of homogeneous droplets and droplets having internal structures due to atmospheric aging. In spite of the similar morphological appearance, the Amazon samples showed considerable differences in elemental and functional group composition. According to their NEXAFS spectra, three chemically distinct types of organic material were found and could be assigned to the following three categories: (1) particles with a pronounced carboxylic acid (COOH) peak similar to those of laboratory-generated SOA particles from terpene oxidation; (2) particles with a strong hydroxy (COH) signal similar to pure carbohydrate particles; and (3) particles with spectra resembling a mixture of the first two classes. In addition to the dominant organic component, the NEXAFS spectra revealed clearly resolved potassium (K) signals for all analyzed particles. During the rainy season and in the absence of anthropogenic influence, active biota is regarded to be the major potassium source. In addition a strong size dependence of the K mass fraction in the SOA particles has been found, with highest K content in small particles. We suggest that K-rich biogenic salts act as a template for condensational growth by low-volatility organic compounds from atmospheric isoprene and terpene oxidation. The presence of K-rich salts in SOA particles has been confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (nanoSIMS) techniques. Seeding of SOA particles by biogenic salts may explain the absence of new particle formation events in pristine boundary layer air over the Amazonian rainforest.
Climatic and ecological future of the Amazon: likelihood and causes of change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, B.; Zeng, N.; Yoon, J.-H.

2010-05-01

Some recent climate modeling results suggested a possible dieback of the Amazon rainforest under future climate change, a prediction that raised considerable interest as well as controversy. To determine the likelihood and causes of such changes, we analyzed the output of 15 models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC/AR4) and a dynamic vegetation model VEGAS driven by these climate output. Our results suggest that the core of the Amazon rainforest should remain largely stable as rainfall is projected to increase in nearly all models. However, the periphery, notably the southern edge of the Amazon and further south in central Brazil, are in danger of drying out, driven by two main processes. Firstly, a decline in precipitation of 22% in the southern Amazon's dry season (May-September) reduces soil moisture, despite an increase in precipitation during the wet season, due to nonlinear responses in hydrology and ecosystem dynamics. Two dynamical mechanisms may explain the lower dry season rainfall: (1) a general subtropical drying under global warming when the dry season southern Amazon is under the control of the subtropical high pressure; (2) a stronger north-south tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature gradient, and to lesser degree a warmer eastern equatorial Pacific. Secondly, evaporation demand will increase due to the general warming, further reducing soil moisture. In terms of ecosystem response, higher maintenance cost and reduced productivity under warming may also have additional adverse impact. The drying corresponds to a lengthening of the dry season by 11 days. As a consequence, the median of the models projects a reduction of 20% in vegetation carbon stock in the southern Amazon, central Brazil, and parts of the Andean Mountains. Further, VEGAS predicts enhancement of fire risk by 10-15%. The increase in fire is primarily due to the reduction in soil moisture, and the decrease in dry season rainfall, which is when fire danger reaches its peak. Because the southern Amazon is also under intense human influence as a result of deforestation and land use, added pressure to the region's ecosystems from climate change may subject the region to profound changes in the 21st century.
Carbon uptake by mature Amazon forests has mitigated Amazon nations' carbon emissions.

PubMed

Phillips, Oliver L; Brienen, Roel J W

2017-12-01

Several independent lines of evidence suggest that Amazon forests have provided a significant carbon sink service, and also that the Amazon carbon sink in intact, mature forests may now be threatened as a result of different processes. There has however been no work done to quantify non-land-use-change forest carbon fluxes on a national basis within Amazonia, or to place these national fluxes and their possible changes in the context of the major anthropogenic carbon fluxes in the region. Here we present a first attempt to interpret results from ground-based monitoring of mature forest carbon fluxes in a biogeographically, politically, and temporally differentiated way. Specifically, using results from a large long-term network of forest plots, we estimate the Amazon biomass carbon balance over the last three decades for the different regions and nine nations of Amazonia, and evaluate the magnitude and trajectory of these differentiated balances in relation to major national anthropogenic carbon emissions. The sink of carbon into mature forests has been remarkably geographically ubiquitous across Amazonia, being substantial and persistent in each of the five biogeographic regions within Amazonia. Between 1980 and 2010, it has more than mitigated the fossil fuel emissions of every single national economy, except that of Venezuela. For most nations (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname) the sink has probably additionally mitigated all anthropogenic carbon emissions due to Amazon deforestation and other land use change. While the sink has weakened in some regions since 2000, our analysis suggests that Amazon nations which are able to conserve large areas of natural and semi-natural landscape still contribute globally-significant carbon sequestration. Mature forests across all of Amazonia have contributed significantly to mitigating climate change for decades. Yet Amazon nations have not directly benefited from providing this global scale ecosystem service. We suggest that better monitoring and reporting of the carbon fluxes within mature forests, and understanding the drivers of changes in their balance, must become national, as well as international, priorities.
Soluble iron nutrients in Saharan dust over the central Amazon rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizzolo, Joana A.; Barbosa, Cybelli G. G.; Borillo, Guilherme C.; Godoi, Ana F. L.; Souza, Rodrigo A. F.; Andreoli, Rita V.; Manzi, Antônio O.; Sá, Marta O.; Alves, Eliane G.; Pöhlker, Christopher; Angelis, Isabella H.; Ditas, Florian; Saturno, Jorge; Moran-Zuloaga, Daniel; Rizzo, Luciana V.; Rosário, Nilton E.; Pauliquevis, Theotonio; Santos, Rosa M. N.; Yamamoto, Carlos I.; Andreae, Meinrat O.; Artaxo, Paulo; Taylor, Philip E.; Godoi, Ricardo H. M.

2017-02-01

The intercontinental transport of aerosols from the Sahara desert plays a significant role in nutrient cycles in the Amazon rainforest, since it carries many types of minerals to these otherwise low-fertility lands. Iron is one of the micronutrients essential for plant growth, and its long-range transport might be an important source for the iron-limited Amazon rainforest. This study assesses the bioavailability of iron Fe(II) and Fe(III) in the particulate matter over the Amazon forest, which was transported from the Sahara desert (for the sake of our discussion, this term also includes the Sahel region). The sampling campaign was carried out above and below the forest canopy at the ATTO site (Amazon Tall Tower Observatory), a near-pristine area in the central Amazon Basin, from March to April 2015. Measurements reached peak concentrations for soluble Fe(III) (48 ng m-3), Fe(II) (16 ng m-3), Na (470 ng m-3), Ca (194 ng m-3), K (65 ng m-3), and Mg (89 ng m-3) during a time period of dust transport from the Sahara, as confirmed by ground-based and satellite remote sensing data and air mass backward trajectories. Dust sampled above the Amazon canopy included primary biological aerosols and other coarse particles up to 12 µm in diameter. Atmospheric transport of weathered Saharan dust, followed by surface deposition, resulted in substantial iron bioavailability across the rainforest canopy. The seasonal deposition of dust, rich in soluble iron, and other minerals is likely to assist both bacteria and fungi within the topsoil and on canopy surfaces, and especially benefit highly bioabsorbent species. In this scenario, Saharan dust can provide essential macronutrients and micronutrients to plant roots, and also directly to plant leaves. The influence of this input on the ecology of the forest canopy and topsoil is discussed, and we argue that this influence would likely be different from that of nutrients from the weathered Amazon bedrock, which otherwise provides the main source of soluble mineral nutrients.
The Amazon forest-rainfall feedback: the roles of transpiration and interception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dekker, Stefan; Staal, Arie; Tuinenburg, Obbe

2017-04-01

In the Amazon, deep-rooted trees increase local transpiration and high tree cover increase local interception evaporation. These increased local evapotranspiration fluxes to the atmosphere have both positive effects on forests down-wind, as they stimulate rainfall. Although important for the functioning of the Amazon, we have an inadequate assessment on the strength and the timing of these forest-rainfall feedbacks. In this study we (i) estimate local forest transpiration and local interception evaporation, (ii) simulate the trajectories of these moisture flows through the atmosphere and (iii) quantify their contributions to the forest-rainfall feedback for the whole Amazon basin. To determine the atmospheric moisture flows in tropical South America we use a Lagrangian moisture tracking algorithm on 0.25° (c. 25 km) resolution with eight atmospheric layers on a monthly basis for the period 2003-2015. With our approach we account for multiple re-evaporation cycles of this moisture. We also calculate for each month the potential effects of forest loss on evapotranspiration. Combined, these calculations allow us to simulate the effects of land-cover changes on rainfall in downwind areas and estimate the effect on the forest. We found large regional and temporal differences in the importance how forest contribute to rainfall. The transpiration-rainfall feedback is highly important during the dry season. Between September-November, when large parts of the Amazon are at the end of the dry season, more than 50% of the rainfall is caused by the forests upstream. This means that droughts in the Amazon are alleviated by the forest. Furthermore, we found that much moisture cycles several times during its trajectory over the Amazon. After one evapotranspiration-rainfall cycle, more than 40% of the moisture is re-evaporated again. The interception-evaporation feedback is less important during droughts. Finally from our analysis, we show that the forest-rainfall feedback is essential for the resilience of the south-western and northern parts of the Amazon forest. Without the forest-rainfall feedbacks, these forest wouldn't exist.
Remote sensing in forestry: Application to the Amazon region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dejesusparada, N. (Principal Investigator); Tardin, A. T.; Dossantos, A.; Filho, P. H.; Shimabukuro, Y. E.

1981-01-01

The utilization of satellite remote sensing in forestry is reviewed with emphasis on studies performed for the Brazilian Amazon Region. Timber identification, deforestation, and pasture degradation after deforestation are discussed.
On the Large-Scaling Issues of Cloud-based Applications for Earth Science Dat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hua, H.

2016-12-01

Next generation science data systems are needed to address the incoming flood of data from new missions such as NASA's SWOT and NISAR where its SAR data volumes and data throughput rates are order of magnitude larger than present day missions. Existing missions, such as OCO-2, may also require high turn-around time for processing different science scenarios where on-premise and even traditional HPC computing environments may not meet the high processing needs. Additionally, traditional means of procuring hardware on-premise are already limited due to facilities capacity constraints for these new missions. Experiences have shown that to embrace efficient cloud computing approaches for large-scale science data systems requires more than just moving existing code to cloud environments. At large cloud scales, we need to deal with scaling and cost issues. We present our experiences on deploying multiple instances of our hybrid-cloud computing science data system (HySDS) to support large-scale processing of Earth Science data products. We will explore optimization approaches to getting best performance out of hybrid-cloud computing as well as common issues that will arise when dealing with large-scale computing. Novel approaches were utilized to do processing on Amazon's spot market, which can potentially offer 75%-90% costs savings but with an unpredictable computing environment based on market forces.
The evolution of organic matter along the lower Amazon River continuum - Óbidos to the ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, N. D.; Keil, R. G.; Medeiros, P. M.; Brito, D.; Cunha, A.; Sawakuchi, H. O.; Moura, J. S.; Yager, P. L.; Krusche, A. V.; Richey, J. E.

2013-12-01

The influence of the Amazon River on global hydrologic and biogeochemical cycling is well recognized. The Amazon River provides roughly 16% of the global freshwater supply to the ocean and is a significant source of CO2 to the atmosphere, outgassing 0.5 Pg C y-1 to the atmosphere--a flux roughly equivalent to the amount of carbon 'sequestered' by the Amazon rainforest (Field et al, 1998; Richey et al., 2002; Malhi et al., 2008). However, much of our understanding of the flux of matter from the Amazon River into the Atlantic Ocean (and atmosphere) is limited to measurements made at and upstream of Óbidos, 900 km upstream from the actual river mouth. Further, there are few to no observations documenting the transformation of organic matter in a parcel of water as it travels downstream of Óbidos into the ocean. Here we explore the hydrological and biogeochemical evolution of the lower Amazon River continuum, from Óbidos to the Atlantic Ocean. A suite of dissolved and particulate organic matter (OM) parameters were measured during a series of five river expeditions with stations at Óbidos, the Tapajós tributary, the mouth of the Lago Grande de Curuai floodplain lake, both the north and south channels of the Amazon River mouth near Macapá, and the confluence of the Amazon and Tocantins Rivers near Belém. In addition to bulk carbon isotopic signatures, a suite of biomarkers including dissolved and particulate lignin-derived phenols were measured to trace the sources and degradation history of terrestrial vascular plant derived OM throughout the continuum. Dissolved and particulate lignin phenol concentrations both correlated positively with river discharge in the Amazon River mainstem, with variable export patterns from the tributaries and floodplains. As organic matter travels along the continuum it is degraded by microbial composition, fuelling gross respiration and CO2 outgassing. The flux of organic carbon to the ocean is chemically recalcitrant as a result of the constant biological processing of labile OM throughout the lower river. We estimate that 40% of the vascular plant-derived organic carbon sequestered by the terrestrial biosphere is degraded within soils, 55% is degraded along the river continuum, and less than 5% is delivered to the ocean (Ward et al., 2013) References Cited Field, C., M. Behrenfeld, J. Randerson, and P. Falkowski. 1998. Primary production of the biosphere: Integrating terrestrial and oceanic components. Science 281, 237-240. Malhi, Y., Roberts, J.T., Betts, R.A., Killeen, T.J., Li, W., Nobre, C.A. 2008. Climate change, deforestation, and the fate of the Amazon. Science 319, 169-172. Richey, J. E., Melack, J. M., Aufdenkampe, A. K., Ballester, V. M. & Hess, L. L. 2002. Outgassing from Amazonian rivers and wetlands as a large tropical source of atmospheric CO2. Nature 416, 617-620. Ward, N.D.; Keil, R.G.; Medeiros, P.M.; Brito, D.C.; Cunha, A.C.; Dittmar, T.; Yager, P.L.; Krusche, A.V.; Richey, J.E. 2013. Degradation of terrestrially derived macromolecules in the Amazon River. Nature Geoscience. doi: 10.1038/ngeo1817
Coordinated Dispersal and Pre-Isthmian Assembly of the Central American Ichthyofauna

PubMed Central

Tagliacollo, Victor A.; Duke-Sylvester, Scott M.; Matamoros, Wilfredo A.; Chakrabarty, Prosanta

2017-01-01

Abstract We document patterns of coordinated dispersal over evolutionary time frames in heroine cichlids and poeciliine live-bearers, the two most species-rich clades of freshwater fishes in the Caribbean basin. Observed dispersal rate (DO) values were estimated from time-calibrated molecular phylogenies in Lagrange+, a modified version of the ML-based parametric biogeographic program Lagrange. DO is measured in units of “wallaces” (wa) as the number of biogeographic range-expansion events per million years. DO estimates were generated on a dynamic paleogeographic landscape of five areas over three time intervals from Upper Cretaceous to Recent. Expected dispersal rate (DE) values were generated from alternative paleogeographic models, with dispersal rates proportional to target area and source-river discharge volume, and inversely proportional to paleogeographic distance. Correlations between DO and DE were used to assess the relative contributions of these three biogeographic parameters. DO estimates imply a persistent dispersal corridor across the Eastern (Antillean) margin of the Caribbean plate, under the influence of prevailing and perennial riverine discharge vectors such as the Proto–Orinoco–Amazon river. Ancestral area estimation places the earliest colonizations of the Greater Antilles and Central America during the Paleocene–Eocene (ca. 58–45 Ma), potentially during the existence of an incomplete Paleogene Arc (∼59 Ma) or Lesser Antilles Arc (∼45 Ma), but predating the GAARlandia land bridge (∼34–33 Ma). Paleogeographic distance is the single best predictor of DO. The Western (Central American) plate margin did not serve as a dispersal corridor until the Late Neogene (12–0 Ma), and contributed relatively little to the formation of modern distributions. PMID:26370565
Siberian gas venting and the end-Permian environmental crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Svensen, Henrik; Planke, Sverre; Polozov, Alexander G.; Schmidbauer, Norbert; Corfu, Fernando; Podladchikov, Yuri Y.; Jamtveit, Bjørn

2009-01-01

The end of the Permian period is marked by global warming and the biggest known mass extinction on Earth. The crisis is commonly attributed to the formation of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province although the causal mechanisms remain disputed. We show that heating of Tunguska Basin sediments by the ascending magma played a key role in triggering the crisis. Our conclusions are based on extensive field work in Siberia in 2004 and 2006. Heating of organic-rich shale and petroleum bearing evaporites around sill intrusions led to greenhouse gas and halocarbon generation in sufficient volumes to cause global warming and atmospheric ozone depletion. Basin scale gas production potential estimates show that metamorphism of organic matter and petroleum could have generated > 100,000 Gt CO 2. The gases were released to the end-Permian atmosphere partly through spectacular pipe structures with kilometre-sized craters. Dating of a sill intrusion by the U-Pb method shows that the gas release occurred at 252.0 ± 0.4 million years ago, overlapping in time with the end-Permian global warming and mass extinction. Heating experiments to 275 °C on petroleum-bearing rock salt from Siberia suggests that methyl chloride and methyl bromide were significant components of the erupted gases. The results indicate that global warming and ozone depletion were the two main drivers for the end-Permian environmental crisis. We demonstrate that the composition of the heated sedimentary rocks below the flood basalts is the most important factor in controlling whether a Large Igneous Provinces causes an environmental crisis or not. We propose that a similar mechanism could have been responsible for the Triassic-Jurassic (~ 200 Ma) global warming and mass extinction, based on the presence of thick sill intrusions in the evaporite deposits of the Amazon Basin in Brazil.
Siberian Gas Venting and the End-Permian Environmental Crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Planke, S.; Svensen, H.; Polozov, A. G.; Schmidbauer, N.; Corfu, F.; Podladchikov, Y. Y.; Jamtveit, B.

2008-12-01

The end of the Permian period is marked by global warming and the largest known mass extinction on Earth. The crisis is commonly attributed to the formation of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province although the causal mechanisms remain disputed. We show that heating of Tunguska Basin sediments by the ascending magma played a key role in triggering the crisis. Our conclusions are based on extensive field work in Siberia in 2004 and 2006. Heating of organic-rich shale and petroleum bearing evaporites led to greenhouse gas and halocarbon generation in sufficient volumes to cause global warming and atmospheric ozone depletion. Basin scale gas production potential estimates show that metamorphism of organic matter and petroleum could have generated >50,000 Gt CO2. The greenhouse gases were released to the end-Permian atmosphere partly through spectacular pipe structures with kilometre-sized craters. Dating of a sill intrusion by the U-Pb method shows that the gas release occurred 252.0 ± 0.4 million years ago, overlapping in time with the end-Permian global warming and mass extinction. Heating experiments to 275°C on petroleum-bearing rock salt from Siberia suggests that methyl chloride and methyl bromide were significant components of the erupted gases. The results suggest that global warming and ozone depletion were the two main drivers for the end-Permian environmental crisis. We demonstrate that the composition of the heated sedimentary rocks below the flood basalts is the most important factor in controlling whether a Large Igneous Provinces causes an environmental crisis or not. We propose that a similar mechanism could have been responsible for the Triassic-Jurassic (~200 Ma) global warming and mass extinction, based on the presence of thick sill intrusions in the evaporite deposits of the Amazon Basin in Brazil.
Understanding Hydrological Regime Alterations Caused by dams: the Santiago River case in the Andean Region of the Amazon Basin.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosero-Lopez, D.; Flecker, A.; Walter, M. T.

2016-12-01

Water resources in South America have been clearly targeted as key sources for hydropower expansion over the next 30 years. Ecuador, among the most biologically diverse countries in the world, has the highest density of hydropower dams, either operational, under construction, or planned, in the Amazon Basin. Ecuador's ambitious plan to change its energy portfolio is conceived to satisfy the country's demand and to empower the country to be the region's first hydroelectric energy exporter. The Santiago watershed located in the southeast part of the country has 39 facilities either under construction or in operation. The Santiago River and its main tributaries (Zamora and Upano) are expected to be impounded by large dams over the next 10 years. In order to understand the magnitude and potential impacts of regional dam development on hydrological regimes, a 35-year historical data set of stream discharge was analyzed. We examined flow regimes for time series between the construction of each dam, starting with the oldest and largest built in 1982 up until the most recent dam built in 2005. Preliminary results indicate a systematic displacement in flow seasonality following post-dam compared to pre-dam conditions. There are also notable differences in the distributions of peaks and pulses in post-dam flows. The range of changes from these results shows that punctuated and cumulative impacts are related to the size of each new impoundment. These observations and their implications to the livelihoods, biota, and ecosystems services in the Santiago watershed need to be incorporated into a broader cost-benefit analysis of hydropower generation in the western Amazon Basin.
Observations of sediment transport on the Amazon subaqueous delta

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sternberg, R.W.; Cacchione, D.A.; Paulson, B.; Kineke, G.C.; Drake, D.E.

1996-01-01

A 19-day time series of fluid, flow, and suspended-sediment characteristics in the benthic boundary layer is analyzed to identify major sedimentary processes active over the prodelta region of the Amazon subaqueous delta. Measurements were made by the benthic tripod GEOPROBE placed on the seabed in 65 m depth near the base of the deltaic foreset beds from 11 February to 3 March 1990, during the time of rising water and maximum sediment discharge of the Amazon River; and the observations included: hourly measurements of velocity and suspended-sediment concentration at four levels above the seabed; waves and tides; and seabed elevation. Results of the first 14-day period of the time series record indicate that sediment resuspension occurred as a result of tidal currents (91% of the time) and surface gravity waves (46% of the time). Observations of suspended sediment indicated that particle flux in this region is 0.4-2% of the flux measured on the adjacent topset deposits and is directed to the north and landward relative to the Brazilian coast (268??T). Fortnightly variability is strong, with particle fluxes during spring tides five times greater than during neap tides. On the 15th day of the data record, a rapid sedimentation event was documented in which 44 cm of sediment was deposited at the study site over a 14-h period. Evaluation of various mechanisms of mass sediment movement suggests that this event represents downslope migration of fluid muds from the upper foreset beds that were set in motion by boundary shear stresses generated by waves and currents. This transport mechanism appears to occur episodically and may represent a major source of sediment to the lower foreset-bottomset region of the subaqueous delta.
Integrating Disciplines, Sectors, and Societies to Improve the Definition and Implementation of Environmental Flows for Dammed Amazonian Rivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaplan, D. A.; Livino, A.; Arias, M. E.; Crouch, T. D.; Anderson, E.; Marques, E.; Dutka-Gianelli, J.

2017-12-01

The Amazon River watershed is the world's largest river basin and provides US$30 billion/yr in ecosystem services to local populations, national societies, and humanity at large. The Amazon is also a relatively untapped source of hydroelectricity for Latin America, and construction of >30 large hydroelectric dams and >170 small dams is currently underway. Hydropower development will have a cascade of physical, ecological, and social effects at local to global scales. While Brazil has well-defined environmental impact assessment and mitigation programs, these efforts often fail to integrate data and knowledge across disciplines, sectors, and societies throughout the dam planning process. Resulting failures of science, policy, and management have had widespread environmental, economic, and social consequences, highlighting the need for an improved theoretical and practical framework for understanding the impacts of Amazon dams and guiding improved management that respects the needs and knowledge of diverse set of stakeholders. We present a conceptual framework that links four central goals: 1) connecting research in different disciplines (interdisciplinarity); 2) incorporating new knowledge into decision making (adaptive management); 3) including perspectives and participation of non-academic participants in knowledge generation (transdisciplinarity); and 4) extending the idea of environmental flows ("how much water does a river need?") to better consider human uses and users through the concept of fluvial anthropology ("how much water does a society need?"). We use this framework to identify opportunities for improved integration strategies within the (Brazilian) hydroelectric power plant planning and implementation "lifecycle." We applied this approach to the contentious Belo Monte dam, where compliance with regulatory requirements, including monitoring for environmental flows, exemplifies the opportunity for applying adaptive management, but also highlights an urgent need for much improved communication with and participation of affected communities.
[Cost-effectiveness ratio of using rapid tests for malaria diagnosis in the Peruvian Amazon].

PubMed

Rosas Aguirre, Angel Martín; Llanos Zavalaga, Luis Fernando; Trelles de Belaunde, Miguel

2009-05-01

To determine the cost-effectiveness ratios of three options for diagnosing malaria at the local health provider in 50 communities near the Peruvian Amazon. Calculation of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of three options for diagnosing malaria-not using rapid tests, using rapid tests, and accessing microscopy-in patients presenting with fever in 50 communities near Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon, communities with limited access to microscopy that depend on a network of local health providers. The incremental costs and effects of the two latter options were calculated and compared with the first option (currently in use). By dividing the incremental costs among the incremental effects, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was calculated. Using rapid tests would save the Ministry of Health of Peru: US$191 for each new case of Plasmodium falciparum malaria treated promptly and appropriately; US$31 per new case of P. vivax malaria treated promptly and appropriately; US$1,051 per case of acute malaria averted; and US$17,655 for each death avoided. Access to microscopy by all the communities would generate an additional cost of: US$198 per new case of P. falciparum malaria treated promptly and appropriately; US$31 per new case of P. vivax malaria treated promptly and appropriately; US$1,086 per case of acute malaria averted; and US$18,255 for each death avoided. The use of rapid tests by local health providers can improve the effectiveness of malaria diagnosis in patients with fever in the 50 communities studied, at a cost lower than the current method. The recommendation is to expand the use of rapid tests among the health providers in communities similar to those studied.

Soil microbiome responses to the short-term effects of Amazonian deforestation.

PubMed

Navarrete, Acacio A; Tsai, Siu M; Mendes, Lucas W; Faust, Karoline; de Hollander, Mattias; Cassman, Noriko A; Raes, Jeroen; van Veen, Johannes A; Kuramae, Eiko E

2015-05-01

Slash-and-burn clearing of forest typically results in increase in soil nutrient availability. However, the impact of these nutrients on the soil microbiome is not known. Using next generation sequencing of 16S rRNA gene and shotgun metagenomic DNA, we compared the structure and the potential functions of bacterial community in forest soils to deforested soils in the Amazon region and related the differences to soil chemical factors. Deforestation decreased soil organic matter content and factors linked to soil acidity and raised soil pH, base saturation and exchangeable bases. Concomitant to expected changes in soil chemical factors, we observed an increase in the alpha diversity of the bacterial microbiota and relative abundances of putative copiotrophic bacteria such as Actinomycetales and a decrease in the relative abundances of bacterial taxa such as Chlamydiae, Planctomycetes and Verrucomicrobia in the deforested soils. We did not observe an increase in genes related to microbial nutrient metabolism in deforested soils. However, we did observe changes in community functions such as increases in DNA repair, protein processing, modification, degradation and folding functions, and these functions might reflect adaptation to changes in soil characteristics due to forest clear-cutting and burning. In addition, there were changes in the composition of the bacterial groups associated with metabolism-related functions. Co-occurrence microbial network analysis identified distinct phylogenetic patterns for forest and deforested soils and suggested relationships between Planctomycetes and aluminium content, and Actinobacteria and nitrogen sources in Amazon soils. The results support taxonomic and functional adaptations in the soil bacterial community following deforestation. We hypothesize that these microbial adaptations may serve as a buffer to drastic changes in soil fertility after slash-and-burning deforestation in the Amazon region. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Public-Private Partnership: Joint recommendations to improve downloads of large Earth observation data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramachandran, R.; Murphy, K. J.; Baynes, K.; Lynnes, C.

2016-12-01

With the volume of Earth observation data expanding rapidly, cloud computing is quickly changing the way Earth observation data is processed, analyzed, and visualized. The cloud infrastructure provides the flexibility to scale up to large volumes of data and handle high velocity data streams efficiently. Having freely available Earth observation data collocated on a cloud infrastructure creates opportunities for innovation and value-added data re-use in ways unforeseen by the original data provider. These innovations spur new industries and applications and spawn new scientific pathways that were previously limited due to data volume and computational infrastructure issues. NASA, in collaboration with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, have jointly developed a set of recommendations to enable efficient transfer of Earth observation data from existing data systems to a cloud computing infrastructure. The purpose of these recommendations is to provide guidelines against which all data providers can evaluate existing data systems and be used to improve any issues uncovered to enable efficient search, access, and use of large volumes of data. Additionally, these guidelines ensure that all cloud providers utilize a common methodology for bulk-downloading data from data providers thus preventing the data providers from building custom capabilities to meet the needs of individual cloud providers. The intent is to share these recommendations with other Federal agencies and organizations that serve Earth observation to enable efficient search, access, and use of large volumes of data. Additionally, the adoption of these recommendations will benefit data users interested in moving large volumes of data from data systems to any other location. These data users include the cloud providers, cloud users such as scientists, and other users working in a high performance computing environment who need to move large volumes of data.
Guide to Your Health Care: After Heart Transplantation

MedlinePlus

... same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate .5% of the purchase price to ITNS. ITNS Awards Transplant Nurses Day ...
From where does the Amazon forest gets its water?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miguez-Macho, G.; Fan, Y.

2016-12-01

The Amazon receives abundant annual rainfall but parts of it experience a multi-month dry season. Here we ask: what is the water source that sustains the dry-season ET? Where over the Amazon it is largely local and recent rain (hence ET shutting down in dry season), or past rain that is stored in the deep soils and the groundwater (deep roots tapping deep reservoirs sustaining ET), or is it rain that fell on higher grounds (through topography-driven lateral convergence)? Using synthesis of isotope and other tracer observations and basin-wide inverse modeling (shallow soil, deep soil, with and without groundwater, with and without dynamic rooting depth), we attempt to tease out these components. The results shed light on likely ET sources and how future global change may preferentially impact Amazon ecosystem functioning.
A social-ecological database to advance research on infrastructure development impacts in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Tucker Lima, Joanna M; Valle, Denis; Moretto, Evandro Mateus; Pulice, Sergio Mantovani Paiva; Zuca, Nadia Lucia; Roquetti, Daniel Rondinelli; Beduschi, Liviam Elizabeth Cordeiro; Praia, Amanda Salles; Okamoto, Claudia Parucce Franco; da Silva Carvalhaes, Vinicius Leite; Branco, Evandro Albiach; Barbezani, Bruna; Labandera, Emily; Timpe, Kelsie; Kaplan, David

2016-08-30

Recognized as one of the world's most vital natural and cultural resources, the Amazon faces a wide variety of threats from natural resource and infrastructure development. Within this context, rigorous scientific study of the region's complex social-ecological system is critical to inform and direct decision-making toward more sustainable environmental and social outcomes. Given the Amazon's tightly linked social and ecological components and the scope of potential development impacts, effective study of this system requires an easily accessible resource that provides a broad and reliable data baseline. This paper brings together multiple datasets from diverse disciplines (including human health, socio-economics, environment, hydrology, and energy) to provide investigators with a variety of baseline data to explore the multiple long-term effects of infrastructure development in the Brazilian Amazon.
Impacts of land-use and land-cover change on stream hydrochemistry in the Cerrado and Amazon biomes.

PubMed

Nóbrega, Rodolfo L B; Guzha, Alphonce C; Lamparter, Gabriele; Amorim, Ricardo S S; Couto, Eduardo G; Hughes, Harold J; Jungkunst, Hermann F; Gerold, Gerhard

2018-09-01

Studies on the impacts of land-use and land-cover change on stream hydrochemistry in active deforestation zones of the Amazon agricultural frontier are limited and have often used low-temporal-resolution datasets. Moreover, these impacts are not concurrently assessed in well-established agricultural areas and new deforestations hotspots. We aimed to identify these impacts using an experimental setup to collect high-temporal-resolution hydrological and hydrochemical data in two pairs of low-order streams in catchments under contrasting land use and land cover (native vegetation vs. pasture) in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes. Our results indicate that the conversion of natural landscapes to pastures increases carbon and nutrient fluxes via streamflow in both biomes. These changes were the greatest in total inorganic carbon in the Amazon and in potassium in the Cerrado, representing a 5.0- and 5.5-fold increase in the fluxes of each biome, respectively. We found that stormflow, which is often neglected in studies on stream hydrochemistry in the tropics, plays a substantial role in the carbon and nutrient fluxes, especially in the Amazon biome, as its contributions to hydrochemical fluxes are mostly greater than the volumetric contribution to the total streamflow. These findings demonstrate that assessments of the impacts of deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes should also take into account rapid hydrological pathways; however, this can only be achieved through collection of high-temporal-resolution data. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Deforestation, fire susceptibility, and potential tree responses to fire in the eastern Amazon

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Uhl, C.; Kauffman, J.B.

1990-04-01

In the state of Para, Brazil, in the eastern Amazon, the authors studied the potential for sustained fire events within four dominant vegetation cover types (undisturbed rain forest, selectively logged forest, second-growth forest, and open pasture), by measuring fuel availability, microclimate, and rates of fuel moisture loss. They also estimated the potential tree mortality that might result from a wide-scale Amazon forest fire by measuring the thermal properties of bark for all trees in a 5-ha stand of mature forest, followed by measurements of heat flux through bark during simulated fires. In pastures the average midday temperature was almost 10{degree}Cmore » greater and the average midday relative humidity was 30% lower than in primary forest. The most five-prone ecosystem was the open pasture followed by selectively logged forest, second growth forest, and undisturbed rain forest in which sustained combustion was not possible even after prolonged rainless periods. Even though the autogenic factors in primary forest of the eastern Amazon create a microclimate that virtually eliminates the probability of fire, they are currently a common event in disturbed areas of Amazonia. As many as 8 {times} 10{sup 6} ha burned in the Amazon Basin of Brazil in 1987 alone. In terms of current land-use patterns, altered microclimates, and fuel mass, there are also striking similarities between the eastern Amazon and East Kalimantan, Indonesia (the site of recent rain forest wildfires that burned 3.5 {times} 10{sup 6} ha).« less
Origin, transport and deposition of leaf-wax biomarkers in the Amazon Basin and the adjacent Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Häggi, Christoph; Sawakuchi, André O.; Chiessi, Cristiano M.; Mulitza, Stefan; Mollenhauer, Gesine; Sawakuchi, Henrique O.; Baker, Paul A.; Zabel, Matthias; Schefuß, Enno

2016-11-01

Paleoenvironmental studies based on terrigenous biomarker proxies from sediment cores collected close to the mouth of large river systems rely on a proper understanding of the processes controlling origin, transport and deposition of biomarkers. Here, we contribute to the understanding of these processes by analyzing long-chain n-alkanes from the Amazon River system. We use the δD composition of long-chain n-alkanes from river bed sediments from the Amazon River and its major tributaries, as well as marine core-top samples collected off northeastern South America as tracers for different source areas. The δ13C composition of the same compounds is used to differentiate between long-chain n-alkanes from modern forest vegetation and petrogenic organic matter. Our δ13C results show depleted δ13C values (-33 to -36‰) in most samples, indicating a modern forest source for most of the samples. Enriched values (-31 to -33‰) are only found in a few samples poor in organic carbon indicating minor contributions from a fossil petrogenic source. Long-chain n-alkane δD analyses show more depleted values for the western tributaries, the Madeira and Solimões Rivers (-152 to -168‰), while n-alkanes from the lowland tributaries, the Negro, Xingu and Tocantins Rivers (-142 to -154‰), yield more enriched values. The n-alkane δD values thus reflect the mean annual isotopic composition of precipitation, which is most deuterium-depleted in the western Amazon Basin and more enriched in the eastern sector of the basin. Samples from the Amazon estuary show a mixed long-chain n-alkane δD signal from both eastern lowland and western tributaries. Marine core-top samples underlying the Amazon freshwater plume yield δD values similar to those from the Amazon estuary, while core-top samples from outside the plume showed more enriched values. Although the variability in the river bed data precludes quantitative assessment of relative contributions, our results indicate that long-chain n-alkanes from the Amazon estuary and plume represent an integrated signal of different regions of the onshore basin. Our results also imply that n-alkanes are not extensively remineralized during transport and that the signal at the Amazon estuary and plume includes refractory compounds derived from the western sector of the Basin. These findings will aid in the interpretation of plant wax-based records of marine sediment cores collected from the adjacent ocean.
Volatile isoprenoids as defense compounds during abiotic stress in tropical plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jardine, K.

2015-12-01

Emissions of volatile isoprenoids from tropical forests play central roles in atmospheric processes by fueling atmospheric chemistry resulting in modified aerosol and cloud lifecycles and their associated feedbacks with the terrestrial biosphere. However, the identities of tropical isoprenoids, their biological and environmental controls, and functions within plants and ecosystems remain highly uncertain. As part of the DOE ARM program's GoAmazon 2014/15 campaign, extensive field and laboratory observations of volatile isoprenoids are being conducted in the central Amazon. Here we report the results of our completed and ongoing activities at the ZF2 forest reserve in the central Amazon. Among the results of the research are the suprisingly high abundance of light-dependent volatile isoprenoid emissions across abundant tree genera in the Amazon in both primary and secondary forests, the discovery of highly reactive monoterpene emissions from Amazon trees, and evidence for the importance of volatile isoprenoids in protecting photosynthesis during oxidative stress under elevated temperatures including energy consumption and direct antioxidant functions and a tight connection betwen volatile isoprenoid emissions, photorespiration, and CO2 recycling within leaves. The results highlight the need to model allocation of carbon to isoprenoids during elevated temperature stress in the tropics.
Rainfall trends in the Brazilian Amazon Basin in the past eight decades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satyamurty, Prakki; de Castro, Aline Anderson; Tota, Julio; da Silva Gularte, Lucia Eliane; Manzi, Antonio Ocimar

2010-01-01

Rainfall series at 18 stations along the major rivers of the Brazilian Amazon Basin, having data since 1920s or 1930s, are analyzed to verify if there are appreciable long-term trends. Annual, rainy-season, and dry-season rainfalls are individually analyzed for each station and for the region as a whole. Some stations showed positive trends and some negative trends. The trends in the annual rainfall are significant at only six stations, five of which reporting increasing trends (Barcelos, Belem, Manaus, Rio Branco, and Soure stations) and just one (Itaituba station) reporting decreasing trend. The climatological values of rainfall before and after 1970 show significant differences at six stations (Barcelos, Belem, Benjamin Constant, Iaurete, Itaituba, and Soure). The region as a whole shows an insignificant and weak downward trend; therefore, we cannot affirm that the rainfall in the Brazilian Amazon basin is experiencing a significant change, except at a few individual stations. Subregions with upward and downward trends are interspersed in space from the far eastern Amazon to western Amazon. Most of the seasonal trends follow the annual trends, thus, indicating a certain consistency in the datasets and analysis.
Where Deforestation Leads to Urbanization: How Resource Extraction is Leading to Urban Growth in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Richards, Peter; VanWey, Leah

2015-07-01

Developing the Amazon into a major provider of internationally traded mineral and food commodities has dramatically transformed broad expanses of tropical forests to farm and pasturelands, and to mining sites. The environmental impacts of this transformation, as well as the drivers underlying the process, have already been well documented. In this article we turn our analytical lenses to another, less examined effect of Amazon land use and environmental change, namely the creation and development of new urban areas. Here we argue that urban growth in the Amazon is a direct residual of international interest in the production of traded commodities, and of the capacity of local urban residents to capture capital and value before it is extracted from the region. Specifically, we suggest that urban growth is occurring fastest where cities have access to both rural export commodities and export corridors. We also show correlations between urban growth and lower rural population density, and cities' capacities to draw migrants from beyond their immediate rural surroundings. More broadly, we argue that urbanization in the Amazon is better interpreted as a symptom rather than a driver of the region's land use and land cover change.
Methylmercury Modulation in Amazon Rivers Linked to Basin Characteristics and Seasonal Flood-Pulse.

PubMed

Kasper, Daniele; Forsberg, Bruce R; Amaral, João H F; Py-Daniel, Sarah S; Bastos, Wanderley R; Malm, Olaf

2017-12-19

We investigated the impact of the seasonal inundation of wetlands on methylmercury (MeHg) concentration dynamics in the Amazon river system. We sampled 38 sites along the Solimões/Amazon and Negro rivers and their tributaries during distinct phases of the annual flood-pulse. MeHg dynamics in both basins was contrasted to provide insight into the factors controlling export of MeHg to the Amazon system. The export of MeHg by rivers was substantially higher during high-water in both basins since elevated MeHg concentrations and discharge occurred during this time. MeHg concentration was positively correlated to %flooded area upstream of the sampling site in the Solimões/Amazon Basin with the best correlation obtained using 100 km buffers instead of whole basin areas. The lower correlations obtained with the whole basin apparently reflected variable losses of MeHg exported from upstream wetlands due to demethylation, absorption, deposition, and degradation before reaching the sampling site. A similar correlation between %flooded area and MeHg concentrations was not observed in the Negro Basin probably due to the variable export of MeHg from poorly drained soils that are abundant in this basin but not consistently flooded.
Amazon boundary layer aerosol concentration sustained by vertical transport during rainfall

DOE PAGES

Wang, Jian; Krejci, Radovan; Giangrande, Scott; ...

2016-10-24

The nucleation of atmospheric vapours is an important source of new aerosol particles that can subsequently grow to form cloud condensation nuclei in the atmosphere. Most field studies of atmospheric aerosols over continents are influenced by atmospheric vapours of anthropogenic origin and, in consequence, aerosol processes in pristine, terrestrial environments remain poorly understood. The Amazon rainforest is one of the few continental regions where aerosol particles and their precursors can be studied under near-natural conditions, but the origin of small aerosol particles that grow into cloud condensation nuclei in the Amazon boundary layer remains unclear. Here we present aircraft- andmore » ground-based measurements under clean conditions during the wet season in the central Amazon basin. We find that high concentrations of small aerosol particles (with diameters of less than 50 nanometres) in the lower free troposphere are transported from the free troposphere into the boundary layer during precipitation events by strong convective downdrafts and weaker downward motions in the trailing stratiform region. Lastly, this rapid vertical transport can help to maintain the population of particles in the pristine Amazon boundary layer, and may therefore influence cloud properties and climate under natural conditions.« less
Amazon boundary layer aerosol concentration sustained by vertical transport during rainfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jian; Krejci, Radovan; Giangrande, Scott; Kuang, Chongai; Barbosa, Henrique M. J.; Brito, Joel; Carbone, Samara; Chi, Xuguang; Comstock, Jennifer; Ditas, Florian; Lavric, Jost; Manninen, Hanna E.; Mei, Fan; Moran-Zuloaga, Daniel; Pöhlker, Christopher; Pöhlker, Mira L.; Saturno, Jorge; Schmid, Beat; Souza, Rodrigo A. F.; Springston, Stephen R.; Tomlinson, Jason M.; Toto, Tami; Walter, David; Wimmer, Daniela; Smith, James N.; Kulmala, Markku; Machado, Luiz A. T.; Artaxo, Paulo; Andreae, Meinrat O.; Petäjä, Tuukka; Martin, Scot T.

2016-11-01

The nucleation of atmospheric vapours is an important source of new aerosol particles that can subsequently grow to form cloud condensation nuclei in the atmosphere. Most field studies of atmospheric aerosols over continents are influenced by atmospheric vapours of anthropogenic origin (for example, ref. 2) and, in consequence, aerosol processes in pristine, terrestrial environments remain poorly understood. The Amazon rainforest is one of the few continental regions where aerosol particles and their precursors can be studied under near-natural conditions, but the origin of small aerosol particles that grow into cloud condensation nuclei in the Amazon boundary layer remains unclear. Here we present aircraft- and ground-based measurements under clean conditions during the wet season in the central Amazon basin. We find that high concentrations of small aerosol particles (with diameters of less than 50 nanometres) in the lower free troposphere are transported from the free troposphere into the boundary layer during precipitation events by strong convective downdrafts and weaker downward motions in the trailing stratiform region. This rapid vertical transport can help to maintain the population of particles in the pristine Amazon boundary layer, and may therefore influence cloud properties and climate under natural conditions.
Amazon boundary layer aerosol concentration sustained by vertical transport during rainfall.

PubMed

Wang, Jian; Krejci, Radovan; Giangrande, Scott; Kuang, Chongai; Barbosa, Henrique M J; Brito, Joel; Carbone, Samara; Chi, Xuguang; Comstock, Jennifer; Ditas, Florian; Lavric, Jost; Manninen, Hanna E; Mei, Fan; Moran-Zuloaga, Daniel; Pöhlker, Christopher; Pöhlker, Mira L; Saturno, Jorge; Schmid, Beat; Souza, Rodrigo A F; Springston, Stephen R; Tomlinson, Jason M; Toto, Tami; Walter, David; Wimmer, Daniela; Smith, James N; Kulmala, Markku; Machado, Luiz A T; Artaxo, Paulo; Andreae, Meinrat O; Petäjä, Tuukka; Martin, Scot T

2016-11-17

The nucleation of atmospheric vapours is an important source of new aerosol particles that can subsequently grow to form cloud condensation nuclei in the atmosphere. Most field studies of atmospheric aerosols over continents are influenced by atmospheric vapours of anthropogenic origin (for example, ref. 2) and, in consequence, aerosol processes in pristine, terrestrial environments remain poorly understood. The Amazon rainforest is one of the few continental regions where aerosol particles and their precursors can be studied under near-natural conditions, but the origin of small aerosol particles that grow into cloud condensation nuclei in the Amazon boundary layer remains unclear. Here we present aircraft- and ground-based measurements under clean conditions during the wet season in the central Amazon basin. We find that high concentrations of small aerosol particles (with diameters of less than 50 nanometres) in the lower free troposphere are transported from the free troposphere into the boundary layer during precipitation events by strong convective downdrafts and weaker downward motions in the trailing stratiform region. This rapid vertical transport can help to maintain the population of particles in the pristine Amazon boundary layer, and may therefore influence cloud properties and climate under natural conditions.
Where Deforestation Leads to Urbanization: How Resource Extraction is Leading to Urban Growth in the Brazilian Amazon

PubMed Central

VanWey, Leah

2015-01-01

Developing the Amazon into a major provider of internationally traded mineral and food commodities has dramatically transformed broad expanses of tropical forests to farm and pasturelands, and to mining sites. The environmental impacts of this transformation, as well as the drivers underlying the process, have already been well documented. In this article we turn our analytical lenses to another, less examined effect of Amazon land use and environmental change, namely the creation and development of new urban areas. Here we argue that urban growth in the Amazon is a direct residual of international interest in the production of traded commodities, and of the capacity of local urban residents to capture capital and value before it is extracted from the region. Specifically, we suggest that urban growth is occurring fastest where cities have access to both rural export commodities and export corridors. We also show correlations between urban growth and lower rural population density, and cities’ capacities to draw migrants from beyond their immediate rural surroundings. More broadly, we argue that urbanization in the Amazon is better interpreted as a symptom rather than a driver of the region’s land use and land cover change. PMID:26985079
Following Saharan Dust Outbreak Toward The Amazon Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ben Ami, Y.; Koren, I.; Rudich, Y.; Flores, M.

2008-12-01

The role of the Amazon rainforest on earth climatic system is well recognized. To keep forest wellbeing and the fragile balance between the rainforest and the atmosphere, the Amazon must contain a satisfactory amount of nutrients to support the plants. The extensive rain and floods wash most of the soluble nutrients from the rainforest soil, leaving behind acidic kaolinite clay or sandy soil, with limited minerals for plant growth. It was suggested that lack of mineral in the soil may be replenished by deposition of Saharan mineral dust. Using remote sensing data (from the A-train satellites constellation) following with in-situ measurements (as part of the AMazonian Aerosol CharacteriZation Experiment (AMZE) campaign), ground-based data (from AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET)) and back trajectory calculations, we analyzed Saharan dust transport toward the Amazon basin during the AMZE period (Feb 7 to Mar 14, 2008). Dust mass, sink, vertical distribution and surface wind speeds were analyzed over the Bodele depression (located in Chad), where most of the dust is emitted, along the Atlantic Ocean and near the Brazilian coastline. Using an integrated data analysis approach we followed dust packages from their emission in the Sahara to their sink in the Amazon forest.
Long-term decline of the Amazon carbon sink.

PubMed

Brienen, R J W; Phillips, O L; Feldpausch, T R; Gloor, E; Baker, T R; Lloyd, J; Lopez-Gonzalez, G; Monteagudo-Mendoza, A; Malhi, Y; Lewis, S L; Vásquez Martinez, R; Alexiades, M; Álvarez Dávila, E; Alvarez-Loayza, P; Andrade, A; Aragão, L E O C; Araujo-Murakami, A; Arets, E J M M; Arroyo, L; Aymard C, G A; Bánki, O S; Baraloto, C; Barroso, J; Bonal, D; Boot, R G A; Camargo, J L C; Castilho, C V; Chama, V; Chao, K J; Chave, J; Comiskey, J A; Cornejo Valverde, F; da Costa, L; de Oliveira, E A; Di Fiore, A; Erwin, T L; Fauset, S; Forsthofer, M; Galbraith, D R; Grahame, E S; Groot, N; Hérault, B; Higuchi, N; Honorio Coronado, E N; Keeling, H; Killeen, T J; Laurance, W F; Laurance, S; Licona, J; Magnussen, W E; Marimon, B S; Marimon-Junior, B H; Mendoza, C; Neill, D A; Nogueira, E M; Núñez, P; Pallqui Camacho, N C; Parada, A; Pardo-Molina, G; Peacock, J; Peña-Claros, M; Pickavance, G C; Pitman, N C A; Poorter, L; Prieto, A; Quesada, C A; Ramírez, F; Ramírez-Angulo, H; Restrepo, Z; Roopsind, A; Rudas, A; Salomão, R P; Schwarz, M; Silva, N; Silva-Espejo, J E; Silveira, M; Stropp, J; Talbot, J; ter Steege, H; Teran-Aguilar, J; Terborgh, J; Thomas-Caesar, R; Toledo, M; Torello-Raventos, M; Umetsu, R K; van der Heijden, G M F; van der Hout, P; Guimarães Vieira, I C; Vieira, S A; Vilanova, E; Vos, V A; Zagt, R J

2015-03-19

Atmospheric carbon dioxide records indicate that the land surface has acted as a strong global carbon sink over recent decades, with a substantial fraction of this sink probably located in the tropics, particularly in the Amazon. Nevertheless, it is unclear how the terrestrial carbon sink will evolve as climate and atmospheric composition continue to change. Here we analyse the historical evolution of the biomass dynamics of the Amazon rainforest over three decades using a distributed network of 321 plots. While this analysis confirms that Amazon forests have acted as a long-term net biomass sink, we find a long-term decreasing trend of carbon accumulation. Rates of net increase in above-ground biomass declined by one-third during the past decade compared to the 1990s. This is a consequence of growth rate increases levelling off recently, while biomass mortality persistently increased throughout, leading to a shortening of carbon residence times. Potential drivers for the mortality increase include greater climate variability, and feedbacks of faster growth on mortality, resulting in shortened tree longevity. The observed decline of the Amazon sink diverges markedly from the recent increase in terrestrial carbon uptake at the global scale, and is contrary to expectations based on models.
Social and health dimensions of climate change in the Amazon.

PubMed

Brondízio, Eduardo S; de Lima, Ana C B; Schramski, Sam; Adams, Cristina

2016-07-01

The Amazon region has been part of climate change debates for decades, yet attention to its social and health dimensions has been limited. This paper assesses literature on the social and health dimensions of climate change in the Amazon. A conceptual framework underscores multiple stresses and exposures created by interactions between climate change and local social-environmental conditions. Using the Thomson-Reuter Web of Science, this study bibliometrically assessed the overall literature on climate change in the Amazon, including Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, Anthropology, Environmental Science/Ecology and Public, Environmental/Occupational Health. From this assessment, a relevant sub-sample was selected and complemented with literature from the Brazilian database SciELO. This sample discusses three dimensions of climate change impacts in the region: livelihood changes, vector-borne diseases and microbial proliferation, and respiratory diseases. This analysis elucidates imbalance and disconnect between ecological, physical and social and health dimensions of climate change and between continental and regional climate analysis, and sub-regional and local levels. Work on the social and health implications of climate change in the Amazon falls significantly behind other research areas, limiting reliable information for analytical models and for Amazonian policy-makers and society at large. Collaborative research is called for.
Lidar observed seasonal variation of vertical canopy structure in the Amazon evergreen forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, H.; Dubayah, R.

2017-12-01

Both light and water are important environmental factors governing tree growth. Responses of tropical forests to their changes are complicated and can vary substantially across different spatial and temporal scales. Of particular interest is the dry-season greening-up of Amazon forests, a phenomenon undergoing considerable debates whether it is real or a "light illusion" caused by artifacts of passive optical remote sensing techniques. Here we analyze seasonal dynamic patterns of vertical canopy structure in the Amazon forests using lidar observations from NASA's Ice, Cloud, and and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat). We found that the net greening of canopy layer coincides with the wet-to-dry transition period, and its net browning occurs mostly at the late dry season. The understory also shows a seasonal cycle, but with an opposite variation to canopy and minimal correlation to seasonal variations in rainfall or radiation. Our results further suggest a potential interaction between canopy layers in the light regime that can optimize the growth of Amazon forests during the dry season. This light regime variability that exists in both spatial and temporal domains can better reveal the dry-season greening-up phenomenon, which appears less obvious when treating the Amazon forests as a whole.

Mouth of the Amazon

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-02-07

Flowing over 6450 kilometers eastward across Brazil, the Amazon River originates in the Peruvian Andes as tiny mountain streams that eventually combine to form one of the world mightiest rivers as shown in this image from NASA Terra satellite.
Ozone measurements in the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirchhoff, V. W. J. H.

Several scientists of the Brazilian Institute for Space Research (Instituto de Pesquisas Espacias, or INPE; headquarters at Sāo Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo) went to Manaus (3°S, 60°W), in the central region of the Amazon forest during July-August 1985 to study the atmosphere of the equatorial rainforest. The expedition to the Amazon was part of a large binational atmospheric chemistry field campaign that was organized to measure several atmospheric gases of the forest environment. This was definitely the largest scientific field expedition in this field ever performed on Brazilian territory.
Osteoma in a blue-fronted Amazon parrot (Amazona aestiva).

PubMed

Cardoso, João Felipe Rito; Levy, Marcelo Guilherme Bezerra; Liparisi, Flavia; Romão, Mario Antonio Pinto

2013-09-01

Osteoma is an uncommon bone formation documented in avian species and other animals. A blue-fronted Amazon parrot (Amazona aestiva) with clinical respiratory symptoms was examined because of a hard mass present on the left nostril. Radiographs suggested a bone tumor, and the mass was surgically excised. Histopathologic examination revealed features of an osteoma. To our knowledge, this is the first description of an osteoma in a blue-fronted Amazon parrot. Osteoma should be considered as a differential diagnosis in birds with respiratory distress and swelling of the nostril.
Hematology of the Red-capped parrot (Pionopsitta pileata) and Vinaceous Amazon parrot (Amazona vinacea) in captivity.

PubMed

Schmidt, Elizabeth Moreira dos Santos; Lange, Rogério Ribas; Ribas, Janaciara Moreira; Daciuk, Bárbara Maria; Montiani-Ferreira, Fabiano; Paulillo, Antonio Carlos

2009-03-01

Preliminary reference intervals for hematologic and total plasma protein profiles were determined for nine adult Red-capped parrots (Pionopsitta pileata) (six males and three females) and six Vinaceous Amazon parrots (Amazona vinacea) (two adult males, two adult females, one juvenile, and one nonsexed) from the Curitiba Zoo, Paraná, Brazil. For both Red-capped parrots and Vinaceous Amazon parrots, adult males had higher red blood cell counts than adult females. Regarding white blood cell distribution, differences due to gender were also found for both species of parrots.
New species of Microcentrum Scudder, 1862 (Orthoptera: Tettigonioidea: Phaneropteridae) from Amazon rainforest.

PubMed

Da Silva Sovano, Rafael S; Cadena-Castañeda, Oscar J

2015-03-26

A regional study is performed for the Amazonian species of the genus Microcentrum Scudder, 1862, its proposed Microcentrum punctifrons Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1891 as nomen dubium n. stat. and two new species are described: Microcentrum amacayacu Cadena-Casteñada, Sovano n. sp. and Microcentrum xavieri Sovano, Cadena-Casteñada n. sp. the Colombian and Brazilian Amazon, respectively. A list and a key to the Amazonian species are also provided, along with a discussion on their distribution, according to endemism areas established to Amazon rainforest.
Hematologic and plasma chemistry values in captive psittacine birds.

PubMed

Polo, F J; Peinado, V I; Viscor, G; Palomeque, J

1998-01-01

Reference values for some hematologic parameters in 19 species and plasma chemical values in 11 species of Psittacine birds, including cockatoos, parrots, amazons, macaws, conures, and lories, were established for use in veterinary medicine. The following parameters were studied: hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration, erythrocyte number, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, erythrocyte dimensions, leukocyte number and differential leukocyte count, glucose, urea, uric acid, cholesterol, triglycerides, creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine phosphokinase, lactic dehydrogenase, gamma glutamyl transpeptidase, total plasma protein, albumin, globulins, albumin-globulin ratio, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, total phosphorus, chloride, and osmolality. Hematologically, the Psittacine is a very homogeneous avian group, with small differences between species. They are, however, different from other groups of birds.
Forecasting Total Water Storage Changes in the Amazon basin using Atlantic and Pacific Sea Surface Temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Linage, C.; Famiglietti, J. S.; Randerson, J. T.

2013-12-01

Floods and droughts frequently affect the Amazon River basin, impacting the transportation, river navigation, agriculture, economy and the carbon balance and biodiversity of several South American countries. The present study aims to find the main variables controlling the natural interannual variability of terrestrial water storage in the Amazon region and to propose a modeling framework for flood and drought forecasting. We propose three simple empirical models using a linear combination of lagged spatial averages of central Pacific (Niño 4 index) and tropical North Atlantic (TNAI index) sea surface temperatures (SST) to predict a decade-long record of 3°, monthly terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWSA) observed by the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission. In addition to a SST forcing term, the models included a relaxation term to simulate the memory of water storage anomalies in response to external variability in forcing. Model parameters were spatially-variable and individually optimized for each 3° grid cell. We also investigated the evolution of the predictive capability of our models with increasing minimum lead times for TWSA forecasts. TNAI was the primary external forcing for the central and western regions of the southern Amazon (35% of variance explained with a 3-month forecast), whereas Niño 4 was dominant in the northeastern part of the basin (61% of variance explained with a 3-month forecast). Forcing the model with a combination of the two indices improved the fit significantly (p<0.05) for at least 64% of the grid cells, compared to models forced solely with Niño 4 or TNAI. The combined model was able to explain 43% of the variance in the Amazon basin as a whole with a 3-month lead time. While 66% of the observed variance was explained in the northeastern Amazon, only 39% of the variance was captured by the combined model in the central and western regions, suggesting that other, more local, forcing sources were important in these regions. The predictive capability of the combined model was monotonically degraded with increasing lead times. Degradation was smaller in the northeastern Amazon (where 49% of the variance was explained using a 8-month lead time versus 69% for a 1 month lead time) compared to the western and central regions of southern Amazon (where 22% of the variance was explained at 8 months versus 43% at 1 month). Our model may provide early warning information about flooding in the northeastern region of the Amazon basin, where floodplain areas are extensive and the sensitivity of floods to external SST forcing was shown to be high. This work also strengthens our understanding of the mechanisms regulating interannual variability in Amazon fires, as TWSA deficits may subsequently lead to atmospheric water vapor deficits and reduced cloudiness via water-limited evapotranspiration. Finally, this work helps to bridge the gap between the current GRACE mission and the follow-on gravity mission.
Effects of Land Use Changes on the Water and Energy Balance Over South America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nascimento, M.; Herdies, D. L.; Angelis, C.

2013-05-01

With the objective of analyzing the effects of land use changes in the Amazon and its consequences on the main components of the water and energy balance over South America, with emphasis on the Amazon and La Plata Basin, two experiments were carried for 10-year period (1999-2008), in which the land use conditions were modified, representing conditions for the 90s (CONTROL Experiment) and current conditions over land use in the Amazon region (Experiment 1). Changes in land use were observed mainly in the Amazon region and southern Brazil. The numerical model used to perform the simulations was the ETA in its climate version, using as an initial and boundary condition the CFSR/NCEP reanalysis datasets. The results show for the analyzed period that there was a reduction of 3.3 mm/month in average rainfall rates in the La Plata Basin and 4.2 mm/month in the Amazon region, with some places where this reduction was more pronounced. Seasonally was observed that during the summer there is an average reduction of 3.9 mm/month in the Amazon region. Already on the La Plata Basin was observed an average increase of 11.7 mm/month in the La Plata Basin during the summer and an reduction in winter season. Through the overall result was also possible to conclude that the changes in land use for more realistic conditions, there were significant reductions in evapotranspiration and latent heat fluxes, as well as an increase in sensible heat fluxes, especially over the regions where the changes were more pronounced. Through the analyzes it can be observed that in general the La Plata Basin is sensitive to changes in land use over the Amazon and adjacent regions, allowing to conclude that such changes can influence the amount of rainfall, the intensity of the major meteorological systems, as well as temperature trends on the regions analyzed.
Proliferation of Hydroelectric Dams in the Andean Amazon and Implications for Andes-Amazon Connectivity

PubMed Central

Finer, Matt; Jenkins, Clinton N.

2012-01-01

Due to rising energy demands and abundant untapped potential, hydropower projects are rapidly increasing in the Neotropics. This is especially true in the wet and rugged Andean Amazon, where regional governments are prioritizing new hydroelectric dams as the centerpiece of long-term energy plans. However, the current planning for hydropower lacks adequate regional and basin-scale assessment of potential ecological impacts. This lack of strategic planning is particularly problematic given the intimate link between the Andes and Amazonian flood plain, together one of the most species rich zones on Earth. We examined the potential ecological impacts, in terms of river connectivity and forest loss, of the planned proliferation of hydroelectric dams across all Andean tributaries of the Amazon River. Considering data on the full portfolios of existing and planned dams, along with data on roads and transmission line systems, we developed a new conceptual framework to estimate the relative impacts of all planned dams. There are plans for 151 new dams greater than 2 MW over the next 20 years, more than a 300% increase. These dams would include five of the six major Andean tributaries of the Amazon. Our ecological impact analysis classified 47% of the potential new dams as high impact and just 19% as low impact. Sixty percent of the dams would cause the first major break in connectivity between protected Andean headwaters and the lowland Amazon. More than 80% would drive deforestation due to new roads, transmission lines, or inundation. We conclude with a discussion of three major policy implications of these findings. 1) There is a critical need for further strategic regional and basin scale evaluation of dams. 2) There is an urgent need for a strategic plan to maintain Andes-Amazon connectivity. 3) Reconsideration of hydropower as a low-impact energy source in the Neotropics. PMID:22529979
Proliferation of hydroelectric dams in the Andean Amazon and implications for Andes-Amazon connectivity.

PubMed

Finer, Matt; Jenkins, Clinton N

2012-01-01

Due to rising energy demands and abundant untapped potential, hydropower projects are rapidly increasing in the Neotropics. This is especially true in the wet and rugged Andean Amazon, where regional governments are prioritizing new hydroelectric dams as the centerpiece of long-term energy plans. However, the current planning for hydropower lacks adequate regional and basin-scale assessment of potential ecological impacts. This lack of strategic planning is particularly problematic given the intimate link between the Andes and Amazonian flood plain, together one of the most species rich zones on Earth. We examined the potential ecological impacts, in terms of river connectivity and forest loss, of the planned proliferation of hydroelectric dams across all Andean tributaries of the Amazon River. Considering data on the full portfolios of existing and planned dams, along with data on roads and transmission line systems, we developed a new conceptual framework to estimate the relative impacts of all planned dams. There are plans for 151 new dams greater than 2 MW over the next 20 years, more than a 300% increase. These dams would include five of the six major Andean tributaries of the Amazon. Our ecological impact analysis classified 47% of the potential new dams as high impact and just 19% as low impact. Sixty percent of the dams would cause the first major break in connectivity between protected Andean headwaters and the lowland Amazon. More than 80% would drive deforestation due to new roads, transmission lines, or inundation. We conclude with a discussion of three major policy implications of these findings. 1) There is a critical need for further strategic regional and basin scale evaluation of dams. 2) There is an urgent need for a strategic plan to maintain Andes-Amazon connectivity. 3) Reconsideration of hydropower as a low-impact energy source in the Neotropics.
Forest Understory Fire in the Brazilian Amazon in ENSO and Non-ENSO Years: Area Burned and Committed Carbon Emissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alencar, A.; Nepstad, D.; Ver-Diaz, M. Del. C.

2004-01-01

"Understory fires" that burn the floor of standing forests are one of the most important types of forest impoverishment in the Amazon, especially during the severe droughts of El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) episodes. However, we are aware of no estimates of the areal extent of these fires for the Brazilian Amazon and, hence, of their contribution to Amazon carbon fluxes to the atmosphere. We calculated the area of forest understory fires for the Brazilian Amazon region during an El Nino (1998) and a non El Nino (1995) year based on forest fire scars mapped with satellite images for three locations in eastern and southern Amazon, where deforestation is concentrated. The three study sites represented a gradient of both forest types and dry season severity. The burning scar maps were used to determine how the percentage of forest that burned varied with distance from agricultural clearings. These spatial functions were then applied to similar forest/climate combinations outside of the study sites to derive an initial estimate for the Brazilian Amazon. Ninety-one percent of the forest area that burned in the study sites was within the first kilometer of a clearing for the non ENSO year and within the first four kilometers for the ENSO year. The area of forest burned by understory forest fire during the severe drought (ENSO) year (3.9 millions of hectares) was 13 times greater than the area burned during the average rainfall year (0.2 million hectares), and twice the area of annual deforestation rate. Dense forest was, proportionally, the forest area most affected by understory fires during the El Nino year, while understory fires were concentrated in transitional forests during the year of average rainfall. Our estimate of aboveground tree biomass killed by fire ranged from 0.06 Pg to 0.38 Pg during the ENSO and from 0,004 Pg to 0,024 Pg during the non ENSO.
The spatial extent of change in tropical forest ecosystem services in the Amazon delta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Araujo Barbosa, C. C.; Atkinson, P.; Dearing, J.

2014-12-01

Deltas hold major economic potential due their strategic location, close to seas and inland waterways, thereby supporting intense economic activity. The increasing pace of human development activities in coastal deltas over the past five decades has also strained environmental resources and produced extensive economic and sociocultural impacts. The Amazon delta is located in the Amazon Basin, North Brazil, the largest river basin on Earth and also one of the least understood. A considerable segment of the population living in the Amazon delta is directly dependent on the local extraction of natural resources for their livelihood. Areas sparsely inhabited may be exploited with few negative consequences for the environment. However, increasing pressure on ecosystem services is amplified by large fluxes of immigrants from other parts of the country, especially from the semi-arid zone in Northeast Brazil to the lowland forests of the Amazon delta. Here we present partial results from a bigger research project. Therefore, the focus will be on presenting an overview of the current state, and the extent of changes on forest related ecosystem services in the Amazon delta over the last three decades. We aggregated a multitude of datasets, from a variety of sources, for example, from satellite imagery such as the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), the Global Inventory Modelling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and climate datasets at meteorological station level from the Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology (INMET) and social and economic statistics data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and from the Brazilian Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA). Through analysis of socioeconomic and satellite earth observation data we were able to produce and present spatially-explicit information with the current state and transition in forest cover and its impacts to forest ecosystem services providing units in the Amazon delta.
Why threefold-replication of families?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fitzpatrick, Gerald L.

1998-04-01

In spite of the many successes of the standard model of particle physics, the observed proliferation of matter-fields, in the form of ``replicated'' generations or families, is a major unsolved problem. In this paper, I explore some of the algebraic, geometric and physical consequences of a new organizing principle for fundamental fermions (quarks and leptons)(Gerald L. Fitzpatrick, phThe Family Problem--New Internal Algebraic and Geometric Regularities), Nova Scientific Press, Issaquah, Washington, 1997. Read more about this book (ISBN 0--9655695--0--0) and its subject matter at: http://www.tp.umu.se/TIPTOP and/or http://www.amazon.com.. The essence of the new organizing principle is the idea that the standard-model concept of scalar fermion numbers f can be generalized. In particular, a ``generalized fermion number,'' which consists of a 2× 2 matrix F that ``acts'' on an internal 2-space, instead of spacetime, is taken to describe certain internal properties of fundamental fermions. This generalization automatically introduces internal degrees of freedom that ``explain,'' among other things, family replication and the number (three) of families observed in nature.
Amazon Forest maintenance as a source of environmental services.

PubMed

Fearnside, Philip M

2008-03-01

Amazonian forest produces environmental services such as maintenance of biodiversity, water cycling and carbon stocks. These services have a much greater value to human society than do the timber, beef and other products that are obtained by destroying the forest. Yet institutional mechanisms are still lacking to transform the value of the standing forest into the foundation of an economy based on maintaining rather than destroying this ecosystem. Forest management for commodities such as timber and non-timber forest products faces severe limitations and inherent contradictions unless income is supplemented based on environmental services. Amazon forest is threatened by deforestation, logging, forest fires and climate change. Measures to avoid deforestation include repression through command and control, creation of protected areas, and reformulation of infrastructure decisions and development policies. An economy primarily based on the value of environmental services is essential for long-term maintenance of the forest. Much progress has been made in the decades since I first proposed such a transition, but many issues also remain unresolved. These include theoretical issues regarding accounting procedures, improved quantification of the services and of the benefits of different policy options, and effective uses of the funds generated in ways that maintain both the forest and the human population.
Forced Migration and Changing Livelihoods in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Randell, Heather

2017-09-01

Forced migration due to development projects or environmental change impacts livelihoods, as affected households are faced with new-and often less favorable-environmental, social, and economic conditions. This article examines changing livelihood strategies among a population of rural agricultural households displaced by the Belo Monte Dam in the Brazilian Amazon. Using longitudinal data, I find that many households used compensation payments to concentrate income generation efforts on the most lucrative strategies-cacao and cattle production and business or rental income. Poorer households and those that received the least compensation were more likely to continue relying on agricultural wage labor-a less desirable income source associated with not owning land or with persons needing to supplement income with additional work as a day laborer. Results also indicate that the amount of compensation received by most households was sufficient to enable them to make productive investments beyond attaining replacement land and housing. Many households invested in assets such as agricultural infrastructure, cattle, rental houses, or tractors-all of which directly contribute to future income. Displacement compensation, similar to remittances or conditional cash transfers, can therefore act as an important infusion of capital to promote socioeconomic development and poverty reduction.
Forced Migration and Changing Livelihoods in the Brazilian Amazon*

PubMed Central

Randell, Heather

2018-01-01

Forced migration due to development projects or environmental change impacts livelihoods, as affected households are faced with new—and often less favorable—environmental, social, and economic conditions. This article examines changing livelihood strategies among a population of rural agricultural households displaced by the Belo Monte Dam in the Brazilian Amazon. Using longitudinal data, I find that many households used compensation payments to concentrate income generation efforts on the most lucrative strategies—cacao and cattle production and business or rental income. Poorer households and those that received the least compensation were more likely to continue relying on agricultural wage labor—a less desirable income source associated with not owning land or with persons needing to supplement income with additional work as a day laborer. Results also indicate that the amount of compensation received by most households was sufficient to enable them to make productive investments beyond attaining replacement land and housing. Many households invested in assets such as agricultural infrastructure, cattle, rental houses, or tractors—all of which directly contribute to future income. Displacement compensation, similar to remittances or conditional cash transfers, can therefore act as an important infusion of capital to promote socioeconomic development and poverty reduction. PMID:29720771
Changes in the Carbon Cycle of Amazon Ecosystems During the 2010 Drought

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Potter, Christophera; Klooster, Steven; Hiatt, Cyrus; Genovese, Vanessa; Castilla-Rubino, Juan Carlos

2011-01-01

Satellite remote sensing was combined with the NASA-CASA carbon cycle simulation model to evaluate the impact of the 2010 drought (July through September) throughout tropical South America. Results indicated that net primary production (NPP) in Amazon forest areas declined by an average of 7% in 2010 compared to 2008. This represented a loss of vegetation CO2 uptake and potential Amazon rainforest growth of nearly 0.5 Pg C in 2010. The largest overall decline in ecosystem carbon gains by land cover type was predicted for closed broadleaf forest areas of the Amazon River basin, including a large fraction of regularly flooded forest areas. Model results support the hypothesis that soil and dead wood carbon decomposition fluxes of CO2 to the atmosphere were elevated during the drought period of 2010 in periodically flooded forest areas, compared to forests outside the main river floodplains.
Prevalence of myopia in an adult population of two different ethnic groups in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

PubMed

Jiménez, José Ramón; Bermúdez, Javier; Rubiño, Manuel; Gómez, Luis; Anera, Rosario González

2004-01-01

To determine the prevalence of myopia in the adult populations of two different ethnic communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Refraction with retinoscopy after cycloplegia was performed for 507 Naporuna (an ethnic group indigenous to the jungles of the Ecuadorian Amazon) and for 776 settlers (white-mestizos from the Andes, now living in the Amazon and working for the petroleum industry). Ages ranged from 18 to 45 years. All subjects had little or no formal education. The prevalence of myopia was 4.7% among the Naporuna and 5.5% among the settlers; the prevalence of hyperopia was higher, at 17.8% and 36.0%, respectively. The prevalence of myopia in the two communities studied agrees with the results of other studies showing a low prevalence of myopia among groups with low levels of formal education or groups living a nonurban lifestyle.
Mycotoxins and cyanogenic glycosides in staple foods of three indigenous people of the Colombian Amazon.

PubMed

Diaz, Gonzalo J; Krska, Rudolf; Sulyok, Michael

2015-01-01

A study was conducted to determine the incidence and levels of mycotoxins in the main staple foods of three indigenous people of the Colombian Amazon. A total of 20 corn, 24 rice and 59 cassava samples were analysed by a multi-analyte liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method covering the major classes of mycotoxins. In addition, cassava samples were also analysed for cyanogenic glycosides. The indigenous Amazon communities tested are exposed to potentially carcinogenic mycotoxins (particularly aflatoxins), as well as other mycotoxins, mainly through the intake of locally grown corn. Citrinin content in this corn was unusually high and has not been reported elsewhere. Two cassava samples contained high levels of cyanogenic glycosides. It is strongly recommended not to grow corn in the Amazon but instead purchase it from vendors capable of guaranteeing mycotoxin levels below the maximum allowable concentration in Colombia.
Accord No. 334 of 18 August 1989.

PubMed

1989-01-01

This Accord creates the Programme for Forestation and Reforestation of the Amazon Region of Ecuador with Native Species, under the control of the National Forestry Directorate. The preamble to the Accord states that the Programme has been created, in part, to stop the indiscriminate exploitation of natural trees. Accord No. 332 of 18 August 1989, issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, creates under the Regional Subsecretariat for the Amazon the Agency of Natural Resources of the Amazon Region of Ecuador to coordinate activities taking place in that area with the Institute for Settlement of the Amazon Region of Ecuador and relevant state organizations. The preamble to the Accord states that the Agency has been created, in part, to ensure the rational and harmonic development of the region and to preserve the region's natural resources. See Registro Oficial, No. 262, 28 August 1989, p. 2.

Questioning the Influence of Sunspots on Amazon Hydrology: Even a Broken Clock Tells the Right Time Twice a Day

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, J. C. A.; Gloor, M.; Boom, A.; Neill, D. A.; Cintra, B. B. L.; Clerici, S. J.; Brienen, R. J. W.

2018-02-01

It was suggested in a recent article that sunspots drive decadal variation in Amazon River flow. This conclusion was based on a novel time series decomposition method used to extract a decadal signal from the Amazon River record. We have extended this analysis back in time, using a new hydrological proxy record of tree ring oxygen isotopes (δ18OTR). Consistent with the findings of Antico and Torres, we find a positive correlation between sunspots and the decadal δ18OTR cycle from 1903 to 2012 (r = 0.60, p < 0.001). However, the relationship does not persist into the preceding century and even becomes weakly negative (r = -0.30, p = 0.11, 1799-1902). This result casts considerable doubt over the mechanism by which sunspots are purported to influence Amazon hydrology.
The changing hydrology of a dammed Amazon

PubMed Central

Timpe, Kelsie; Kaplan, David

2017-01-01

Developing countries around the world are expanding hydropower to meet growing energy demand. In the Brazilian Amazon, >200 dams are planned over the next 30 years, and questions about the impacts of current and future hydropower in this globally important watershed remain unanswered. In this context, we applied a hydrologic indicator method to quantify how existing Amazon dams have altered the natural flow regime and to identify predictors of alteration. The type and magnitude of hydrologic alteration varied widely by dam, but the largest changes were to critical characteristics of the flood pulse. Impacts were largest for low-elevation, large-reservoir dams; however, small dams had enormous impacts relative to electricity production. Finally, the “cumulative” effect of multiple dams was significant but only for some aspects of the flow regime. This analysis is a first step toward the development of environmental flows plans and policies relevant to the Amazon and other megadiverse river basins. PMID:29109972
The Amazon Boundary Layer Experiment (ABLE 2A) - Dry season 1985

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harriss, R. C.; Browell, E. V.; Hoell, J. M., Jr.; Bendura, R. J.; Beck, S. M.; Wofsy, S. C.; Mcneal, R. J.; Navarro, R. L.; Riley, J. T.; Snell, R. L.

1988-01-01

The Amazon Boundary Layer Experiment (ABLE 2A) used data from aircraft, ground-based, and satellite platforms to characterize the chemistry and dynamics of the lower atmosphere over the Amazon Basin during the early-to-middle dry season, July and August 1985. This paper reports the conceptual framework and experimental approach used in ABLE 2A and serves as an introduction to the detailed papers which follow in this issue. The results of ABLE 2A demonstrate that isoprene, methane, carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, dimethylsulfide, and organic aerosol emissions from soils and vegetation play a major role in determining the chemical composition of the atmospheric mixed layer over undisturbed forest and wetland environments. As the dry season progresses, emissions from both local and distant biomass burning become an important source of carbon monoxide, nitric oxide and ozone in the atmosphere over the central Amazon Basin.
Geometry modeling and grid generation using 3D NURBS control volume

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, Tzu-Yi; Soni, Bharat K.; Shih, Ming-Hsin

1995-01-01

The algorithms for volume grid generation using NURBS geometric representation are presented. The parameterization algorithm is enhanced to yield a desired physical distribution on the curve, surface and volume. This approach bridges the gap between CAD surface/volume definition and surface/volume grid generation. Computational examples associated with practical configurations have shown the utilization of these algorithms.
The Amazon hydrometeorology: Climatology, variability and links to changes in weather patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandes, Katia De Avila

My thesis focuses on improving the quantification of the hydrological cycle and understanding the atmospheric processes that link weather to climate in the Amazon River basin. By using ERA40 and independent observations, I assess how well we can estimate the surface water budget in the Amazon River basin. I find that ERA40 basin wide annual precipitation (P) overall agrees with observations showing a slight underestimation of 10% in average, whereas runoff (R) is underestimated by a larger margin (˜25%). Observed residual of precipitation and runoff (denoted as P-R) is better estimated by ERA40 P-R than actual ET which includes soil moisture nudging. The causes for said discrepancies were found to partly relate to soil moisture nudging that needs to be applied during the dry season to produce realistic ET and compensate for the low soil moisture recharge during the previous wet season. Insufficient recharge may in part be caused by underestimation of rainfall amount and intensity; moreover the shallow root layer in the model does not represent the deep soil water reservoir characteristic of the Amazonian forest. Whether the hydrological cycle and weather patterns in the Amazon have changed during the past few decades is a highly debatable but central question for detecting climate change in the region. The second part of my thesis focus on the physical links between rainfall changes detected in observations, and changes of synoptic scale systems as represented by ERA40. My results suggest that an observed delayed wet season onset is consistent with a decreasing number of cold air incursion (CAI) days in southern Amazon for the period 1979--2001. The variability of CAI into southern Amazon is related to the variability of SST upstream of South America in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. A Singular Value Decomposition Analysis (SVD) between CAI days and global SST reveal three main modes of co-variability. The first mode describes the effect of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation. During El Nino (La Nina) a strong (weak) subtropical jet stream over South America tends to prevent transient systems from moving to southern Amazon, resulting in decreased (increased) CAI days during SON. The second mode of co-variability shows an anomalously warm western Indian Ocean also related to strong subtropical jet stream, except the jet is positioned farther north in South America, which along with the absence of a well defined subpolar jet stream, favors the northward displacement of transient waves into central South America, but show little response in southern Amazon. The CAI days reconstructed from the first and second modes do not present any significant trend in southern Amazon. CAI days reconstructed from the third mode of co-variability on the other hand, reproduces the SON observed trend in almost its entirety. The third mode of co-variability describes negative (positive) anomalies in CAI days associated with cold (warm) SST anomalies in the eastern tropical Pacific, anomalous wavetrain in the Southern Hemisphere and Walker Cell displacement that are unfavorable (favorable) to the incursion of CAI into southern Amazon. The temporal evolution of this mode correlates negatively with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, suggesting that the recent gradual shift in PDO polarity reflected on the interannual response of Southern Pacific atmospheric patterns, hence on the behavior of transients propagation. The negative PDO index and its related atmospheric patterns are in agreement with the reduced observed CAI days, which also related to a delayed wet season onset in the southern Amazon.
The ambiguity of drought events, a bottleneck for Amazon forest drought response modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Deurwaerder, Hannes; Verbeeck, Hans; Baker, Timothy; Christoffersen, Bradley; Ciais, Philippe; Galbraith, David; Guimberteau, Matthieu; Kruijt, Bart; Langerwisch, Fanny; Meir, Patrick; Rammig, Anja; Thonicke, Kirsten; Von Randow, Celso; Zhang, Ke

2016-04-01

Considering the important role of the Amazon forest in the global water and carbon cycle, the prognosis of altered hydrological patterns resulting from climate change provides strong incentive for apprehending the direct implications of drought on the vegetation of this ecosystem. Dynamic global vegetation models have the potential of providing a useful tool to study drought impacts on various spatial and temporal scales. This however assumes the models being able to properly represent drought impact mechanisms. But how well do the models succeed in meeting this assumption? Within this study meteorological driver data and model output data of 4 different DGVMs, i.e. ORCHIDEE, JULES, INLAND and LPGmL, are studied. Using the palmer drought severity index (PDSI) and the mean cumulative water deficit (MWD), temporal and spatial representation of drought events are studied in the driver data and are referenced to historical extreme drought events in the Amazon. Subsequently, within the resulting temporal and spatial frame, we studied the drought impact on the above ground biomass (AGB) and gross primary production (GPP) fluxes. Flux tower data, field inventory data and the JUNG data-driven GPP product for the Amazon region are used for validation. Our findings not only suggest that the current state of the studied DGVMs is inadequate in representing Amazon droughts in general, but also highlights strong inter-model differences in drought responses. Using scatterplot-studies and input-output correlations, we provide insight in the origin of these encountered inter-model differences. In addition, we present directives of model development and improvement in scope of Amazon forest drought response modelling.
Amazon Basin climate under global warming: the role of the sea surface temperature.

PubMed

Harris, Phil P; Huntingford, Chris; Cox, Peter M

2008-05-27

The Hadley Centre coupled climate-carbon cycle model (HadCM3LC) predicts loss of the Amazon rainforest in response to future anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, the atmospheric component of HadCM3LC is used to assess the role of simulated changes in mid-twenty-first century sea surface temperature (SST) in Amazon Basin climate change. When the full HadCM3LC SST anomalies (SSTAs) are used, the atmosphere model reproduces the Amazon Basin climate change exhibited by HadCM3LC, including much of the reduction in Amazon Basin rainfall. This rainfall change is shown to be the combined effect of SSTAs in both the tropical Atlantic and the Pacific, with roughly equal contributions from each basin. The greatest rainfall reduction occurs from May to October, outside of the mature South American monsoon (SAM) season. This dry season response is the combined effect of a more rapid warming of the tropical North Atlantic relative to the south, and warm SSTAs in the tropical east Pacific. Conversely, a weak enhancement of mature SAM season rainfall in response to Atlantic SST change is suppressed by the atmospheric response to Pacific SST. This net wet season response is sufficient to prevent dry season soil moisture deficits from being recharged through the SAM season, leading to a perennial soil moisture reduction and an associated 30% reduction in annual Amazon Basin net primary productivity (NPP). A further 23% NPP reduction occurs in response to a 3.5 degrees C warmer air temperature associated with a global mean SST warming.
Rainfall and its seasonality over the Amazon in the 21st century as assessed by the coupled models for the IPCC AR4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Wenhong; Fu, Rong; Dickinson, Robert E.

2006-01-01

The global climate models for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC AR4) predict very different changes of rainfall over the Amazon under the SRES A1B scenario for global climate change. Five of the eleven models predict an increase of annual rainfall, three models predict a decrease of rainfall, and the other three models predict no significant changes in the Amazon rainfall. We have further examined two models. The UKMO-HadCM3 model predicts an El Niño-like sea surface temperature (SST) change and warming in the northern tropical Atlantic which appear to enhance atmospheric subsidence and consequently reduce clouds over the Amazon. The resultant increase of surface solar absorption causes a stronger surface sensible heat flux and thus reduces relative humidity of the surface air. These changes decrease the rate and length of wet season rainfall and surface latent heat flux. This decreased wet season rainfall leads to drier soil during the subsequent dry season, which in turn can delay the transition from the dry to wet season. GISS-ER predicts a weaker SST warming in the western Pacific and the southern tropical Atlantic which increases moisture transport and hence rainfall in the Amazon. In the southern Amazon and Nordeste where the strongest rainfall increase occurs, the resultant higher soil moisture supports a higher surface latent heat flux during the dry and transition season and leads to an earlier wet season onset.
Late Quaternary paleohydrology deduced from new marine sediment cores taken on the proximal Amazon continental margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nace, T.; Baker, P. A.; Dwyer, G. S.; Hollander, D. J.; Silva, C. G.

2010-12-01

Throughout the late Quaternary the Amazon Basin has been influenced by abrupt North-South climate forcing and has undergone several large climate variations as recorded in previously reported speleothem records. Despite its importance in the global carbon cycle there are few continuous, high-resolution records of the Amazon Basin that date back to and beyond the last glacial period. In this study, we report the first results of a marine geological expedition to the Amazon continental shelf and fan region. During this expedition we collected eight ~30 meter piston cores along with gravity, box and multicores. At both sites we undertook complementary multibeam and high resolution seismic reflection profiling. Analyses will be presented from two sets of box/gravity/piston cores. One core (32m) is from a high sedimentation site on the northern flank of the main submarine canyon within the Amazon Fan complex at 1700m water depth. The other core (30m) is located on a seamount to the south of the Amazon Fan complex at 3100m water depth. A mixed assemblage of foraminifera is used for 14C dating to obtain an age model and bulk organic geochemistry is analyzed to determine percent organic carbon, C/N ratios, δ13C and δ15N. The cores were continuously measured shipboard for magnetic susceptibility and gamma density using a GEOTEK logger. These findings uncover the contribution of pelagic and terrestrial organic matter, whether the terrigenous carbon is derived from C3 versus C4 vegetation, and whether the marine organic matter is composed of phytoplankton or marine algae.
The Fertilizing Role of African Dust in the Amazon Rainforest: A First Multiyear Assessment Based on CALIPSO Lidar Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, Hongbin; Chin, Mian; Yuan, Tianle; Bian, Huisheng; Remer, Lorraine A.; Prospero, Joseph M.; Omar, Ali; Winker, David; Yang, Yuekui; Zhang, Yan;

2015-01-01

The productivity of the Amazon rainforest is constrained by the availability of nutrients, in particular phosphorus (P). Deposition of long-range transported African dust is recognized as a potentially important but poorly quantified source of phosphorus. This study provides a first multiyear satellite-based estimate of dust deposition into the Amazon Basin using three dimensional (3D) aerosol measurements over 2007-2013 from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). The 7-year average of dust deposition into the Amazon Basin is estimated to be 28 (8 to approximately 48) Tg a(exp -1) or 29 (8 to approximately 50) kg ha(exp -1) a(exp -1). The dust deposition shows significant interannual variation that is negatively correlated with the prior-year rainfall in the Sahel. The CALIOP-based multi-year mean estimate of dust deposition matches better with estimates from in-situ measurements and model simulations than a previous satellite-based estimate does. The closer agreement benefits from a more realistic geographic definition of the Amazon Basin and inclusion of meridional dust transport calculation in addition to the 3D nature of CALIOP aerosol measurements. The imported dust could provide about 0.022 (0.0060.037) Tg P of phosphorus per year, equivalent to 23 (7 to approximately 39) g P ha(exp -1) a(exp -1) to fertilize the Amazon rainforest. This out-of-Basin P input largely compensates the hydrological loss of P from the Basin, suggesting an important role of African dust in preventing phosphorus depletion on time scales of decades to centuries.

Phylogeography of the dark fruit-eating bat Artibeus obscurus in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Ferreira, Wallax Augusto Silva; Borges, Bárbara do Nascimento; Rodrigues-Antunes, Symara; de Andrade, Fernanda Atanaena Gonçalves; Aguiar, Gilberto Ferreira de Souza; de Sousa e Silva-Junior, José; Marques-Aguiar, Suely Aparecida; Harada, Maria Lúcia

2014-01-01

Artibeus obscurus (Mammalia: Chiroptera) is endemic to South America, being found in at least 18 Brazilian states. Recent studies revealed that different populations of this genus present distinct phylogeographic patterns; however, very little is known on the population genetics structure of A. obscurus in the Amazon rainforest. Here, using a fragment (1010bp) of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b from 87 samples, we investigated patterns of genetic divergence among populations of A. obscurus from different locations in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest and compared them with other Brazilian and South American regions. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), fixation index (Fst) analysis, and phylogeographic patterns showed divergence between two major monophyletic groups, each one corresponding to a geographic region associated with the Atlantic and Amazon forest biomes. The Atlantic forest clusters formed a monophyletic group with a high bootstrap support and a fragmented distribution that follows the pattern predicted by the Refuge Theory. On the other hand, a different scenario was observed for the Amazon forest, where no fragmentation was identified. The AMOVA results revealed a significant geographic heterogeneity in the distribution of genetic variation, with 70% found within populations across the studied populations (Fst values ranging from 0.05864 to 0.09673; φST = 0.55). The intrapopulational analysis revealed that one population (Bragança) showed significant evidence of population expansion, with the formation of 2 distinct phylogroups, suggesting the occurrence of a subspecies or at least a different population in this region. These results also suggest considerable heterogeneity for A. obscurus in the Amazon region.
The fertilizing role of African dust in the Amazon rainforest: A first multiyear assessment based on data from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Hongbin; Chin, Mian; Yuan, Tianle; Bian, Huisheng; Remer, Lorraine A.; Prospero, Joseph M.; Omar, Ali; Winker, David; Yang, Yuekui; Zhang, Yan; Zhang, Zhibo; Zhao, Chun

2015-03-01

The productivity of the Amazon rainforest is constrained by the availability of nutrients, in particular phosphorus (P). Deposition of long-range transported African dust is recognized as a potentially important but poorly quantified source of phosphorus. This study provides a first multiyear satellite-based estimate of dust deposition into the Amazon Basin using three-dimensional (3-D) aerosol measurements over 2007-2013 from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). The 7 year average of dust deposition into the Amazon Basin is estimated to be 28 (8-48) Tg a-1 or 29 (8-50) kg ha-1 a-1. The dust deposition shows significant interannual variation that is negatively correlated with the prior-year rainfall in the Sahel. The CALIOP-based multiyear mean estimate of dust deposition matches better with estimates from in situ measurements and model simulations than a previous satellite-based estimate does. The closer agreement benefits from a more realistic geographic definition of the Amazon Basin and inclusion of meridional dust transport calculation in addition to the 3-D nature of CALIOP aerosol measurements. The imported dust could provide about 0.022 (0.006-0.037) Tg P of phosphorus per year, equivalent to 23 (7-39) g P ha-1 a-1 to fertilize the Amazon rainforest. This out-of-basin phosphorus input is comparable to the hydrological loss of phosphorus from the basin, suggesting an important role of African dust in preventing phosphorus depletion on timescales of decades to centuries.
Amazon water lenses and the influence of the North Brazil Current on the continental shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prestes, Yuri O.; Silva, Alex Costa da; Jeandel, Catherine

2018-05-01

The exchange processes on the Amazon continental shelf in northern Brazil are subject to complex interactions that involve forcings derived from distinct sources. The Amazon shelf is a unique and highly dynamic environment in which considerable discharge of freshwater enters the Atlantic Ocean, producing extensive Amazon Water Lenses (AWL). In addition to the presence of the AWL, the shelf is influenced by the semidiurnal oscillations of the tides and the strong North Brazil Current (NBC), a boundary current of the western Atlantic. The present study was based primarily on the influence of the freshwater input and the NBC on the shelf and the Amazon Shelf Break (ASB) off the mouth of the Pará River. For this purpose, hydrographic and hydrodynamic data were obtained by moorings of the AMANDES Project (April-July 2008), located on the Amazon shelf and the ASB. Spectral analysis and the continuous wavelet transform were applied to define tidal (high frequency/short period) and subtidal (low frequency/long period) signals. The results indicated that on both the shelf and the break, the semidiurnal tides are responsible for the residual landward transport and are predominantly across-shelf. Low-frequency motions in the synoptic bands and the AWL are related to spatial changes in the velocity field, mainly on the ASB in the along-shelf direction. The flow of the NBC can be interpreted as an along-shelf low-frequency oscillation capable of altering the spatial configuration of the velocity field, although its influence is perceived only in the absence of the AWL.
The influence of the Amazonian floodplain ecosystems on the trace element dynamics of the Amazon River mainstem (Brazil).

PubMed

Viers, Jérôme; Barroux, Guénaël; Pinelli, Marcello; Seyler, Patrick; Oliva, Priscia; Dupré, Bernard; Boaventura, Geraldo Resende

2005-03-01

The purpose of this paper is to forecast the role of riverine wetlands in the transfer of trace elements. One of the largest riverine wetlands in the world is the floodplain (várzea) of the Amazon River and its tributaries (Junk and Piedade, 1997). The central Amazon wetlands are constituted by a complex network of lakes and floodplains, named várzeas, that extend over more than 300,000 km2 (Junk, W.J., The Amazon floodplain--a sink or source for organic carbon? In Transport of Carbon and Minerals in Major World Rivers, edited by E.T. Degens, S. Kempe, R. Herrera, SCOPE/UNEP; 267-283, 1985.) and are among the most productive ecosystems in the world due to the regular enrichment in nutrients by river waters In order to understand if the adjacent floodplain of Amazon River have a significant influence on the trace element concentrations and fluxes of the mainstem, the concentrations of selected elements (i.e., Al, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Mo, Rb, Sr, Ba, and U) have been measured in the Amazon River water (Manacapuru Station, Amazonas State, Brazil) and in lake waters and plants (leaves) from a várzea(Ilha de Marchantaria, Amazonas State, Brazil) during different periods of the hydrological cycle. Four plant species (two perennial species: Pseudobombax munguba and Salix humboldtiana, and two annual herbaceous plants: Echinochloa polystachya and Eichhornia crassipes) were selected to represent the ecological functioning of the site. Time series obtained for dissolved Mn and Cu (<0.20 microm) in Amazon River water could not be explained by tributary mixing or instream processes only. Therefore, the contribution of the waters transiting the floodplains should be considered. These results suggest that the chemical composition of the waters draining these floodplains is controlled by reactions occurring at sediment-water and plant-water interfaces. Trace elements concentrations in the plants (leaves) vary strongly with hydrological seasonality. Based on the concentration data and the biological productivity of floodplain ecosystems, a first order approximation of trace element storage (permanent or temporary) in the vegetation of these floodplains was made. It was found that floodplain-mainstem elemental fluxes make a significant contribution to the dissolved flux of the Amazon River. This study is part of the Brazilian_French joint research program Hybam (Hydrology and Geochemistry of the Amazonian Basin).
Amazonian and neotropical plant communities on glacial time-scales: The failure of the aridity and refuge hypotheses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colinvaux, P. A.; De Oliveira, P. E.; Bush, M. B.

2000-01-01

Plants respond to Pleistocene climatic change as species, not as associations or biomes. This has been demonstrated unequivocally by paleobotanical data for temperate latitudes. In the far richer vegetations of the tropics species populations also fluctuated independently in response to climatic forcing, from their longlasting glacial states to the patterns of brief interglacials like the present and back again. We use pollen data to reconstruct the vegetation of the Amazon basin in oxygen isotope stages 3 and 2 of the last glaciation in order to measure how the plant populations of the Amazon responded to the global warming at the onset of the Holocene. We find that plant communities of the neotropics vent copious pollen to lake sediments and that this pollen yields powerful signals for community composition. Three continuous sedimentary records reaching through oxygen isotope stage 2 are available from the Amazon lowlands, those from Carajas, Lake Pata and marine deposits off the mouth of the Amazon River. All three records yield pollen histories of remarkable constancy and stability. By comparing them with deposits of equal antiquity from the cerrado (savanna) of central Brazil, we show that most of the Amazon lowlands remained under forest throughout a glacial cycle. This forest was never fragmented by open vegetation as postulated by the refugia hypothesis. Instead the intact forest of glacial times included significant populations of plants that are now montane, suggesting that the global warming of the early Holocene resulted in the expulsion of heat intolerant plants from the lowland forest. Pollen data from the Amazonian flank of the Andes and from Pacific Panama provide evidence that populations of these heat intolerant plants survive the heat of interglacials in part by maintaining large populations at cooler montane altitudes. Our conclusion that the Amazon lowlands were forested in glacial times specifically refutes the hypothesis of Amazonian glacial aridity. Accordingly we examine the geomorphological evidence for glacial aridity and find it wanting. Of the three paleodune systems reported for tropical South America, that of NE Brazil was active in the Holocene as well as the Pleistocene. Parts of NE Brazil were actually moister than now in late-glacial times. Paleodunes in the Pantanal have never been seen on the ground, and those in the Orinoco Llanos are undated and may be of any age since the Tertiary. Arkosic sands in the Amazon fan deposits came from the Andean foothills or from down cutting by rivers and cannot be evidence of a former arid land surface. White sands of Amazonia formed as podzols, not by aeolian activity. Such Amazonian stone lines as have received critical scrutiny are concretionary pisolites in stratigraphic formations that are more than ten million years old. Although the Amazon was never arid, modeling cooler glacial tropics gives plausibility to a somewhat drier Amazon in glacial times, a concept given substance by pollen data for the movement of ecotones in Rondonia, by stream histories in the Bolivian Andes, and by evidence for lowered lake levels at Carajas and Lake Pata. But this reduced precipitation was never enough to fragment the forest in the Amazon lowlands themselves. Pleistocene mammals of the Napo river valley in Ecuador were able to live along the river system in a forested landscape. Our data suggest that the Amazon forests have been stable since the start of the Pleistocene, a fact that has contributed to the storage of vast diversity. The coming anthropogenic global warming and CO 2 enrichment will add to the global warming already endured by Amazon biota in the Holocene. We think it possible that the expulsion from the lowland forests of heat intolerant species is already complete and that the forest property of maintaining its own microhabitat will allow the high species richness to survive more global warming, provided large enough tracts of forest are preserved.
Functional traits reveal the expansion and packing of ecological niche space underlying an elevational diversity gradient in passerine birds.

PubMed

Pigot, Alex L; Trisos, Christopher H; Tobias, Joseph A

2016-01-13

Variation in species richness across environmental gradients may be associated with an expanded volume or increased packing of ecological niche space. However, the relative importance of these alternative scenarios remains unknown, largely because standardized information on functional traits and their ecological relevance is lacking for major diversity gradients. Here, we combine data on morphological and ecological traits for 523 species of passerine birds distributed across an Andes-to-Amazon elevation gradient. We show that morphological traits capture substantial variation in species dietary (75%) and foraging niches (60%) when multiple independent trait dimensions are considered. Having established these relationships, we show that the 14-fold increase in species richness towards the lowlands is associated with both an increased volume and density of functional trait space. However, we find that increases in volume contribute little to changes in richness, with most (78%) lowland species occurring within the range of trait space occupied at high elevations. Taken together, our results suggest that high species richness is mainly associated with a denser occupation of functional trait space, implying an increased specialization or overlap of ecological niches, and supporting the view that niche packing is the dominant trend underlying gradients of increasing biodiversity towards the lowland tropics. © 2016 The Author(s).
Functional traits reveal the expansion and packing of ecological niche space underlying an elevational diversity gradient in passerine birds

PubMed Central

Pigot, Alex L.; Trisos, Christopher H.; Tobias, Joseph A.

2016-01-01

Variation in species richness across environmental gradients may be associated with an expanded volume or increased packing of ecological niche space. However, the relative importance of these alternative scenarios remains unknown, largely because standardized information on functional traits and their ecological relevance is lacking for major diversity gradients. Here, we combine data on morphological and ecological traits for 523 species of passerine birds distributed across an Andes-to-Amazon elevation gradient. We show that morphological traits capture substantial variation in species dietary (75%) and foraging niches (60%) when multiple independent trait dimensions are considered. Having established these relationships, we show that the 14-fold increase in species richness towards the lowlands is associated with both an increased volume and density of functional trait space. However, we find that increases in volume contribute little to changes in richness, with most (78%) lowland species occurring within the range of trait space occupied at high elevations. Taken together, our results suggest that high species richness is mainly associated with a denser occupation of functional trait space, implying an increased specialization or overlap of ecological niches, and supporting the view that niche packing is the dominant trend underlying gradients of increasing biodiversity towards the lowland tropics. PMID:26740616
Chronic chagasic cardiopathy in Amazon region: an etiology to remember.

PubMed

Ferreira, João Marcos Bemfica Barbosa; Guerra, Jorge Augusto de Oliveira; Magalhães, Belisa Maria Lopes; Coelho, Leíla I A R C; Maciel, Marcel Gonçalves; Barbosa, Maria das Graças Vale

2009-12-01

This study assessed the frequency of chronic chagasic cardiopathy (CCC) in 37 autochthonus patients from Amazon region with left ventricular systolic dysfunction of undefined etiology. Three cases were diagnosed in the studied sample, with an 8.1% frequency.
Environment Industry, Industry Study, Spring 2008

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

challenge is deforestation of the Amazon rainforest due to illegal logging, cattle ranching, commercial agriculture and settlement/ subsistence farming...Since the Amazon accounts for thirty percent of all remaining tropical forest in the world, the challenge is immense.24 Understandably, Brazil is a
76 FR 19993 - Granting of Request for Early Termination of the Waiting Period Under the Premerger Notification...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-11

... 03/23/2011 20110137 G Amazon.com , Inc.; Quidsi, Inc.; Amazon.com , Inc. 20110603 G Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund III, L.P.; Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc.; Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund III...

Granular cell tumor in an endangered Puerto Rican Amazon parrot (Amazon vittata)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Quist, C.F.; Latimer, K.S.; Goldade, S.L.; Rivera, A.; Dein, F.J.

1999-01-01

A 3 cm diameter mass from the metacarpus of a Puerto Rican Amazon parrot was diagnosed as a granular cell tumour based on light microscopy. The cytoplasmic granules were periodic-acid Schiff positive and diastase resistant. Ultrastructural characteristics of the cells included convoluted nuclei and the presence of numerous cytoplasmic tertiary lysosomes. This is only the second granular cell tumour reported in a bird. We speculate that most granular cell tumours are derived from cells that are engaged in some type of cellular degradative process, creating a similar morphologic appearance, but lacking a uniform histogenesis.
The Expansion of the Economic Frontier and the Diffusion of Violence in the Amazon

PubMed Central

Souza, Patrícia Feitosa; Xavier, Diego Ricardo; Rican, Stephane; de Matos, Vanderlei Pascoal; Barcellos, Christovam

2015-01-01

Over the last few decades, the occupation of the Amazon and the expansion of large-scale economic activities have exerted a significant negative impact on the Amazonian environment and on the health of the Amazon’s inhabitants. These processes have altered the context of the manifestation of health problems in time and space and changed the characteristics of the spatial diffusion of health problems in the region. This study analyzed the relationships between the various economic processes of territorial occupation in the Amazon and the spatial diffusion of homicidal violence through the configuration of networks of production, as well as the movements of population and merchandise. Statistical data on violence, deforestation, the production of agricultural items, and socio-economic variables, georeferenced and available for the 771 municipalities of the Legal Amazon were used in this study. The results suggest that the diffusion of violence closely follows the economic expansion front, which is related to deforestation and livestock production but has little relation to grain production, demonstrating steps and typologies of recent occupation in the Amazon that promote violence. These spatial patterns reveal environmental and socio-economic macro-determinants that materialize in geographic space through the construction of highways and the formation of city networks. PMID:26024359
Tree rings and rainfall in the equatorial Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granato-Souza, Daniela; Stahle, David W.; Barbosa, Ana Carolina; Feng, Song; Torbenson, Max C. A.; de Assis Pereira, Gabriel; Schöngart, Jochen; Barbosa, Joao Paulo; Griffin, Daniel

2018-05-01

The Amazon basin is a global center of hydroclimatic variability and biodiversity, but there are only eight instrumental rainfall stations with continuous records longer than 80 years in the entire basin, an area nearly the size of the coterminous US. The first long moisture-sensitive tree-ring chronology has been developed in the eastern equatorial Amazon of Brazil based on dendrochronological analysis of Cedrela cross sections cut during sustainable logging operations near the Rio Paru. The Rio Paru chronology dates from 1786 to 2016 and is significantly correlated with instrumental precipitation observations from 1939 to 2016. The strength and spatial scale of the precipitation signal vary during the instrumental period, but the Rio Paru chronology has been used to develop a preliminary reconstruction of February to November rainfall totals from 1786 to 2016. The reconstruction is related to SSTs in the Atlantic and especially the tropical Pacific, similar to the stronger pattern of association computed for the instrumental rainfall data from the eastern Amazon. The tree-ring data estimate extended drought and wet episodes in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, providing a valuable, long-term perspective on the moisture changes expected to emerge over the Amazon in the coming century due to deforestation and anthropogenic climate change.
Amazon Deforestation Fires Increase Plant Productivity through Changes in Diffuse Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rap, A.; Reddington, C.; Spracklen, D. V.; Mercado, L.; Haywood, J. M.; Bonal, D.; Butt, N.; Phillips, O.

2013-12-01

Over the past few decades a large increase in carbon storage has been observed in undisturbed forests across Amazonia. The reason for such a sink is unclear, although many possible mechanisms have been suggested, including changes in temperature, carbon dioxide, precipitation, clouds, and solar radiation. In this work we focus on one such mechanism, namely the increase in plant photosynthesis due to changes in diffuse radiation caused by atmospheric aerosols from large-scale deforestation fires that now occur throughout the Amazon region. We estimate that this mechanism has increased dry season (August-September) net primary productivity (NPP) by up to 30% across wide regions of the Amazon. We conclude that aerosol from deforestation fires may be responsible for a substantial fraction of the Amazon carbon sink that has been observed. Our approach is based on the combined use of three models: (i) the Global Model of Aerosol Processes (GLOMAP), (ii) the Edwards-Slingo radiation model, and (iii) the UK Met Office JULES land-surface scheme, constrained against in-situ aerosol and radiation observation datasets from several Amazonian sites. A 10 year (1999-2008) GLOMAP simulation using GFED3 biomass burning emissions is first evaluated against aerosol observations, indicating that the model is able to capture the Amazon aerosol seasonality, with enhanced concentrations during the dry season driven by biomass burning. The radiation scheme is then shown to be in good agreement with total and diffuse radiation in-situ observations, the model being able to capture the high total and low diffuse radiation flux in the dry season, as well as the low total and high diffuse radiation flux in the wet season. We then use our modelling framework to quantify the contribution of deforestation fires to diffuse/direct radiation fraction and forest productivity. We calculate that deforestation fires increase dry season diffuse radiation by up to 60% or 30 Wm-2. Finally, we use the JULES model to show that this increase in diffuse radiation is responsible for a substantial growth in gross primary productivity (GPP), enhancing Amazon-wide dry-season GPP by 5% with local increases of up to 15%. Most of this GPP response results in an increase in NPP, estimated in the dry season at 10% across the Amazon with local increases as large as 30%. This substantial NPP enhancement spatially matches observed increases in forest biomass storage across the Amazon. We thus suggest that deforestation fires have an important impact on the Amazon carbon budget and attempt to estimate the fraction of the observed forest carbon sink that can be attributed to this mechanism. Change [%] in diffuse radiation due to deforestation
On the Onset of the Rainy Season in Amazonia: WHAT the Observations Show, and Why the Biases in Climate Models?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marengo, J. A.; Alves, L. M.; Fu, R.

2014-12-01

The onset of the Amazon rainy season shows a large temporal and spatial variability, delays on the date of the onset will have strong impacts on local agriculture, hydroelectric power generation as well as on the hydrology of large rivers. Two "once-in-a-century" droughts occurred in 2005 and 2010, and it was shown that in those events the rainy season started later than normal, and also that on the last 10 years the dry season has increased in length by about one month. These events highlight the urgency for improving our understanding and capability to model onset of the rainy season and drought variability, for the present and future. Most studies have attributed the variability of the rainy season onset over Amazonia to the variability of the tropical oceans whether other factors, such as climate change, land use and aerosols also contribute to the variability are not clear.. Global climate models run on seasonal climate forecast mode still show large uncertainties on the prediction of onset of seasonal rains. As for climate change, the CMIP3 and CMIP5 appear to underestimate the past variability, and also project virtually no future change of the onset of rainy season over the Amazon even when they are forced by strong greenhouse forcing under the RCP8.5 emission scenario. Why these models underestimate the variability of the rainy season onset, and whether this bias implies an underestimate of sensitivity of their dry season length to anthropogenic radiative forcing remain unclear. This FAPESP DOE grant 2013/50538 aims to explore use of the measurements provided by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facilities (AMF)-GoAmazon and the Cloud processes of the main precipitation systems in Brazil (CHUVA) Field Experiments, along with global and regional model experiments, to explore the sources of the above described uncertainty. The project will address several issues, i.e. the inadequate representation of the types of convection (i.e., maritime versus continental) and their relationships to aerosols, land surface and atmospheric circulation as represented in climate models We will present our initial results addressing the factors that control the variability of the wet season onset over Amazonia, the influence of convective types on atmospheric diabatic heating based on GoAmazon and CHUVA.
A Regional-Scale Assessment of Satellite Derived Precipitable Water Vapor Across The Amazon Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeLiberty, Tracy; Callahan, John; Guillory, Anthony R.; Jedlovec, Gary

2000-01-01

Atmospheric water vapor is widely recognized as a key climate variable, linking an assortment of poorly understood and complex processes. It is a major element of the hydrological cycle and provides a mechanism for energy exchange among many of the Earth system components. Reducing uncertainty in our current knowledge of water vapor and its role in the climate system requires accurate measurement, improved modeling techniques, and long-term prediction. Satellites have the potential to satisfy these criteria, as well as provide high resolution measurements that are not available from conventional sources. The focus of this paper is to examine the temporal and mesoscale variations of satellite derived precipitable water vapor (PW) across the Amazon Basin. This region is pivotal in the functioning of the global climate system through its abundant release of latent heat associated with heavy precipitation events. In addition, anthropogenic deforestation and biomass burning activities in recent decades are altering the conditions of the atmosphere, especially in the planetary boundary layer. A physical split-window (PSW) algorithm estimates PW using images from the GOES satellites along with the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data that provides the first guess information. Retrievals are made at a three-hourly time step during daylight hours in the Amazon Basin and surrounding areas for the months of June and October in 1988 (dry year) and 1995 (wet year). Spatially continuous fields are generated 5 times daily at 12Z, 15Z, 18Z, 21Z, and 00Z. These fields are then averaged to create monthly and 3 hourly monthly grids. Overall, the PSW estimates PW reasonable well in the Amazon with MAE ranging from 3.0 - 9.0 mm and MAE/observed mean around 20% in comparison to radiosonde observations. The distribution of PW generally mimics that of precipitation. Maximum values (42 - 52 mm) are located in the Northwest whereas minimum values (18 - 27 mm) are found along Brazil's East coast. Aside from the East coast, PW has a stronger north-south gradient than that of rainfall. As for the temporal variation of PW, June (1988 and 1995) experiences a peak about 1400 local time, corresponding to a maximum in air temperature. In contrast, October (1988 and 1995) experiences a maximum early in the day, 1100 local time, with a gradual decrease toward nighttime.
[Cardiac involvement in Acute Chagas' Disease cases in the Amazon region].

PubMed

Barbosa-Ferreira, João Marcos; Guerra, Jorge Augusto de Oliveira; Santana Filho, Franklin Simões de; Magalhães, Belisa Maria Lopes; Coelho, Leíla I A R C; Barbosa, Maria das Graças Vale

2010-06-01

The cardiac involvement of five patients from the Amazon region with Acute Chagas' Disease (ACD) is described. Four of these patients presented probable oral transmission. All of them presented some degree of cardiac involvement, but there were no deaths.
Intercomparison of regional-scale hydrological models and climate change impacts projected for 12 large river basins worldwide—a synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krysanova, Valentina; Vetter, Tobias; Eisner, Stephanie; Huang, Shaochun; Pechlivanidis, Ilias; Strauch, Michael; Gelfan, Alexander; Kumar, Rohini; Aich, Valentin; Arheimer, Berit; Chamorro, Alejandro; van Griensven, Ann; Kundu, Dipangkar; Lobanova, Anastasia; Mishra, Vimal; Plötner, Stefan; Reinhardt, Julia; Seidou, Ousmane; Wang, Xiaoyan; Wortmann, Michel; Zeng, Xiaofan; Hattermann, Fred F.

2017-10-01

An intercomparison of climate change impacts projected by nine regional-scale hydrological models for 12 large river basins on all continents was performed, and sources of uncertainty were quantified in the framework of the ISIMIP project. The models ECOMAG, HBV, HYMOD, HYPE, mHM, SWAT, SWIM, VIC and WaterGAP3 were applied in the following basins: Rhine and Tagus in Europe, Niger and Blue Nile in Africa, Ganges, Lena, Upper Yellow and Upper Yangtze in Asia, Upper Mississippi, MacKenzie and Upper Amazon in America, and Darling in Australia. The model calibration and validation was done using WATCH climate data for the period 1971-2000. The results, evaluated with 14 criteria, are mostly satisfactory, except for the low flow. Climate change impacts were analyzed using projections from five global climate models under four representative concentration pathways. Trends in the period 2070-2099 in relation to the reference period 1975-2004 were evaluated for three variables: the long-term mean annual flow and high and low flow percentiles Q 10 and Q 90, as well as for flows in three months high- and low-flow periods denoted as HF and LF. For three river basins: the Lena, MacKenzie and Tagus strong trends in all five variables were found (except for Q 10 in the MacKenzie); trends with moderate certainty for three to five variables were confirmed for the Rhine, Ganges and Upper Mississippi; and increases in HF and LF were found for the Upper Amazon, Upper Yangtze and Upper Yellow. The analysis of projected streamflow seasonality demonstrated increasing streamflow volumes during the high-flow period in four basins influenced by monsoonal precipitation (Ganges, Upper Amazon, Upper Yangtze and Upper Yellow), an amplification of the snowmelt flood peaks in the Lena and MacKenzie, and a substantial decrease of discharge in the Tagus (all months). The overall average fractions of uncertainty for the annual mean flow projections in the multi-model ensemble applied for all basins were 57% for GCMs, 27% for RCPs, and 16% for hydrological models.
Pharmacokinetics of Levetiracetam in Healthy Hispaniolan Amazon Parrots ( Amazona ventralis ) After Oral Administration of a Single Dose.

PubMed

Schnellbacher, Rodney; Beaufrère, Hugues; Vet, Dr Med; Arnold, Robert D; Tully, Thomas N; Mayer, Joerg; Divers, Stephen J

2014-09-01

Long-term anticonvulsive treatments have been poorly described in birds, and few pharmacokinetic studies have been performed, with mixed results. Levetiracetam, a new anticonvulsive drug, has shown good efficacy for monotherapy or adjunctive treatment of seizures in both human and veterinary medicine. To determine pharmacokinetics of levetiracetam in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots ( Amazona ventralis ), 20 healthy birds were randomly divided into 2 groups and administered either a 50 mg/kg (n = 10) or a 100 mg/kg (n = 10) oral dose of levetiracetam with no observable adverse effects. Blood samples were collected at baseline and at 12 time intervals (6 per group) for 16 hours. The concentration-time profiles resembled characteristic absorption, with maximum plasma concentrations of 61.0 μg/mL and 95.1 μg/mL at 60 minutes; terminal half-lives at 2.38 and 2.37 hours; volumes of distribution of 0.807 and 0.773 L/kg, with an area under the curve at 14 100 and 28 820 mg × min/L; and clearance rates of 3.65 and 3.60 mL/min per kg, respectively. Plasma concentrations were greater than 5.5 mg/L for up to 9.4 and 12 hours, suggesting an 8- and 12-hour oral dosing at 50 and 100 mg/kg, respectively, would be sufficient to maintain targeted values. Clinically, doses and frequencies may need escalation based on differences in species and individuals, and drug levels should be monitored.
Comparison of hematologic values in blood samples with lithium heparin or dipotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid anticoagulants in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis).

PubMed

Guzman, David Sanchez-Migallon; Mitchell, Mark A; Gaunt, Stephen D; Beaufrère, Hugues; Tully, Thomas N

2008-06-01

Blood samples were collected from 20 Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis) and were divided into tubes that contained dipotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (K2EDTA) and lithium heparin. Complete blood cell counts were determined in each sample within 2 hours of collection. The level of agreement in results was moderate for plasma protein, packed cell volume (PCV), and leukocyte, monocyte, and lymphocyte counts between the anticoagulants. Plasma protein and PCV values were significantly lower in samples with lithium heparin than in those with K2EDTA, whereas lymphocyte numbers were significantly higher in lithium heparin samples than in K2EDTA samples. The level of agreement was good for the other cell types (heterophils, eosinophils, and basophils) when comparing the different anticoagulants. The poor level of agreement between anticoagulants with the increase in thrombocyte clumping in lithium heparin samples indicates that the use of lithium heparin as anticoagulant may affect thrombocyte count. No negative effects on morphology and staining of blood cells were apparent in smears from heparin samples compared with K2EDTA samples. Within the different values compared, the limits of agreement are small enough to be confident that lithium heparin can be used for routine CBC counts in a clinical setting. The use of the same anticoagulant should be recommended to follow trends within the same patient, especially when considering plasma protein concentration, PCV, and lymphocyte count.
Overview of the South American biomass burning analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, W. T.; Allan, J. D.; Flynn, M.; Darbyshire, E.; Hodgson, A.; Johnson, B. T.; Haywood, J. M.; Freitas, S.; Longo, K.; Artaxo, P.; Coe, H.

2013-05-01

Biomass burning represents one of the largest sources of particulate matter to the atmosphere, which results in a significant perturbation to the Earth's radiative balance coupled with serious negative impacts on public health. Globally, biomass burning aerosols are thought to exert a small warming effect of 0.03 Wm-2, however the uncertainty is 4 times greater than the central estimate. On regional scales, the impact is substantially greater, particularly in areas such as the Amazon Basin where large, intense and frequent burning occurs on an annual basis for several months (usually from August-October). Furthermore, a growing number of people live within the Amazon region, which means that they are subject to the deleterious effects on their health from exposure to substantial volumes of polluted air. Initial results from the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment, which took place during September and October 2012 over Brazil, are presented here. A suite of instrumentation was flown on-board the UK Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurement (FAAM) BAe-146 research aircraft and was supported by ground based measurements, with extensive measurements made in Porto Velho, Rondonia. The aircraft sampled a range of conditions with sampling of fresh biomass burning plumes, regional haze and elevated biomass burning layers within the free troposphere. The physical, chemical and optical properties of the aerosols across the region will be characterized in order to establish the impact of biomass burning on regional air quality, weather and climate.
Design of experiments for the development of poly( d, l-lactide- co-glycolide) nanoparticles loaded with Uncaria tomentosa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro, Ana Ferreira; Ferreira, Carina Torres Garruth; dos Santos, Juliana Fernandes; Cabral, Lúcio Mendes; de Sousa, Valéria Pereira

2015-02-01

Polymeric nanoparticles have been shown to be effective carriers for natural substances that possess anticancer properties. Incorporation of these natural substances into polymeric nanoparticles increases targeting of these drugs, thus reducing side effects. Uncaria tomentosa (UT) is a Peruvian Amazon plant (existing in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest) that possesses promising anti-tumor activity. This paper describes the development of poly( d, l-lactide- co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles loaded with UT extract. The emulsion solvent evaporation method was utilized and the initial conditions were determined for the organic phase (OP) and the aqueous phase (AP). The influence of surfactant (type and concentration), PLGA concentration and AP volume on nanoparticle size, polydispersity index (PI), and entrapment efficiency (EE) was determined using a fractional factorial design (FFD). In addition, the formulation was optimized using a Box-Behnken design. After the conditions were optimized, UT nanoparticles were obtained using an OP composed of an ethyl acetate:acetone (3:2) mixture which contained the UT alkaloids and PLGA, and an AP composed of a buffered solution of Poloxamer 188 (pH 7.5). The optimized formulation produced an EE of 64.6 %, a particle size of 107.4 nm and a PI of 0.163. The preliminary experiments provided important information regarding the behavior of the nanoparticulate system and the FFD used in this study greatly facilitated the selection of the most optimal conditions for formulation development.
A TRMM-Calibrated Infrared Technique for Convective and Stratiform Rainfall: Analysis and Validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Negri, Andrew; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

A satellite infrared technique with passive microwave calibration has been developed for estimating convective and stratiform rainfall. The Convective-Stratiform Technique, calibrated by coincident, physically retrieved rain rates from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI), has been applied to 30 min interval GOES infrared data and aggregated over seasonal and yearly periods over northern South America. The diurnal cycle of rainfall, as well as the division between convective and stratiform rainfall is presented. For the period Jan-April 1999, analysis revealed significant effects of local circulations (river breeze, land/sea breeze, mountain/valley) on both the total rainfall and it's diurnal cycle. Results compared well (a one-hour lag) with the diurnal cycle derived from TOGA radar-estimated rainfall in Rondonia. The satellite estimates revealed that the convective rain constituted 24% of the rain area while accounting for 67% of the rain volume. Estimates of the diurnal cycle (both total rainfall and convective/stratiform) for an area encompassing the Amazon Basin (3 x 10(exp 6) sq km) were in phase with those from the TRMM Precipitation Radar, despite the latter's limited sampling. Results will be presented comparing the yearly (2000) diurnal cycle for large regions (including the Amazon Basin), and an intercomparison of January-March estimates for three years, (1999-2001). We hope to demonstrate the utility of using the TRMM PR observations as verification for infrared estimates of the diurnal cycle, and as verification of the apportionment of rainfall into convective and stratiform components.
A TRMM-Calibrated Infrared Technique for Convective and Stratiform Rainfall: Analysis and Validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Negri, Andrew; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

A satellite infrared technique with passive microwave calibration has been developed for estimating convective and stratiform. rainfall. The Convective-Stratiform Technique, calibrated by coincident, physically retrieved rain rates from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI), has been applied to 30 min interval GOES infrared data and aggregated over seasonal and yearly periods over northern South America. The diurnal cycle of rainfall, as well as the division between convective and stratiform rainfall is presented. For the period Jan-April 1999, analysis revealed significant effects of local circulations (river breeze, land/sea breeze, mountain/valley) on both the total rainfall and it's diurnal cycle. Results compared well (a one-hour lag) with the diurnal cycle derived from TOGA radar-estimated rainfall in Rondonia. The satellite estimates revealed that the convective rain constituted 24% of the rain area while accounting for 67% of the rain volume. Estimates of the diurnal cycle (both total rainfall and convective/stratiform) for an area encompassing the Amazon Basin (3 x 10(exp 6) square km) were in phase with those from the TRMM Precipitation Radar, despite the latter's limited sampling. Results will be presented comparing the yearly (2000) diurnal cycle for large regions (including the Amazon Basin), and an intercomparison of January-March estimates for three years, 1999-2001. We hope to demonstrate the utility of using the TRMM PR observations as verification for infrared estimates of the diurnal cycle, and as verification of the apportionment of rainfall into convective and stratiform components.
Information for space radar designers: Required dynamic range vs resolution and antenna calibration using the Amazon rain forest

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, R. K.; Frost, V. S.

1985-01-01

Calibration of the vertical pattern of the antennas for the SEASAT scatterometer was accomplished using the nearly-uniform radar return from the Amazon rain forest. A similar calibration will be attempted for the SIR-B antenna. Thick calibration is important to establish the radiometric calibration across the swath of the SIR-B, and the developed methodology will provide an important tool in the evaluation of future spaceborne imaging radars. This calibration was made by the very-wide-beam SEASAT scatterometer antennas because at 14.65 GHz the scattering coefficient of the rain forest is almost independent of angle of incidence. It is expected that the variation in scattering coefficient for the rain forest across the relatively narrow vertical beam of the SIR-B will be very small; even at L band the forest should be essentially impenetrable for radar signals, the volume scatter from the treetops will predominate as at higher frequencies. The basic research elements include: (1) examination of SIR-B images over the rain forest to establish the variability of the scattering coefficient at finer resolutions than that of the SEASAT scatterometer; (2) analysis of the variability of SIR-B data detected prior to processing for either azimuth compression or; possibly, range compression so that averages over relatively large footprints can be used; (3) processing of data of the form of (2) using algorithms that can recover the vertical pattern of the antenna.
Insight on the Peruvian Amazon River: A Planform Metric Characterization of its Morphodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, A. M. P.; Ortals, C.; Frias, C. E.; Abad, J. D.; Vizcarra, J.

2014-12-01

Starting in Peru, the Amazon River flows through Colombia and Brazil; additionally, tributaries from Bolivia, Venezuela, and Ecuador contribute to the massive river and its unique geomorphic features. Accordingly, the Amazon Basin has become an important aspect of South America; it is an area of extraordinary biodiversity, rich resources, and unique cultures. However, due to the sheer magnitude and exceptionality of the Amazon River, research regarding the morphodynamic processes that shape and define the river has been difficult. Consequently, current research has not completely understood the planform dynamics of some portions of this river that present a main channel and secondary channels known as "anabranching structures". The purpose of this research was to gain an understanding of the geomorphology of the upper Amazon, the Peruvian section, by obtaining migration rates and planform metrics, including channel count, length, width, and sinuosity, as well as island count, area, and shape. With this data, the morphodynamics of the Peruvian Amazon, especially the relationship between the main channel and its secondary channels in each "anabranching structure" along the river, could be analyzed according to correlations found between various metrics. This analysis was carried out for 5-year time spans over a period of 25 years. Preliminary results showed that the average migration rate versus channel bend radius envelope peak is lower for the secondary channels than for the main channel. However, the maximum migration rate was not always found in the main channel; for several structures, the most dynamic channels were the secondary ones. This implies a certain periodicity to the river's migratory patterns that could be related to the valley boundaries, the local channel sinuosity or geological formations in the study area.
Applying NASA Imaging Radar Datasets to Investigate the Geomorphology of the Amazon's Planalto

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDonald, K. C.; Campbell, K.; Islam, R.; Alexander, P. M.; Cracraft, J.

2016-12-01

The Amazon basin is a biodiversity rich biome and plays a significant role into shaping Earth's climate, ocean and atmospheric gases. Understanding the history of the formation of this basin is essential to our understanding of the region's biodiversity and its response to climate change. During March 2013, the NASA/JPL L-band polarimetric airborne imaging radar, UAVSAR, conducted airborne studies over regions of South America including portions of the western Amazon basin. We utilize UAVSAR imagery acquired during that time over the Planalto, in the Madre de Dios region of southeastern Peru in an assessment of the underlying geomorphology, its relationship to the current distribution of vegetation, and its relationship to geologic processes through deep time. We employ UAVSAR data collections to assess the utility of these high quality imaging radar data for use in identifying geomorphologic features and vegetation communities within the context of improving the understanding of evolutionary processes, and their utility in aiding interpretation of datasets from Earth-orbiting satellites to support a basin-wide characterization across the Amazon. We derive maps of landcover and river branching structure from UAVSAR imagery. We compare these maps to those derived using imaging radar datasets from the Japanese Space Agency's ALOS PALSAR and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Results provide an understanding of the underlying geomorphology of the Amazon planalto as well as its relationship to geologic processes and will support interpretation of the evolutionary history of the Amazon Basin. Portions of this work have been carried out within the framework of the ALOS Kyoto & Carbon Initiative. PALSAR data were provided by JAXA/EORC and the Alaska Satellite Facility.This work is carried out with support from the NASA Biodiversity Program and the NSF DIMENSIONS of Biodiversity Program.
El Niño Could Drive Intense Season for Amazon Fires

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

El Niño conditions in 2015 and early 2016 altered rainfall patterns around the world. In the Amazon, El Niño reduced rainfall during the wet season, leaving the region drier at the start of the 2016 dry season than any year since 2002, according to NASA satellite data. Wildfire risk for the dry season months of July to October this year now exceeds fire risk in 2005 and 2010, drought years when wildfires burned large areas of Amazon rainforest, said Doug Morton, an Earth scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center who helped create the fire forecast. "Severe drought conditions at the start of the dry season set the stage for extreme fire risk in 2016 across the southern Amazon," Morton said. The Amazon fire forecast uses the relationship between climate and active fire detections from NASA satellites to predict fire season severity during the region’s dry season. Developed in 2011 by scientists at University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the forecast model is focused particularly on the link between sea surface temperatures and fire activity. Warmer sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific (El Niño) and Atlantic oceans shift rainfall away from the Amazon region, increasing the risk of fires during dry season months. Read more: go.nasa.gov/2937ADt NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram
Estimating drought induced tree mortality in the Amazon rainforest: A simulation study with a focus on plant hydraulic processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papastefanou, P.; Fleischer, K.; Hickler, T.; Grams, T.; Lapola, D.; Quesada, C. A.; Zang, C.; Rammig, A.

2017-12-01

The Amazon basin was recently hit by severe drought events that were unprecedented in their severity and spatial extent, e.g. during 2005, 2010 and 2015/2016. Significant amounts of biomass were lost, turning large parts of the rainforest from a carbon sink into a carbon source. It is assumed that drought-induced tree mortality from hydraulic failure played an important role during these events and may become more frequent in the Amazon region in the future. Many state-of-the-art dynamic vegetation models do not include plant hydraulic processes and fail to reproduce observed rainforest responses to drought events, such as e.g. increased tree mortality. We address this research gap by developing a simple plant-hydraulic module for the dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS. This plant-hydraulic module uses leaf water potential and cavitation as baseline processes to simulate tree mortality under drought stress. Furthermore, we introduce different plant strategies in the model, which describe e.g. differences in the stomatal regulation under drought stress. To parameterize and evaluate our hydraulic module, we use a set of available observational data from the Amazon region. We apply our model to the Amazon Basin and highlight similarities and differences across other measured and predicted drought responses, e.g. extrapolated observations and data derived from satellite measurements. Our results highlight the importance of including plant hydraulic processes in dynamic vegetation models to correctly predict vegetation dynamics under drought stress and show major differences on the vegetation dynamics depending on the selected plant strategies. We also identify gaps in process understanding of the triggering factors, the extent and the consequences of drought responses that hampers our ability to predict potential impact of future drought events on the Amazon rainforest.
The Green Ocean Amazon Experiment (GoAmazon2014/5) Observes Pollution Affecting Gases, Aerosols, Clouds, and Rainfall over the Rain Forest

DOE PAGES

Martin, S. T.; Artaxo, P.; Machado, L.; ...

2017-05-15

The Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon 2014–2015 (GoAmazon2014/5) experiment took place around the urban region of Manaus in central Amazonia across 2 years. The urban pollution plume was used to study the susceptibility of gases, aerosols, clouds, and rainfall to human activities in a tropical environment. Many aspects of air quality, weather, terrestrial ecosystems, and climate work differently in the tropics than in the more thoroughly studied temperate regions of Earth. GoAmazon2014/5, a cooperative project of Brazil, Germany, and the United States, employed an unparalleled suite of measurements at nine ground sites and on board two aircraftmore » to investigate the flow of background air into Manaus, the emissions into the air over the city, and the advection of the pollution downwind of the city. Here in this paper, to visualize this train of processes and its effects, observations aboard a low-flying aircraft are presented. Comparative measurements within and adjacent to the plume followed the emissions of biogenic volatile organic carbon compounds (BVOCs) from the tropical forest, their transformations by the atmospheric oxidant cycle, alterations of this cycle by the influence of the pollutants, transformations of the chemical products into aerosol particles, the relationship of these particles to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity, and the differences in cloud properties and rainfall for background compared to polluted conditions. The observations of the GoAmazon2014/5 experiment illustrate how the hydrologic cycle, radiation balance, and carbon recycling may be affected by present-day as well as future economic development and pollution over the Amazonian tropical forest.« less

Bayesian inferences suggest that Amazon Yunga Natives diverged from Andeans less than 5000 ybp: implications for South American prehistory.

PubMed

Scliar, Marilia O; Gouveia, Mateus H; Benazzo, Andrea; Ghirotto, Silvia; Fagundes, Nelson J R; Leal, Thiago P; Magalhães, Wagner C S; Pereira, Latife; Rodrigues, Maira R; Soares-Souza, Giordano B; Cabrera, Lilia; Berg, Douglas E; Gilman, Robert H; Bertorelle, Giorgio; Tarazona-Santos, Eduardo

2014-09-30

Archaeology reports millenary cultural contacts between Peruvian Coast-Andes and the Amazon Yunga, a rainforest transitional region between Andes and Lower Amazonia. To clarify the relationships between cultural and biological evolution of these populations, in particular between Amazon Yungas and Andeans, we used DNA-sequence data, a model-based Bayesian approach and several statistical validations to infer a set of demographic parameters. We found that the genetic diversity of the Shimaa (an Amazon Yunga population) is a subset of that of Quechuas from Central-Andes. Using the Isolation-with-Migration population genetics model, we inferred that the Shimaa ancestors were a small subgroup that split less than 5300 years ago (after the development of complex societies) from an ancestral Andean population. After the split, the most plausible scenario compatible with our results is that the ancestors of Shimaas moved toward the Peruvian Amazon Yunga and incorporated the culture and language of some of their neighbors, but not a substantial amount of their genes. We validated our results using Approximate Bayesian Computations, posterior predictive tests and the analysis of pseudo-observed datasets. We presented a case study in which model-based Bayesian approaches, combined with necessary statistical validations, shed light into the prehistoric demographic relationship between Andeans and a population from the Amazon Yunga. Our results offer a testable model for the peopling of this large transitional environmental region between the Andes and the Lower Amazonia. However, studies on larger samples and involving more populations of these regions are necessary to confirm if the predominant Andean biological origin of the Shimaas is the rule, and not the exception.
Holocene provenance shift of suspended particulate matter in the Amazon River basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Höppner, Natalie; Lucassen, Friedrich; Chiessi, Cristiano M.; Sawakuchi, André O.; Kasemann, Simone A.

2018-06-01

The strontium (Sr), neodymium (Nd) and lead (Pb) isotope signatures of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in rivers reflect the radiogenic isotope signatures of the rivers' drainage basin. These signatures are not significantly affected by weathering, transport or depositional cycles, but document the sedimentary contributions of the respective sources. We report new Sr, Nd and Pb isotope ratios and element concentrations of modern SPM from the Brazilian Amazon River basin and document the past evolution of the basin by analyzing radiogenic isotopes of a marine sediment core from the slope off French Guiana archiving the last 40 kyr of Amazon River SPM, and the Holocene section of sediment cores raised between the Amazon River mouth and the slope off French Guiana. The composition of modern SPM confirms two main source areas, the Andes and the cratonic Shield. In the marine sediment core notable changes occurred during the second phase of Heinrich Stadial 1 (i.e. increased proportion of Shield rivers SPM) and during the last deglaciation (i.e. increased proportion of Madeira River SPM) together with elsewhere constant source contributions. Furthermore, we report a prominent offset in Sr and Nd isotopic composition between the average core value (εNd: -11.7 ± 0.9 (2SD), 87Sr/86Sr: 0.7229 ± 0.0016 (2SD)) and the average modern Amazon River SPM signal (εNd: -10.5 ± 0.5 (2SD), 87Sr/86Sr: 0.7213 ± 0.0036 (2SD)). We suggest that a permanent change in the Amazon River basin sediment supply during the late Holocene to a more Andean dominated SPM was responsible for the offset.
The Green Ocean Amazon Experiment (GoAmazon2014/5) Observes Pollution Affecting Gases, Aerosols, Clouds, and Rainfall over the Rain Forest

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Martin, S. T.; Artaxo, P.; Machado, L.

The Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon 2014–2015 (GoAmazon2014/5) experiment took place around the urban region of Manaus in central Amazonia across 2 years. The urban pollution plume was used to study the susceptibility of gases, aerosols, clouds, and rainfall to human activities in a tropical environment. Many aspects of air quality, weather, terrestrial ecosystems, and climate work differently in the tropics than in the more thoroughly studied temperate regions of Earth. GoAmazon2014/5, a cooperative project of Brazil, Germany, and the United States, employed an unparalleled suite of measurements at nine ground sites and on board two aircraftmore » to investigate the flow of background air into Manaus, the emissions into the air over the city, and the advection of the pollution downwind of the city. Here in this paper, to visualize this train of processes and its effects, observations aboard a low-flying aircraft are presented. Comparative measurements within and adjacent to the plume followed the emissions of biogenic volatile organic carbon compounds (BVOCs) from the tropical forest, their transformations by the atmospheric oxidant cycle, alterations of this cycle by the influence of the pollutants, transformations of the chemical products into aerosol particles, the relationship of these particles to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity, and the differences in cloud properties and rainfall for background compared to polluted conditions. The observations of the GoAmazon2014/5 experiment illustrate how the hydrologic cycle, radiation balance, and carbon recycling may be affected by present-day as well as future economic development and pollution over the Amazonian tropical forest.« less
Simulated Changes in Northwest U.S. Climate in Response to Amazon Deforestation

EPA Science Inventory

Numerical models have long predicted that the deforestation of the Amazon would lead to large regional changes in precipitation and temperature, but the extratropical effects of deforestation have been a matter of controversy. This paper investigates the simulated impacts of defo...
CIMEX: a prototype Instrument to observe from space the amazon forest In the near and shortwave infrared

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guerin, François; Dantes, Didier; Savaria, Eric; Selingardi, Mario Luis; Montes, Amauri Silva

2018-04-01

This paper, "CIMEX: a prototype Instrument to observe from space the amazon forest In the near and shortwave infrared," was presented as part of International Conference on Space Optics—ICSO 1997, held in Toulouse, France.
Deforestation, floodplain dynamics, and carbon biogeochemistry in the Amazon Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryan, M. L.; Dunne, T.; Richey, J.; Melack, J.; Simonett, D. S.; Woodwell, G.

1984-01-01

Three aspects of the physical geographic environment of the Amazon Basin are considered: (1) deforestation and reforestation, (2) floodplain dynamics, and (3) fluvial geomorphology. Three independent projects are coupled in this experiment to improve the in-place research and to ensure that the Shuttle Imaging Radar-B (SIR-B) experiment stands on a secure base of ongoing work. Major benefits to be obtained center on: (1) areal and locational information, (2) data from various depression angles, and (3) digital radar signatures. Analysis will be conducted for selected sites to define how well SIR-B data can be used for: (1) definition of extent and location of deforestation in a tropical moist forest, (2) definition and quantification of the nature of the vegetation and edaphic conditions on the (floodplain) of the Amazon River, and (3) quantification of the accuracy with which the geometry and channel shifting of the Amazon River may be mapped using SIR-B imagery in conjunction with other remote sensing data.
Mining drives extensive deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Sonter, Laura J; Herrera, Diego; Barrett, Damian J; Galford, Gillian L; Moran, Chris J; Soares-Filho, Britaldo S

2017-10-18

Mining poses significant and potentially underestimated risks to tropical forests worldwide. In Brazil's Amazon, mining drives deforestation far beyond operational lease boundaries, yet the full extent of these impacts is unknown and thus neglected in environmental licensing. Here we quantify mining-induced deforestation and investigate the aspects of mining operations, which most likely contribute. We find mining significantly increased Amazon forest loss up to 70 km beyond mining lease boundaries, causing 11,670 km 2 of deforestation between 2005 and 2015. This extent represents 9% of all Amazon forest loss during this time and 12 times more deforestation than occurred within mining leases alone. Pathways leading to such impacts include mining infrastructure establishment, urban expansion to support a growing workforce, and development of mineral commodity supply chains. Mining-induced deforestation is not unique to Brazil; to mitigate adverse impacts of mining and conserve tropical forests globally, environmental assessments and licensing must considered both on- and off-lease sources of deforestation.
Characterization of atherosclerosis by histochemical and immunohistochemical methods in African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) and Amazon parrots (Amazona spp.).

PubMed

Fricke, Cornelia; Schmidt, Volker; Cramer, Kerstin; Krautwald-Junghanns, Maria-Elisabeth; Dorrestein, Gerry M

2009-09-01

The aim of the study was to characterize atherosclerotic changes in African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) and Amazon parrots (Amazona spp.) by histochemical and immunohistochemical methods. Samples of the aorta ascendens and trunci brachiocephalici from 62 African grey parrots and 35 Amazon parrots were stained by hematoxylin and eosin and Elastica van Gieson for grading of atherosclerosis in these birds. Four different stages were differentiated. The incidence of atherosclerosis in the examined parrots was 91.9% in African grey parrots and 91.4% in Amazon parrots. To evaluate the pathogenesis in birds, immunohistochemical methods were performed to demonstrate lymphocytes, macrophages, smooth muscle cells, and chondroitin sulfate. According to the missing lymphocytes and macrophages and the absence of invasion and proliferation of smooth muscle cells in each atherosclerotic stage, "response-to-injury hypothesis" seems inapplicable in parrots. Additionally, we found alterations of vitally important organs (heart, lungs) significantly correlated with atherosclerosis of the aorta ascendens.
Reduced precipitation over large water bodies in the Brazilian Amazon shown from TRMM data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paiva, Rodrigo Cauduro Dias; Buarque, Diogo Costa; Clarke, Robin T.; Collischonn, Walter; Allasia, Daniel Gustavo

2011-02-01

Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) data show lower rainfall over large water bodies in the Brazilian Amazon. Mean annual rainfall (P), number of wet days (rainfall > 2 mm) (W) and annual rainfall accumulated over 3-hour time intervals (P3hr) were computed from TRMM 3B42 data for 1998-2009. Reduced rainfall was marked over the Rio Solimões/Amazon, along most Amazon tributaries and over the Balbina reservoir. In a smaller test area, a heuristic argument showed that P and W were reduced by 5% and 6.5% respectively. Allowing for TRMM 3B42 spatial resolution, the reduction may be locally greater. Analyses of diurnal rainfall patterns showed that rainfall is lowest over large rivers during the afternoon, when most rainfall is convective, but at night and early morning the opposite occurs, with increased rainfall over rivers, although this pattern is less marked. Rainfall patterns reported from studies of smaller Amazonian regions therefore exist more widely.
Predicting Fire Susceptibility in the Forests of Amazonia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nepstad, Daniel C.; Brown, I. Foster; Setzer, Alberto

2000-01-01

Although fire is the single greatest threat to the ecological integrity of Amazon forests, our ability to predict the occurrence of Amazon forest fires is rudimentary. Part of the difficulty encountered in making such predictions is the remarkable capacity of Amazon forests to tolerate drought by tapping moisture stored in deep soil. These forests can avoid drought-induced leaf shedding by withdrawing moisture to depths of 8 meters and more. Hence, the absorption of deep soil moisture allows these forests to maintain their leaf canopies following droughts of several months duration, thereby maintaining the deep shade and high relative humidity of the forest interior that prevents these ecosystems from burning. But the drought- and fire-avoidance that is conferred by this deep-rooting phenomenon is not unlimited. During successive years of drought, such as those provoked by El Nino episodes, deep soil moisture can be depleted, and drought-induced leaf shedding begins. The goal of this project was to incorporate this knowledge of Amazon forest fire ecology into a predictive model of forest flammability.
[Ground-clearing fires in the amazon and respiratory disease].

PubMed

Gonçalves, Karen dos Santos; de Castro, Hermano Albuquerque; Hacon, Sandra de Souza

2012-06-01

The intentional burning of forest biomass commonly known as "ground-clearing fires" is an age-old and widespread practice in the country and is seen as a major contributor to global emissions of greenhouse gases. However, global awareness of their potential impact is relatively recent. The occurrence of large ground-clearing fires in the Brazilian and international scenarios drew attention to the problem, but the measures taken to prevent and/or control the fires are still insufficient. In the Amazon region, with distinct geographical and environmental features from the rest of the country, with its historic process of land occupation, every year the ground-clearing fires expose larger portions of the population making them vulnerable to its effects. In this context, this non-systematic review presents the papers written over the past five years about the fires in the Brazilian Amazon and respiratory illness. The main objective is to provide information for managers and leaders on environmental issues about the problems related to biomass burning in the Amazon region.
Decision Support Systems for Research and Management in Advanced Life Support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodriquez, Luis F.

2004-01-01

Decision support systems have been implemented in many applications including strategic planning for battlefield scenarios, corporate decision making for business planning, production planning and control systems, and recommendation generators like those on Amazon.com(Registered TradeMark). Such tools are reviewed for developing a similar tool for NASA's ALS Program. DSS are considered concurrently with the development of the OPIS system, a database designed for chronicling of research and development in ALS. By utilizing the OPIS database, it is anticipated that decision support can be provided to increase the quality of decisions by ALS managers and researchers.
Large emissions from floodplain trees close the Amazon methane budget.

PubMed

Pangala, Sunitha R; Enrich-Prast, Alex; Basso, Luana S; Peixoto, Roberta Bittencourt; Bastviken, David; Hornibrook, Edward R C; Gatti, Luciana V; Marotta, Humberto; Calazans, Luana Silva Braucks; Sakuragui, Cassia Mônica; Bastos, Wanderley Rodrigues; Malm, Olaf; Gloor, Emanuel; Miller, John Bharat; Gauci, Vincent

2017-12-14

Wetlands are the largest global source of atmospheric methane (CH 4 ), a potent greenhouse gas. However, methane emission inventories from the Amazon floodplain, the largest natural geographic source of CH 4 in the tropics, consistently underestimate the atmospheric burden of CH 4 determined via remote sensing and inversion modelling, pointing to a major gap in our understanding of the contribution of these ecosystems to CH 4 emissions. Here we report CH 4 fluxes from the stems of 2,357 individual Amazonian floodplain trees from 13 locations across the central Amazon basin. We find that escape of soil gas through wetland trees is the dominant source of regional CH 4 emissions. Methane fluxes from Amazon tree stems were up to 200 times larger than emissions reported for temperate wet forests and tropical peat swamp forests, representing the largest non-ebullitive wetland fluxes observed. Emissions from trees had an average stable carbon isotope value (δ 13 C) of -66.2 ± 6.4 per mil, consistent with a soil biogenic origin. We estimate that floodplain trees emit 15.1 ± 1.8 to 21.2 ± 2.5 teragrams of CH 4 a year, in addition to the 20.5 ± 5.3 teragrams a year emitted regionally from other sources. Furthermore, we provide a 'top-down' regional estimate of CH 4 emissions of 42.7 ± 5.6 teragrams of CH 4 a year for the Amazon basin, based on regular vertical lower-troposphere CH 4 profiles covering the period 2010-2013. We find close agreement between our 'top-down' and combined 'bottom-up' estimates, indicating that large CH 4 emissions from trees adapted to permanent or seasonal inundation can account for the emission source that is required to close the Amazon CH 4 budget. Our findings demonstrate the importance of tree stem surfaces in mediating approximately half of all wetland CH 4 emissions in the Amazon floodplain, a region that represents up to one-third of the global wetland CH 4 source when trees are combined with other emission sources.
Provenance of sands from the confluence of the Amazon and Madeira rivers based on detrital heavy minerals and luminescence of quartz and feldspar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

do Nascimento, Daniel R.; Sawakuchi, André O.; Guedes, Carlos C. F.; Giannini, Paulo C. F.; Grohmann, Carlos H.; Ferreira, Manuela P.

2015-03-01

Source-to-sink systems are poorly known in tropical rivers. For the Amazonian rivers, the majority of the provenance studies remain focused on the suspended load, implying a poor understanding of the processes governing production and distribution of sands. In this study, we perform heavy mineral and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) analysis to cover the entire spectrum (heavy and light minerals fraction) of 29 sand samples of the Lower Madeira river region (Amazon and Madeira rivers), of which the main goal was to find provenance indicators specific to these rivers. Despite the tropical humid climate, the sands of the Amazon and Lower Madeira rivers are rich in unstable heavy minerals as augite, hypersthene, green hornblende and andalusite. The Madeira river is highlighted by its higher content of andalusite, with source attributed to the Amazon Craton (medium-to-high grade metamorphic rocks), while the Amazon river, upstream of the Madeira river mouth, has a signature of augite and hypersthene, that suggests an Andean provenance (volcanic rocks). Sands from the Madeira river can be tracked in the Amazon river by the increasing concentration in andalusite. OSL analysis of the light minerals fraction was used as an index of feldspar concentration and sedimentary history of quartz grains. Lower feldspar concentration and quartz grains with longer sedimentary history (higher OSL sensitivity) also point to a major contribution of cratonic sources for the sands in the Madeira river. While the sands from the Lower Madeira would be mainly supplied by cratonic rocks, previous work recognised that suspended sediments (silt and clay) are derived from Andean rocks. Therefore, we interpret a decoupling between the sources of sand and mud (silt and clay) under transport in the Madeira river. Andean sands (rich in augite and hypersthene) would be trapped in the foreland zones of the Beni and Mamoré tributaries. In the Amazon river sands, the low OSL sensitivity of the quartz, higher content of feldspar and unstable heavy mineral assemblage dominated by augite and hypersthene suggest both a fast transport from Andean sources with fine sediment bypass over foreland areas.
Hydrological Retrospective of floods and droughts: Case study in the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wongchuig Correa, Sly; Cauduro Dias de Paiva, Rodrigo; Carlo Espinoza Villar, Jhan; Collischonn, Walter

2017-04-01

Recent studies have reported an increase in intensity and frequency of hydrological extreme events in many regions of the Amazon basin over last decades, these events such as seasonal floods and droughts have originated a significant impact in human and natural systems. Recently, methodologies such as climatic reanalysis are being developed in order to create a coherent register of climatic systems, thus taking this notion, this research efforts to produce a methodology called Hydrological Retrospective (HR), that essentially simulate large rainfall datasets over hydrological models in order to develop a record over past hydrology, enabling the analysis of past floods and droughts. We developed our methodology on the Amazon basin, thus we used eight large precipitation datasets (more than 30 years) through a large scale hydrological and hydrodynamic model (MGB-IPH), after that HR products were validated against several in situ discharge gauges dispersed throughout Amazon basin, given focus in maximum and minimum events. For better HR results according performance metrics, we performed a forecast skill of HR to detect floods and droughts considering in-situ observations. Furthermore, statistical temporal series trend was performed for intensity of seasonal floods and drought in the whole Amazon basin. Results indicate that better HR represented well most past extreme events registered by in-situ observed data and also showed coherent with many events cited by literature, thus we consider viable to use some large precipitation datasets as climatic reanalysis mainly based on land surface component and datasets based in merged products for represent past regional hydrology and seasonal hydrological extreme events. On the other hand, an increase trend of intensity was realized for maximum annual discharges (related to floods) in north-western regions and for minimum annual discharges (related to drought) in central-south regions of the Amazon basin, these features were previously detected by other researches. In the whole basin, we estimated an upward trend of maximum annual discharges at Amazon River. In order to estimate better future hydrological behavior and their impacts on the society, HR could be used as a methodology to understand past extreme events occurrence in many places considering the global coverage of rainfall datasets.
AmazonFACE: Assessing the Effects of Increasing Atmospheric CO2 on the Resilience of the Amazon Forest through Integrative Model-Experiment Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lapola, D. M.

2015-12-01

The existence, magnitude and duration of a supposed "CO2 fertilization" effect in tropical forests remains largely undetermined, despite being suggested for nearly 20 years as a key knowledge gap for understanding the future resilience of Amazonian forests and its impact on the global carbon cycle. Reducing this uncertainty is critical for assessing the future of the Amazon region as well as its vulnerability to climate change. The AmazonFACE (Free-Air CO2 Enrichment) research program is an integrated model-experiment initiative of unprecedented scope in an old-growth Amazon forest near Manaus, Brazil - the first of its kind in tropical forest. The experimental treatment will simulate an atmospheric CO2 concentration [CO2] of the future in order to address the question: "How will rising atmospheric CO2 affect the resilience of the Amazon forest, the biodiversity it harbors, and the ecosystem services it provides, in light of projected climatic changes?" AmazonFACE is divided into three phases: (I) pre-experimental ecological characterization of the research site; (II) pilot experiment comprised of two 30-m diameter plots, with one treatment plot maintained at elevated [CO2] (ambient +200 ppmv), and the other control plot at ambient [CO2]; and (III) a fully-replicated long-term experiment comprised of four pairs of control/treatment FACE plots maintained for 10 years. A team of scientists from Brazil, USA, Australia and Europe will employ state-of-the-art methods to study the forest inside these plots in terms of carbon metabolism and cycling, water use, nutrient cycling, forest community composition, and interactions with environmental stressors. All project phases also encompass ecosystem-modeling activities in a way such that models provide hypothesis to be verified in the experiment, which in turn will feed models to ultimately produce more accurate projections of the environment. Resulting datasets and analyses will be a valuable resource for a broad community, especially ecosystem and climate modelers, and policy-makers.
The AmazonFACE research program: assessing the effects of increasing atmospheric CO2 on the ecology and resilience of the Amazon forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lapola, David; Quesada, Carlos; Norby, Richard; Araújo, Alessandro; Domingues, Tomas; Hartley, Iain; Kruijt, Bart; Lewin, Keith; Meir, Patrick; Ometto, Jean; Rammig, Anja

2016-04-01

The existence, magnitude and duration of a supposed "CO2 fertilization" effect in tropical forests remains largely undetermined, despite being suggested for nearly 20 years as a key knowledge gap for understanding the future resilience of Amazonian forests and its impact on the global carbon cycle. Reducing this uncertainty is critical for assessing the future of the Amazon region as well as its vulnerability to climate change. The AmazonFACE (Free-Air CO2 Enrichment) research program is an integrated model-experiment initiative of unprecedented scope in an old-growth Amazon forest near Manaus, Brazil - the first of its kind in tropical forest. The experimental treatment will simulate an atmospheric CO2 concentration [CO2] of the future in order to address the question: "How will rising atmospheric CO2 affect the resilience of the Amazon forest, the biodiversity it harbors, and the ecosystem services it provides, in light of projected climatic changes?" AmazonFACE is divided into three phases: (I) pre-experimental ecological characterization of the research site; (II) pilot experiment comprised of two 30-m diameter plots, with one treatment plot maintained at elevated [CO2] (ambient +200 ppmv), and the other control plot at ambient [CO2]; and (III) a fully-replicated long-term experiment comprised of four pairs of control/treatment FACE plots maintained for 10 years. A team of scientists from Brazil, USA, Australia and Europe will employ state-of-the-art methods to study the forest inside these plots in terms of carbon metabolism and cycling, water use, nutrient cycling, forest community composition, and interactions with environmental stressors. All project phases also encompass ecosystem-modeling activities in a way such that models provide hypothesis to be verified in the experiment, which in turn will feed models to ultimately produce more accurate projections of the environment. Resulting datasets and analyses will be a valuable resource for a broad community, especially ecosystem and climate modelers, and policy-makers.
Mechanisms for the formation and growth of nanometer-sized particles in the Amazon: New insights from GoAmazon2014 and the Tapajos Upwind Forest Flux Study (TUFFS).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, J. N.; Park, J. H.; Kuang, C.; Bustillos, J. O. V.; Souza, R. A. F. D.; Wiedemann, K. T.; Munger, J. W.; Wofsy, S. C.; Rizzo, L. V.; Artaxo, P.; Martin, S. T.; Seco, R.; Kim, S.; Guenther, A. B.; Batalha, S. S. A.; Alves, E. G.; Tota, J.

2014-12-01

The Amazon rainforest is a unique and important place for studying aerosol formation and its impacts on atmospheric chemistry and climate. In remote areas, the atmosphere is characterized by low particle number concentrations and high humidity; perturbations in the particle number concentrations and climate-relevant physical and chemical properties could therefore have a great impact on cloud formation and thus on regional climate and precipitation. While it was previously believed that new particle formation occurs rarely in the Amazon, observations in the Amazon of a sustained steady-state particle number concentration, along with an abundance of dry and wet surfaces upon which particles may deposit, imply that sources of new particles must exist in this region. We present observations from two studies, GOAmazon2014 and Tapajos Upwind Forest Flux Study (TUFFS), which seek to identify and quantify the sources of aerosol particles in the Amazon. Measurements of the chemical composition of 20 - 100 nm diameter aerosol particles at the T3 measurement site during the wet and dry season campaigns of GOAmazon2014 show the presence of inorganic ions such as potassium ion and sulfate, as well as organic ion such as oxalate, in ambient nanoparticles. These observations, combined with 1.5 - 300 nm diameter particle number size distributions and trace gas measurements of organic compounds and sulfuric acid, are used to determine the relative importance of sulfuric acid, organic compounds, and primary biological particle emissions to nanoparticle formation and growth. Observations of 3 - 100 nm diameter particle number size distributions at the KM67 tower site during TUFFS show frequent new particle formation events during the wet season in April, transitioning to a scenario of less frequent events in July at the onset of the dry season. These observations highlight the regional nature of new particle formation in the Amazon, and suggest that additional observations at a variety of locales are needed to fully understand the roles of new particle formation in this region.
Sources and distributions of branched and isoprenoid tetraether lipids on the Amazon shelf and fan: Implications for the use of GDGT-based proxies in marine sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zell, Claudia; Kim, Jung-Hyun; Hollander, David; Lorenzoni, Laura; Baker, Paul; Silva, Cleverson Guizan; Nittrouer, Charles; Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S.

2014-08-01

Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) in river fan sediments have been used successfully to reconstruct mean annual air temperature (MAAT) and soil pH of the Congo River drainage basin. However, in a previous study of Amazon deep-sea fan sediments the reconstructed MAATs were ca. 10 °C colder than the actual MAAT of the Amazon basin. In this study we investigated this apparent offset, by comparing the concentrations and distributions of brGDGTs in Amazon River suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments to those in marine SPM and surface sediments. The riverine brGDGT input was evident from the elevated brGDGT concentrations in marine SPM and surface sediments close to the river mouth. The distributions of brGDGTs in marine SPM and sediments varied widely, but generally showed a higher relative abundance of methylated and cyclic brGDGTs than those in the river. Since this difference in brGDGT distribution was also found in intact polar lipid (IPL)-derived brGDGTs, which were more recently produced, the change in the marine brGDGT distribution was most likely due to marine in situ production. Consequently, the MAATs calculated based on the methylation of branched tetraethers (MBT) and the cyclisation of branched tetraethers (CBT) were lower and the CBT-derived pH values were higher than those of the Amazon basin. However, SPM and sediments from stations close to the river mouth still showed MBT/CBT values that were similar to those of the river. Therefore, we recommend caution when applying the MBT/CBT proxy, it should only be used in sediment cores that were under high river influence. The influence of riverine derived isoprenoid GDGT (isoGDGT) on the isoGDGT-based TEX86 temperature proxy was also examined in marine SPM and sediments. An input of riverine isoGDGTs from the Amazon River was apparent, but its influence on the marine TEX86 was minor since the TEX86 of SPM in the Amazon River was similar to that in the marine SPM and sediments.
Large emissions from floodplain trees close the Amazon methane budget

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pangala, Sunitha R.; Enrich-Prast, Alex; Basso, Luana S.; Peixoto, Roberta Bittencourt; Bastviken, David; Hornibrook, Edward R. C.; Gatti, Luciana V.; Marotta, Humberto; Calazans, Luana Silva Braucks; Sakuragui, Cassia Mônica; Bastos, Wanderley Rodrigues; Malm, Olaf; Gloor, Emanuel; Miller, John Bharat; Gauci, Vincent

2017-12-01

Wetlands are the largest global source of atmospheric methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas. However, methane emission inventories from the Amazon floodplain, the largest natural geographic source of CH4 in the tropics, consistently underestimate the atmospheric burden of CH4 determined via remote sensing and inversion modelling, pointing to a major gap in our understanding of the contribution of these ecosystems to CH4 emissions. Here we report CH4 fluxes from the stems of 2,357 individual Amazonian floodplain trees from 13 locations across the central Amazon basin. We find that escape of soil gas through wetland trees is the dominant source of regional CH4 emissions. Methane fluxes from Amazon tree stems were up to 200 times larger than emissions reported for temperate wet forests and tropical peat swamp forests, representing the largest non-ebullitive wetland fluxes observed. Emissions from trees had an average stable carbon isotope value (δ13C) of -66.2 ± 6.4 per mil, consistent with a soil biogenic origin. We estimate that floodplain trees emit 15.1 ± 1.8 to 21.2 ± 2.5 teragrams of CH4 a year, in addition to the 20.5 ± 5.3 teragrams a year emitted regionally from other sources. Furthermore, we provide a ‘top-down’ regional estimate of CH4 emissions of 42.7 ± 5.6 teragrams of CH4 a year for the Amazon basin, based on regular vertical lower-troposphere CH4 profiles covering the period 2010-2013. We find close agreement between our ‘top-down’ and combined ‘bottom-up’ estimates, indicating that large CH4 emissions from trees adapted to permanent or seasonal inundation can account for the emission source that is required to close the Amazon CH4 budget. Our findings demonstrate the importance of tree stem surfaces in mediating approximately half of all wetland CH4 emissions in the Amazon floodplain, a region that represents up to one-third of the global wetland CH4 source when trees are combined with other emission sources.

Surface Modeling and Grid Generation of Orbital Sciences X34 Vehicle. Phase 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alter, Stephen J.

1997-01-01

The surface modeling and grid generation requirements, motivations, and methods used to develop Computational Fluid Dynamic volume grids for the X34-Phase 1 are presented. The requirements set forth by the Aerothermodynamics Branch at the NASA Langley Research Center serve as the basis for the final techniques used in the construction of all volume grids, including grids for parametric studies of the X34. The Integrated Computer Engineering and Manufacturing code for Computational Fluid Dynamics (ICEM/CFD), the Grid Generation code (GRIDGEN), the Three-Dimensional Multi-block Advanced Grid Generation System (3DMAGGS) code, and Volume Grid Manipulator (VGM) code are used to enable the necessary surface modeling, surface grid generation, volume grid generation, and grid alterations, respectively. All volume grids generated for the X34, as outlined in this paper, were used for CFD simulations within the Aerothermodynamics Branch.
Preliminary Characterization of Organic Geochemistry in the Fly-Strickland River System, Papua New Guinea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alin, S. R.; Aalto, R.; Remington, S. M.; Richey, J. E.

2003-12-01

The Fly-Strickland fluvial dispersal system comprises one of the largest river basins in tropical Oceania, ranking among the top 20 rivers in the world for water and sediment discharge. From the New Guinea highlands, these rivers flow >1000 km across lowland tropical floodplains to the Gulf of Papua, with an average annual depth of runoff 100 times that of the Amazon. Within the system, the Strickland has greater sediment discharge and a steeper gradient than the Fly, providing an opportunity to investigate biogeochemical differences associated with particulate flux. For eight lowland sites across the Fly-Strickland river system, we analyzed water and suspended sediment (SS) samples for an initial survey of various carbon cycle parameters. Both the Fly and Strickland Rivers were strongly supersaturated with carbon dioxide (2008-10,479 uatm CO2) and undersaturated with oxygen (1.10-5.48 mg/l O2), with the Fly having higher CO2 and lower O2 concentrations than the Strickland River. These pCO2 and O2 concentrations are comparable to and lower than (respectively) typical values in the Amazon. Measured Fly-Strickland alkalinity values fell in the range of 0.893-1.888 meq, and pH measurements were neutral to slightly alkaline (6.916-7.852). In a sample from a sediment-impoverished tributary from Lake Murray to the Strickland (Herbert R.), pH was neutral (7.060), and alkalinity and pCO2 had their lowest observed values at 0.234 meq and 1407 uatm, respectively. Nutrient concentrations were generally higher in the Strickland ([NO3]=3.36+/-0.69 uM, [PO4]=0.09+/-0.10 uM, and [Si(OH)4]=176.6+/-41.7 uM) than in the Fly River ([NO3]=1.09+/-0.04 uM, [PO4]=0.01+/-0.01 uM, and [Si(OH)4]=110.6+/-4.8 uM). NO3 and PO4 concentrations in the Fly-Strickland river system were lower than in the Amazon, and silicate was comparable. SS concentrations were higher in the Strickland than in the Fly (49.4-231.1 mg/l vs. 19.5-59.6 mg/l). Coarse particulates were organic-poor in the Fly and Strickland rivers, with <1% organic carbon (OC). Fine particulates contained more OC in the Fly (2.32-9.03%) than in the Strickland (0.99-3.08%). In aggregate, the average OC concentration of Fly-Strickland river SS samples is 3.75+/-3.07%, which is substantially higher than %OC values measured in fine particulates in the Amazon. C/N ratios for fine particulate organic matter (FPOM) are higher in the Fly (13.0-24.1) than in the Strickland (9.5-14.4), suggesting a greater contribution of N-poor, terrestrial organics to the Fly River. FPOM δ 13C values in the Fly are more depleted (-31.1--30.3‰ ) than in the Strickland River (-29.6--28.4‰ ). We intend to estimate the total biogeochemical fluxes associated with these reported concentrations. Collectively, these preliminary data on carbon cycling in the Fly and Strickland rivers suggest that this fluvial dispersal system outgases a substantial volume of CO2 each year relative to its area, much like the Amazon River. However, in contrast to the Amazon, where the majority of the sediment from the Andes is trapped in sub-aerial, intra-cratonal basins, most fluviatile sediment is advected beyond the Fly River mouth. Therefore, due to the higher organic content of the fine suspended sediment in this river system, it seems probable that a relatively greater export and burial flux of organic carbon may occur within the delta and shelf deposits of the Gulf of Papua.
Description of Lutzomyia (Trichophoromyia) nautaensis n. sp. (Diptera: Psychodidae) from the Peruvian Amazon Basin

PubMed Central

Fernandez, Roberto; Lopez, Victor; Cardenas, Roldan; Requena, Edwin

2015-01-01

A new species of sand fly, which we describe as Lutzomyia (Trichophoromyia) nautaensis n. sp., was collected in the northern Peruvian Amazon Basin. In this region of Peru, cutaneous leishmaniasis is transmitted primarily by anthropophilic sand flies; however, zoophilic sand flies of the subgenus Trichophoromyia may also be incriminated in disease transmission. Detection of Leishmania spp. in Lutzomyia auraensis Mangabeira captured in the southern Peruvian Amazon indicates the potential of this and other zoophilic sand flies for human disease transmission, particularly in areas undergoing urban development. Herein, we describe Lutzomyia (Trichophoromyia) nautaensis n. sp., and report new records of sand flies in Peru. PMID:26335468
The Amazon and climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nobre, C. A.

1984-01-01

The climatologies of cloudiness and precipitation for the Amazon, are reviewed and the physical causes of some of the observed features and those which are not well known are explained. The atmospheric circulation over the Amazon is discussed on the large scale tropical circulations forced by deep diabatic heating sources. Weather deforestation which leads to a reduction in evapotranspiration into the atmosphere, and a reduction in precipitation and its implicated for the gobal climate is discussed. It is indicated that a large scale clearing of tropical rainforests there would be a reduction in rainfall which would have global effects on climate and weather both in the tropical and extratropical regions.
Neisseria meningitidis: a neglected cause of infectious haemorrhagic fever in the amazon rainforest.

PubMed

Barroso, David E; Silva, Luciete A

2007-12-01

Neisseria meningitidis has not been seen as a significant cause of infectious haemorrhagic fever in the Amazon inlands; most reported cases are from the city of Manaus, the capital of the State of Amazonas. This picture is sustained by the lack of reliable microbiology laboratories, the perception of the health care workers, and the difficult to reach medical assistance; thus the number of confirmed cases is even lower with no reference of the strains phenotype. We report here the investigation of a case of suspected meningococcemia and his close contacts in a rural community in the Coari Lake, up the Amazon River.
Assessing the Amazon Cloud Suitability for CLARREO's Computational Needs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldin, Daniel; Vakhnin, Andrei A.; Currey, Jon C.

2015-01-01

In this document we compare the performance of the Amazon Web Services (AWS), also known as Amazon Cloud, with the CLARREO (Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory) cluster and assess its suitability for computational needs of the CLARREO mission. A benchmark executable to process one month and one year of PARASOL (Polarization and Anistropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations from a Lidar) data was used. With the optimal AWS configuration, adequate data-processing times, comparable to the CLARREO cluster, were found. The assessment of alternatives to the CLARREO cluster continues and several options, such as a NASA-based cluster, are being considered.
Amazon capims (floating grassmats) - A source of C-13 enriched methane to the troposphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chanton, Jeffrey; Crill, Patrick; Bartlett, Karen; Martens, Christopher

1989-01-01

The C-13 isotopic composition of methane emitted to the troposphere from Amazon capims (floating grassmats) ranged from -36.9 to -48.0, per mil averaging -44.4 + or - 4.2 per mil. All pools of methane associated with the grassmats were enriched; methane withdrawn from plant stems ranged from -39 to -49 per mil while bubbles stirred from the root mat averaged -41.4 per mil. As the CH4 flux from these habitats makes up some 40 percent of the total flux from the Amazon floodplain, methane emissions from the region as a whole must be enriched in.
The Synthetic Aperture Radar Science Data Processing Foundry Concept for Earth Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosen, P. A.; Hua, H.; Norton, C. D.; Little, M. M.

2015-12-01

Since 2008, NASA's Earth Science Technology Office and the Advanced Information Systems Technology Program have invested in two technology evolutions to meet the needs of the community of scientists exploiting the rapidly growing database of international synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. JPL, working with the science community, has developed the InSAR Scientific Computing Environment (ISCE), a next-generation interferometric SAR processing system that is designed to be flexible and extensible. ISCE currently supports many international space borne data sets but has been primarily focused on geodetic science and applications. A second evolutionary path, the Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) science data system, uses ISCE as its core science data processing engine and produces automated science and response products, quality assessments and metadata. The success of this two-front effort has been demonstrated in NASA's ability to respond to recent events with useful disaster support. JPL has enabled high-volume and low latency data production by the re-use of the hybrid cloud computing science data system (HySDS) that runs ARIA, leveraging on-premise cloud computing assets that are able to burst onto the Amazon Web Services (AWS) services as needed. Beyond geodetic applications, needs have emerged to process large volumes of time-series SAR data collected for estimation of biomass and its change, in such campaigns as the upcoming AfriSAR field campaign. ESTO is funding JPL to extend the ISCE-ARIA model to a "SAR Science Data Processing Foundry" to on-ramp new data sources and to produce new science data products to meet the needs of science teams and, in general, science community members. An extension of the ISCE-ARIA model to support on-demand processing will permit PIs to leverage this Foundry to produce data products from accepted data sources when they need them. This paper will describe each of the elements of the SAR SDP Foundry and describe their integration into a new conceptual approach to enable more effective use of SAR instruments.
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: A Classroom Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nijman, Jan; Hill, A. David

1991-01-01

Presents a classroom project dealing with tropical deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Addresses environmental consequences and economic, social, and political causes. Involves both lectures and individual research and reports by student groups on deforestation causes. Includes a note-playing activity in which students make recommendations for…
The Amazon Basin in transition

Treesearch

Eric A. Davidson; Alessandro C. de Araujo; Paulo Artaxo; Jennifer K. Balch; I. Foster Brown; Mercedes M.C. Bustamente; Michael T. Coe; Ruth S. DeFriess; Michael Keller; Marcos Longo; J. William Munger; Wilfrid Schroeder; Britaldo Soares-Filho; Carlos M. Souza, Jr.; Steven C. Wofsy

2012-01-01

Agricultural expansion and climate variability have become important agents of disturbance in the Amazon basin. Recent studies have demonstrated considerable resilience of Amazonian forests to moderate annual drought, but they also show that interactions between deforestation, fire and drought potentially lead to losses of carbon storage and changes in regional...
Neogene origins and implied warmth tolerance of Amazon tree species

PubMed Central

Dick, Christopher W; Lewis, Simon L; Maslin, Mark; Bermingham, Eldredge

2013-01-01

Tropical rain forest has been a persistent feature in South America for at least 55 million years. The future of the contemporary Amazon forest is uncertain, however, as the region is entering conditions with no past analogue, combining rapidly increasing air temperatures, high atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, possible extreme droughts, and extensive removal and modification by humans. Given the long-term Cenozoic cooling trend, it is unknown whether Amazon forests can tolerate air temperature increases, with suggestions that lowland forests lack warm-adapted taxa, leading to inevitable species losses. In response to this uncertainty, we posit a simple hypothesis: the older the age of a species prior to the Pleistocene, the warmer the climate it has previously survived, with Pliocene (2.6–5 Ma) and late-Miocene (8–10 Ma) air temperature across Amazonia being similar to 2100 temperature projections under low and high carbon emission scenarios, respectively. Using comparative phylogeographic analyses, we show that 9 of 12 widespread Amazon tree species have Pliocene or earlier lineages (>2.6 Ma), with seven dating from the Miocene (>5.6 Ma) and three >8 Ma. The remarkably old age of these species suggest that Amazon forests passed through warmth similar to 2100 levels and that, in the absence of other major environmental changes, near-term high temperature-induced mass species extinction is unlikely. PMID:23404439
Impact of Amazon deforestation on climate simulations using the NCAR CCM2/BATS model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hahmann, A.N.; Dickinson, R.E.

Model validation and results are briefly presented for a simulation of deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. This initial study is made using assumptions regarding deforestation similar to those in earlier studies with several versions of the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM) couples to the Biosphere-Atmosphere Transfer Scheme (BATS). The model used is a revised version of the NCAR CCM Version 2 coupled to BATS Version 1e. This paper discusses the portion of validation dealing with the distribution of precipitation; the simulation displays very good agreement with observed rainfall rates for the austral summer. Preliminary results from an 8-year simulation ofmore » deforestation are similar to that of previous studies. Annual precipitation and evaporation are reduced, while surface air temperatures show a slight increase. A substantial bimodal pattern appears in the results, with the Amazon decrease of precipitation and temperature increase accompanied by changes in the opposite sign to the southeast of the Amazon. Similar patterns have occurred in other studies, but not always in exactly the same locations. Evidently, how much of the region of rainfall increase occurs in the deforested area over the Amazon strongly affects the inferred statistics. It is likely that this pattern depends on the model control climatology and possibly other features. 16 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs.« less
Modelling multiple threats to water security in the Peruvian Amazon using the WaterWorld Policy Support System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Soesbergen, A. J. J.; Mulligan, M.

2013-06-01

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.
Input of particulate organic and dissolved inorganic carbon from the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Druffel, E. R. M.; Bauer, J. E.; Griffin, S.

2005-03-01

We report concentrations and isotope measurements (radiocarbon and stable carbon) of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and suspended particulate organic carbon (POC) in waters collected from the mouth of the Amazon River and the North Brazil Current. Samples were collected in November 1991, when the Amazon hydrograph was at its annual minimum and the North Brazil Current had retroflected into the equatorial North Atlantic. The DIC Δ14C results revealed postbomb carbon in river and ocean waters, with slightly higher values at the river mouth. The low DIC δ13C signature of the river end-member (-11‰) demonstrates that about half of the DIC originated from the remineralization of terrestrially derived organic matter. A linear relationship between DIC and salinity indicates that DIC was mixed nearly conservatively in the transition zone from the river mouth to the open ocean, though there was a small amount (≤10%) of organic matter remineralization in the mesohaline region. The POC Δ14C values in the river mouth were markedly lower than those values from the western Amazon region (Hedges et al., 1986). We conclude that the dominant source of POC near the river mouth and in the inner Amazon plume during November 1991 was aged, resuspended material of significant terrestrial character derived from shelf sediments, while the outer plume contained mainly marine-derived POC.
Cloud Condensation Nuclei Activity of Aerosols during GoAmazon 2014/15 Field Campaign Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, J.; Martin, S. T.; Kleinman, L.

2016-03-01

Aerosol indirect effects, which represent the impact of aerosols on climate through influencing the properties of clouds, remain one of the main uncertainties in climate predictions (Stocker et al. 2013). Reducing this large uncertainty requires both improved understanding and representation of aerosol properties and processes in climate models, including the cloud activation properties of aerosols. The Atmospheric System Research (ASR) science program plan of January 2010 states that: “A key requirement for simulating aerosol-cloud interactions is the ability to calculate cloud condensation nuclei and ice nuclei (CCN and IN, respectively) concentrations as a function of supersaturation from the chemical andmore » microphysical properties of the aerosol.” The Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon 2014/15) study seeks to understand how aerosol and cloud life cycles are influenced by pollutant outflow from a tropical megacity (Manaus)—in particular, the differences in cloud-aerosol-precipitation interactions between polluted and pristine conditions. One key question of GoAmazon2014/5 is: “What is the influence of the Manaus pollution plume on the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activities of the aerosol particles and the secondary organic material in the particles?” To address this question, we measured size-resolved CCN spectra, a critical measurement for GoAmazon2014/5.« less
Progress in Remote Sensing of Photosynthetic Activity over the Amazon Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Resende de Sousa, Celio Helder; Hilker, Thomas; Waring, Richard; Mendes De Moura, Yhasmin; Lyapustin, Alexei

2017-01-01

Although quantifying the massive exchange of carbon that takes place over the Amazon Basin remains a challenge, progress is being made as the remote sensing community moves from using traditional, reflectance-based vegetation indices, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), to the more functional Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI). This new index, together with satellite-derived estimates of canopy light interception and Sun-Induced Fluorescence (SIF), provide improved estimates of Gross Primary Production (GPP). This paper traces the development of these new approaches, compares the results of their analyses from multiple years of data acquired across the Amazon Basin and suggests further improvements in instrument design, data acquisition and processing. We demonstrated that our estimates of PRI are in generally good agreement with eddy-flux tower measurements of photosynthetic light use efficiency (epsilon) at four sites in the Amazon Basin: r(exp 2) values ranged from 0.37 to 0.51 for northern flux sites and to 0.78for southern flux sites. This is a significant advance over previous approaches seeking to establish a link between global-scale photosynthetic activity and remotely-sensed data. When combined with measurements of Sun-Induced Fluorescence (SIF), PRI provides realistic estimates of seasonal variation in photosynthesis over the Amazon that relate well to the wet and dry seasons. We anticipate that our findings will steer the development of improved approaches to estimate photosynthetic activity over the tropics.
Progress in Remote Sensing of Photosynthetic Activity over the Amazon Basin

PubMed Central

de Sousa, Celio Helder Resende; Hilker, Thomas; Waring, Richard; de Moura, Yhasmin Mendes; Lyapustin, Alexei

2017-01-01

Although quantifying the massive exchange of carbon that takes place over the Amazon Basin remains a challenge, progress is being made as the remote sensing community moves from using traditional, reflectance-based vegetation indices, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), to the more functional Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI). This new index, together with satellite-derived estimates of canopy light interception and Sun-Induced Fluorescence (SIF), provide improved estimates of Gross Primary Production (GPP). This paper traces the development of these new approaches, compares the results of their analyses from multiple years of data acquired across the Amazon Basin and suggests further improvements in instrument design, data acquisition and processing. We demonstrated that our estimates of PRI are in generally good agreement with eddy-flux tower measurements of photosynthetic light use efficiency (ε) at four sites in the Amazon Basin: r2 values ranged from 0.37 to 0.51 for northern flux sites and to 0.78 for southern flux sites. This is a significant advance over previous approaches seeking to establish a link between global-scale photosynthetic activity and remotely-sensed data. When combined with measurements of Sun-Induced Fluorescence (SIF), PRI provides realistic estimates of seasonal variation in photosynthesis over the Amazon that relate well to the wet and dry seasons. We anticipate that our findings will steer the development of improved approaches to estimate photosynthetic activity over the tropics. PMID:29375895
Progress in Remote Sensing of Photosynthetic Activity over the Amazon Basin.

PubMed

de Sousa, Celio Helder Resende; Hilker, Thomas; Waring, Richard; de Moura, Yhasmin Mendes; Lyapustin, Alexei

2017-01-01

Although quantifying the massive exchange of carbon that takes place over the Amazon Basin remains a challenge, progress is being made as the remote sensing community moves from using traditional, reflectance-based vegetation indices, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), to the more functional Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI). This new index, together with satellite-derived estimates of canopy light interception and Sun-Induced Fluorescence (SIF), provide improved estimates of Gross Primary Production (GPP). This paper traces the development of these new approaches, compares the results of their analyses from multiple years of data acquired across the Amazon Basin and suggests further improvements in instrument design, data acquisition and processing. We demonstrated that our estimates of PRI are in generally good agreement with eddy-flux tower measurements of photosynthetic light use efficiency (ε) at four sites in the Amazon Basin: r 2 values ranged from 0.37 to 0.51 for northern flux sites and to 0.78 for southern flux sites. This is a significant advance over previous approaches seeking to establish a link between global-scale photosynthetic activity and remotely-sensed data. When combined with measurements of Sun-Induced Fluorescence (SIF), PRI provides realistic estimates of seasonal variation in photosynthesis over the Amazon that relate well to the wet and dry seasons. We anticipate that our findings will steer the development of improved approaches to estimate photosynthetic activity over the tropics.
Method of modifying a volume mesh using sheet extraction

DOEpatents

Borden, Michael J [Albuquerque, NM; Shepherd, Jason F [Albuquerque, NM

2007-02-20

A method and machine-readable medium provide a technique to modify a hexahedral finite element volume mesh using dual generation and sheet extraction. After generating a dual of a volume stack (mesh), a predetermined algorithm may be followed to modify the volume mesh of hexahedral elements. The predetermined algorithm may include the steps of determining a sheet of hexahedral mesh elements, generating nodes for merging, and merging the nodes to delete the sheet of hexahedral mesh elements and modify the volume mesh.
MOD-5A wind turbine generator program design report: Volume 1: Executive Summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

The design, development and analysis of the 7.3 MW MOD-5A wind turbine generator covering work performed between July 1980 and June 1984 is discussed. The report is divided into four volumes: Volume 1 summarizes the entire MOD-5A program, Volume 2 discusses the conceptual and preliminary design phases, Volume 3 describes the final design of the MOD-5A, and Volume 4 contains the drawings and specifications developed for the final design. Volume 1, the Executive Summary, summarizes all phases of the MOD-5A program. The performance and cost of energy generated by the MOD-5A are presented. Each subsystem - the rotor, drivetrain, nacelle, tower and foundation, power generation, and control and instrumentation subsystems - is described briefly. The early phases of the MOD-5A program, during which the design was analyzed and optimized, and new technologies and materials were developed, are discussed. Manufacturing, quality assurance, and safety plans are presented. The volume concludes with an index of volumes 2 and 3.

Polycystic echinococcosis in Pacas, Amazon region, Peru.

PubMed

Mayor, Pedro; Baquedano, Laura E; Sanchez, Elisabeth; Aramburu, Javier; Gomez-Puerta, Luis A; Mamani, Victor J; Gavidia, Cesar M

2015-03-01

In the Peruvian Amazon, paca meat is consumed by humans. To determine human risk for polycystic echinococcosis, we examined wild pacas from 2 villages; 15 (11.7%) of 128 were infected with Echinococcus vogeli tapeworms. High E. vogeli prevalence among pacas indicates potential risk for humans living in E. vogeli-contaminated areas.
A social and ecological assessment of tropical land uses at multiple scales: the Sustainable Amazon Network

EPA Science Inventory

Science has a critical role to play in guiding more sustainable development trajectories. Here we present the Sustainable Amazon Network (Rede Amazônia Sustentável, RAS): a multi-disciplinary research initiative involving more than 30 partner organisations working to assess both ...
Terrestrial Carbon Sinks in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado Region Predicted from MODIS Satellite Data and Ecosystem Modeling

EPA Science Inventory

A simulation model based on satellite observations of monthly vegetation cover from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was used to estimate monthly carbon fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems of Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado regions over the period 2000-2004. Pr...
Studies of Phlebotomine Sand Flies.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-08-31

wellcomei, a proven vector of leishmaniasis elsewhere in Brazil, was found by the Principal Investigator and colleagues in rainforest north of the Amazon ...and Sycoracinae). Technical Bull. 806. Agr. Exp. Stat., Univ. of Fla. 166 p. 15. Arias, J. and D.G. Young. 1980. Sand flies of the central Amazon of
Inferring Internet Denial-of-Service Activity

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-01-01

observe more than 12,000 attacks against more than 5,000 distinct targets, ranging from well known e- commerce companies such as Amazon and Hotmail to...observe more than 2,000 attacks against more than 5,000 distinct targets, ranging from well known e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Hotmail to small
Amazon Flooded Forest. Teacher Resource Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duvall, Todd

This teacher's resource guide was created to accompany the Amazon Flooded Forest exhibit at the Oregon Zoo. The enclosed lessons and activities are designed to extend into several aspects of daily curriculum including science, math, reading, writing, speaking, and geography. The materials are intended for use in grades 3-6 although most activities…
SCIMITAR: Scalable Stream-Processing for Sensor Information Brokering

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-11-01

IaaS) cloud frameworks including Amazon Web Services and Eucalyptus . For load testing, we used The Grinder [9], a Java load testing framework that...internal Eucalyptus cluster which we could not scale as large as the Amazon environment due to a lack of computation resources. We recreated our
The Impacts of Amazon Deforestation on Pacific Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindsey, Leah

Variability in eastern Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) associated with the El Nino Southern Oscillation are known to affect Amazonian precipitation, but to what extent do changing Amazonian vegetation and rainfall impact eastern Pacific SST? The Amazon rainforest is threatened by many factors including climate change and clearing for agricultural reasons. Forest fires and dieback are more likely due to increased frequency and intensity of droughts in the region. It is possible that extensive Amazon deforestation can enhance El Nino conditions by weakening the Walker circulation. Correlations between annual rainfall rates over the Amazon and other atmospheric parameters (global precipitation, surface air temperature, low cloud amount, 500 hPa vertical velocity, surface winds, and 200 hPa winds) over the eastern Pacific indicate strong relationships among these fields. Maps of these correlations (teleconnection maps) reveal that when the Amazon is rainy SSTs in the central and eastern Pacific are cold, rainfall is suppressed over the central and eastern Pacific, low clouds are prominent over the eastern and southeastern Pacific, and subsidence over the central and eastern Pacific is enhanced. Precipitation in the Amazon is also consistent with a strong Walker circulation (La Nina conditions), manifest as strong correlations with the easterly surface and westerly 200 hPa zonal winds. Coupling between Amazon rainfall and these fields are seen in observations and model data. Correlations were calculated using data from observations, reanalysis data, two models under the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project/Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5/AMIP), and an AMIP run with the model used in this study, the Community Earth System Model (CESM1.1.1). Although the correlations between Amazon precipitation and the aforementioned fields are strong, they do not show causality. In order to investigate the impact of tropical South American deforestation on the Pacific climate, numerical experiments were performed using the CESM. Amazon deforestation was studied in an idealized world where a single continent was covered in forest and then, in a separate simulation, covered in grassland. Four different sets of simulations were carried out: 1) the baseline idealized set-up with prescribed SST, 2) another with an Andes-like mountain range, 3) a simulation with a slab ocean model rather than prescribed SST, and 4) a simulation repeated with the standard Community Atmosphere Model (CAM4) replaced by the Superparameterized version (SP-CAM). The continent in these simulations was compared to the Amazon, and the ocean to the west of the continent was compared to the eastern Pacific. All of the simulations showed a strong warming of around 3-4°C over the continent going from forest to grassland. A notable decrease in precipitation over land of about 1-3 mm day-1 and increase to the west of the continent of about 1-2 mm day-1 was also observed in most of the simulations. The simulations with the slab ocean model showed enhanced precipitation changes with a corresponding decrease of 2-4 mm day-1 over land and increase of 3-5 mm day-1 west of the continent. Simulations that used the SP-CAM showed very small changes in precipitation, which was likely due to the decreased spin-up time allowed for these simulations. The decrease in the surface roughness and reduction in the evapotranspiration for the simulations with grassland contributed to these changes in surface temperature and precipitation. The conversion of forest to grassland in our experiments imply that deforestation can lead to weakening of the Walker circulation by weakening easterly surface winds and westerly upper tropospheric winds. These findings suggest that large-scale Amazon deforestation is capable of enhancing El Nino conditions.
A snapshot on prokaryotic diversity of the Solimões River basin (Amazon, Brazil).

PubMed

Toyama, D; Santos-Júnior, C D; Kishi, L T; Oliveira, T C S; Garcia, J W; Sarmento, H; Miranda, F P; Henrique-Silva, F

2017-05-18

The Amazon region has the largest hydrographic basin on the planet and  is well known for its huge biodiversity of plants and animals. However,  there is a lack of studies on aquatic microbial biodiversity in the  Solimões River, one of its main water courses. To investigate the  microbial biodiversity of this region, we performed 16S rRNA gene clone  libraries from Solimões River and adjacent rivers and lakes. Our question was which microorganisms inhabit the different types of aquatic  environments in this part of the basin, and how diversity varies among  these environments (rivers and lakes). The microbial  diversity generating 13 clone libraries of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene  and 5 libraries of the archaeal 16S rRNA gene was assessed. Diversity measured by several alpha diversity indices (ACE, Chao, Shannon and Simpson) revealed significant differences in diversity indices between lake and river samples. The site with higher microbial diversity was in the Solimões River (4S), downstream the confluence with Purus River. The most common bacterial taxon was the cosmopolitan Polynucleobacter genus, widely observed in all samples. The phylum Thaumarchaeota was the prevailing archaeal taxon. Our results provide the first insight into the microbial diversity of the world's largest river basin.
Hydraulic Strategies and Response to El Niño Drought in Amazon Rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, V. Y.; Oliveira, R. S.; Brum, M., Jr.; Prohaska, N.; Albert, L.; Taylor, T.; Fatichi, S.; Agee, E.; Saleska, S. R.; Oliveira Junior, R. C.; Dye, D. G.; Wiedemann, K. T.

2016-12-01

Variability of tree-scale carbon and water uptake strategies is increasingly recognized to be of paramount importance for understanding the limits of drought resilience of tropical rainforests. Here, we present evidence of such variations using a set of ecohydrologic data collected through the DOE "GoAmazon" project, with a specific emphasis on the response of a seasonal rainforest in eastern Amazonia to the strong 2015 El Niño drought. Data from 50 sapflow sensors are combined with high-frequency observations on stem and leaf water potential as well as precision dendrometry. The emerging behavior shows a spectrum of successfully co-existing hydraulic strategies, ranging from tight control against xylem failure to a near lack of regulation of the water flux through the stomata, implying the existence of other mechanisms to deal with extreme tissue dehydration. These strategies also exhibit coupling with tree growth patterns and dynamics of non-structural carbohydrates, with the latter type of trees allocating more carbon to growth and less to internal reserves, while the opposite is true for the former tree type. The results suggest a new approach for integrating hydraulic traits and carbon-cycle dynamics, and a strategy for mapping traits to function in the next generation of predictive models of ecosystem dynamics.
Multi-scale assessment of human-induced changes to ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Context: Land use change and forest degradation have myriad effects on tropical ecosystems. Yet their consequences for low-order streams remain very poorly understood, including in the world´s largest freshwater basin, the Amazon.Objectives: Determine the degree to which physical and chemical characteristics of the instream habitat of low-order Amazonian streams change in response to past local- and catchment-level anthropogenic disturbances. Methods: To do so, we collected field instream habitat (i.e., physical habitat and water quality) and landscape data from 99 stream sites in two eastern Brazilian Amazon regions. We used random forest regression trees to assess the relative importance of different predictor variables in determining changes in instream habitat response variables. Adaptations the USEPA’s National Aquatic Resource Survey (NARS) designs, field methods, and approaches for assessing ecological condition have been applied in state and basin stream surveys throughout the U.S., and also in countries outside of the U.S. These applications not only provide valuable tests of the NARS approaches, but generate new understandings of natural and anthropogenic controls on biota and physical habitat in streams. Results from applications in Brazil, for example, not only aid interpretation of the condition of Brazilian streams, but also refine approaches for interpreting aquatic resource surveys in the U.S. and elsewhere. In this article, the authors des
Protected area types, strategies and impacts in Brazil's Amazon: public protected area strategies do not yield a consistent ranking of protected area types by impact

PubMed Central

Pfaff, Alexander; Robalino, Juan; Sandoval, Catalina; Herrera, Diego

2015-01-01

The leading policy to conserve forest is protected areas (PAs). Yet, PAs are not a single tool: land users and uses vary by PA type; and public PA strategies vary in the extent of each type and in the determinants of impact for each type, i.e. siting and internal deforestation. Further, across regions and time, strategies respond to pressures (deforestation and political). We estimate deforestation impacts of PA types for a critical frontier, the Brazilian Amazon. We separate regions and time periods that differ in their deforestation and political pressures and document considerable variation in PA strategies across regions, time periods and types. The siting of PAs varies across regions. For example, all else being equal, PAs in the arc of deforestation are relatively far from non-forest, while in other states they are relatively near. Internal deforestation varies across time periods, e.g. it is more similar across the PA types for PAs after 2000. By contrast, after 2000, PA extent is less similar across PA types with little non-indigenous area created inside the arc. PA strategies generate a range of impacts for PA types—always far higher within the arc—but not a consistent ranking of PA types by impact. PMID:26460126
Mod-5A wind turbine generator program design report. Volume 4: Drawings and specifications, book 5

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

The design, development and analysis of the 7.3 MW MOD-5A wind turbine generator is documented. There are four volumes. This volume contains the drawings and specifications that were developed in preparation for building the MOD-5A wind turbine generator. Detail drawings of several assemblies and subassemblies are given. This is the fifth book of volume 4.
Growth references for Tsimane forager-horticulturalists of the Bolivian Amazon

PubMed Central

Blackwell, Aaron D.; Urlacher, Samuel S.; Beheim, Bret; von Rueden, Christopher; Jaeggi, Adrian; Stieglitz, Jonathan; Trumble, Benjamin C.; Gurven, Michael; Kaplan, Hillard

2016-01-01

Objectives Growth standards and references currently used to assess population and individual health are derived primarily from urban populations, including few individuals from indigenous or subsistence groups. Given environmental and genetic differences, growth may vary in these populations. Thus, there is a need to assess whether international standards are appropriate for all populations, and to produce population specific references if growth differs. Here we present and assess growth references for the Tsimane, an indigenous population of Bolivian forager-horticulturalists. Methods Mixed cross-sectional/longitudinal anthropometrics (9,614 individuals; 30,118 observations; ages 0–29 years) were used to generate centile curves and Lambda-Mu-Sigma (LMS) tables for height-for-age, weight-for-age, body mass index (BMI)-for-age, and weight-for-height (WFH) using Generalized Additive Models for Location Shape and Scale (GAMLSS). Velocity curves were generated using SuperImposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR). Tsimane ≤5 years were compared World Health Organization (WHO) standards while those >5 years were compared to WHO school age references. All ages were compared to published references for Shuar forager-horticulturalists of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Results Tsimane growth differs from WHO values in height and weight, but is similar for BMI and WFH. Tsimane growth is characterized by slow height velocity in childhood and early adolescent peak height velocity at 11.3 and 13.2 years for girls and boys. Tsimane growth patterns are similar to Shuar, suggesting shared features of growth among indigenous South Americans. Conclusions International references for BMI-for-age and WFH are likely appropriate for Tsimane, but differences in height-for-age and weight-for-age suggest Tsimane specific references may be useful for these measures. PMID:28218400
Growth references for Tsimane forager-horticulturalists of the Bolivian Amazon.

PubMed

Blackwell, Aaron D; Urlacher, Samuel S; Beheim, Bret; von Rueden, Christopher; Jaeggi, Adrian; Stieglitz, Jonathan; Trumble, Benjamin C; Gurven, Michael; Kaplan, Hillard

2017-03-01

Growth standards and references currently used to assess population and individual health are derived primarily from urban populations, including few individuals from indigenous or subsistence groups. Given environmental and genetic differences, growth may vary in these populations. Thus, there is a need to assess whether international standards are appropriate for all populations, and to produce population specific references if growth differs. Here we present and assess growth references for the Tsimane, an indigenous population of Bolivian forager-horticulturalists. Mixed cross-sectional/longitudinal anthropometrics (9,614 individuals; 30,118 observations; ages 0-29 years) were used to generate centile curves and Lambda-Mu-Sigma (LMS) tables for height-for-age, weight-for-age, body mass index (BMI)-for-age, and weight-for-height (WFH) using Generalized Additive Models for Location Shape and Scale (GAMLSS). Velocity curves were generated using SuperImposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR). Tsimane ≤5 years were compared to World Health Organization (WHO) standards while those >5 years were compared to WHO school age references. All ages were compared to published references for Shuar forager-horticulturalists of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Tsimane growth differs from WHO values in height and weight, but is similar for BMI and WFH. Tsimane growth is characterized by slow height velocity in childhood and early adolescent peak height velocity at 11.3 and 13.2 years for girls and boys. Tsimane growth patterns are similar to Shuar, suggesting shared features of growth among indigenous South Americans. International references for BMI-for-age and WFH are likely appropriate for Tsimane, but differences in height-for-age and weight-for-age suggest Tsimane specific references may be useful for these measures. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Refractive status of indigenous people in the northwestern Amazon region of Brazil.

PubMed

Thorn, Frank; Cruz, Antonio A V; Machado, André J; Carvalho, Ricardo A C

2005-04-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the refractive status of the illiterate indigenous people of the upper Rio Negro region of the Amazon rain forest in northwestern Brazil. From an overall sample of 486 people, 259 indigenous people and 78 Brazilians between 12 and 59 years of age with no compromising optical opacities were refracted with cycloplegic retinoscopy. Subjects were categorized as indigenous if they had at least three generations of indigenous ancestry with no folklore suggesting other ancestors. Myopia was rare among the indigenous population. Only 2.7% of eyes showed myopia of -1.00 D or more and 1.6% (four people) had bilateral myopia of -1.00 D or more. Half of this small group were the only educated indigenous people examined. The prevalence of astigmatism and anisometropia equal to or >1.00 D was 15.5% and 8.2%, respectively. Most of the astigmatism in the indigenous people had an against-the-rule axis. Age was not associated with the refractive errors of the indigenous people. Brazilians from the small city in which the study was performed had higher rates of myopia (6.4% of eyes and 5.1% of subjects bilaterally). Older preeducation adults also had a very low prevalence of myopia (3.2% of eyes and 2.0% of subjects), whereas the younger, slightly educated Brazilians had a higher prevalence of myopia (11.3% of eyes and 9.7% of subjects). The low prevalence of myopia in the illiterate indigenous people is consistent with other studies and suggests that myopia is related to literacy. The generational change among the local mixed race Brazilians further supports this conclusion. The relatively high rates of astigmatism and anisometropia in the indigenous people were unusual for a predominantly emmetropic sample.
Land Use Change Impacts to Flows and Hydropower at the Southern Fringe of the Brazilian Amazon: A Regional, Empirical Study of Land-Water-Energy Nexus Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levy, M. C.; Thompson, S. E.; Cohn, A.

2014-12-01

Land use/cover change (LUCC) has occurred extensively in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest-savanna transition. Agricultural development-driven LUCC at regional scales can alter surface energy budgets, evapotranspiration (ET) and rainfall; these hydroclimatic changes impact streamflows, and thus hydropower. To date, there is only limited empirical understanding of these complex land-water-energy nexus dynamics, yet understanding is important to developing countries where both agriculture and hydropower are expanding and intensifying. To observe these changes and their interconnections, we synthesize a novel combination of ground network, remotely sensed, and empirically modeled data for LUCC, rainfall, flows, and hydropower potential. We connect the extensive temporal and spatial trends in LUCC occurring from 2000-2012 (and thus observable in the satellite record) to long-term historical flow records and run-of-river hydropower generation potential estimates. Changes in hydrologic condition are observed in terms of dry and wet season moments, extremes, and flow duration curves. Run-of-river hydropower generation potential is modeled at basin gauge points using equation models parameterized with literature-based low-head turbine efficiencies, and simple algorithms establishing optimal head and capacity from elevation and flows, respectively. Regression analyses are used to demonstrate a preliminary causal analysis of LUCC impacts to flow and energy, and discuss extension of the analysis to ungauged basins. The results are transferable to tropical and transitional forest regions worldwide where simultaneous agricultural and hydropower development potentially compete for coupled components of regional water cycles, and where policy makers and planners require an understanding of LUCC impacts to hydroclimate-dependent industries and ecosystems.
Premolis semirufa (Walker, 1856) Envenomation, Disease Affecting Rubber Tappers of the Amazon: Searching for Caterpillar-Bristles Toxic Components

PubMed Central

Villas-Boas, Isadora Maria; Gonçalves-de-Andrade, Rute Maria; Pidde-Queiroz, Giselle; Assaf, Suely Lucia Muro Rais; Portaro, Fernanda C. V.; Sant'Anna, Osvaldo A.; van den Berg, Carmen W.; Tambourgi, Denise V.

2012-01-01

Background The caterpillar of the moth Premolis semirufa (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae), commonly named Pararama, is endemic of the Amazon basin. Accidental contact with these caterpillar bristles causes local symptoms such as intense heat, pain, edema and itching which last for three to seven days; however, after multiples contacts, it may induce joint-space narrowing and bone alteration, as well as degeneration of the articular cartilage and immobilization of the affected joints. Specific treatment for this disease does not exist, but corticosteroids are frequently administered. Despite of the public health hazard of Premolis semirufa caterpillar poisoning, little is known about the nature of the toxic components involved in the induction of the pathology. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we have investigated the biological and immunochemical characteristics of the caterpillar's bristles components. Analysis of the bristles extract in in vitro assays revealed the presence of proteolytic and hyaluronidase activities but no phospholipase A2 activity. In vivo, it was observed that the bristles extract is not lethal but can induce an intense inflammatory process, characterized by the presence of neutrophils in the paw tissues of injected mice. Furthermore, the bristles components stimulated an intense and specific antibody response but autoantibodies such as anti-DNA or anti-collagen type II were not detected. Conclusion The results suggest that Premolis semirufa caterpillar bristles secretion contains a mixture of different enzymes that may act together in the generation and development of the clinical manifestations of the Pararama envenomation. Moreover, the high immunogenicity of the caterpillar bristles components, as shown by the generation of high antibody titers, may also contribute to the induction and establishment of the inflammatory disease. PMID:22389740
Pre-Columbian urbanism, anthropogenic landscapes, and the future of the Amazon.

PubMed

Heckenberger, Michael J; Russell, J Christian; Fausto, Carlos; Toney, Joshua R; Schmidt, Morgan J; Pereira, Edithe; Franchetto, Bruna; Kuikuro, Afukaka

2008-08-29

The archaeology of pre-Columbian polities in the Amazon River basin forces a reconsideration of early urbanism and long-term change in tropical forest landscapes. We describe settlement and land-use patterns of complex societies on the eve of European contact (after 1492) in the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon. These societies were organized in articulated clusters, representing small independent polities, within a regional peer polity. These patterns constitute a "galactic" form of prehistoric urbanism, sharing features with small-scale urban polities in other areas. Understanding long-term change in coupled human-environment systems relating to these societies has implications for conservation and sustainable development, notably to control ecological degradation and maintain regional biodiversity.
Modelling multiple threats to water security in the Peruvian Amazon using the WaterWorld policy support system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Soesbergen, A. J. J.; Mulligan, M.

2014-01-01

This paper describes the application of WaterWorld (www.policysupport.org/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 plausible 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.

Mod-5A wind turbine generator program design report. Volume 3: Final design and system description, book 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

The design, development and analysis of the 7.3MW MOD-5A wind turbine generator is documented. The report is divided into four volumes: Volume 1 summarizes the entire MOD-5A program, Volume 2 discusses the conceptual and preliminary design phases, Volume 3 describes the final design of the MOD-5A, and Volume 4 contains the drawings and specifications developed for the final design. Volume 3, book 2 describes the performance and characteristics of the MOD-5A wind turbine generator in its final configuration. The subsystem for power generation, control, and instrumentation subsystems is described in detail. The manufacturing and construction plans, and the preparation of a potential site on Oahu, Hawaii, are documented. The quality assurance and safety plan, and analyses of failure modes and effects, and reliability, availability and maintainability are presented.
Vegetation chlorophyll estimates in the Amazon from multi-angle MODIS observations and canopy reflectance model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hilker, Thomas; Galvão, Lênio Soares; Aragão, Luiz E. O. C.; de Moura, Yhasmin M.; do Amaral, Cibele H.; Lyapustin, Alexei I.; Wu, Jin; Albert, Loren P.; Ferreira, Marciel José; Anderson, Liana O.; dos Santos, Victor A. H. F.; Prohaska, Neill; Tribuzy, Edgard; Barbosa Ceron, João Vitor; Saleska, Scott R.; Wang, Yujie; de Carvalho Gonçalves, José Francisco; de Oliveira Junior, Raimundo Cosme; Cardoso Rodrigues, João Victor Figueiredo; Garcia, Maquelle Neves

2017-06-01

As a preparatory study for future hyperspectral missions that can measure canopy chemistry, we introduce a novel approach to investigate whether multi-angle Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data can be used to generate a preliminary database with long-term estimates of chlorophyll. MODIS monthly chlorophyll estimates between 2000 and 2015, derived from a fully coupled canopy reflectance model (ProSAIL), were inspected for consistency with eddy covariance fluxes, tower-based hyperspectral images and chlorophyll measurements. MODIS chlorophyll estimates from the inverse model showed strong seasonal variations across two flux-tower sites in central and eastern Amazon. Marked increases in chlorophyll concentrations were observed during the early dry season. Remotely sensed chlorophyll concentrations were correlated to field measurements (r2 = 0.73 and r2 = 0.98) but the data deviated from the 1:1 line with root mean square errors (RMSE) ranging from 0.355 μg cm-2 (Tapajós tower) to 0.470 μg cm-2 (Manaus tower). The chlorophyll estimates were consistent with flux tower measurements of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP). We also applied ProSAIL to mono-angle hyperspectral observations from a camera installed on a tower to scale modeled chlorophyll pigments to MODIS observations (r2 = 0.73). Chlorophyll pigment concentrations (ChlA+B) were correlated to changes in the amount of young and mature leaf area per month (0.59 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.64). Increases in MODIS observed ChlA+B were preceded by increased PAR during the dry season (0.61 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.62) and followed by changes in net carbon uptake. We conclude that, at these two sites, changes in LAI, coupled with changes in leaf chlorophyll, are comparable with seasonality of plant productivity. Our results allowed the preliminary development of a 15-year time series of chlorophyll estimates over the Amazon to support canopy chemistry studies using future hyperspectral sensors.
Geographical Analysis for Detecting High-Risk Areas for Bovine/Human Rabies Transmitted by the Common Hematophagous Bat in the Amazon Region, Brazil

PubMed Central

Begot, Alberto L.; Ramos, Ofir de S.

2016-01-01

Background The common hematophagous bat, Desmodus rotundus, is one of the main wild reservoirs of rabies virus in several regions in Latin America. New production practices and changed land use have provided environmental features that have been very favorable for D. rotundus bat populations, making this species the main transmitter of rabies in the cycle that involves humans and herbivores. In the Amazon region, these features include a mosaic of environmental, social, and economic components, which together creates areas with different levels of risk for human and bovine infections, as presented in this work in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. Methodology We geo-referenced a total of 175 cases of rabies, of which 88% occurred in bovines and 12% in humans, respectively, and related these cases to a number of different geographical and biological variables. The spatial distribution was analyzed using the Kernel function, while the association with independent variables was assessed using a multi-criterion Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique. Findings The spatiotemporal analysis of the occurrence of rabies in bovines and humans found reduction in the number of cases in the eastern state of Pará, where no more cases were recorded in humans, whereas high infection rates were recorded in bovines in the northeastern part of the state, and low rates in the southeast. The areas of highest risk for bovine rabies are found in the proximity of rivers and highways. In the case of human rabies, the highest concentration of high-risk areas was found where the highway network coincides with high densities of rural and indigenous populations. Conclusion The high-risk areas for human and bovine rabies are patchily distributed, and related to extensive deforested areas, large herds of cattle, and the presence of highways. These findings provide an important database for the generation of epidemiological models that could support the development of effective prevention measures and controls. PMID:27388498
MC-GenomeKey: a multicloud system for the detection and annotation of genomic variants.

PubMed

Elshazly, Hatem; Souilmi, Yassine; Tonellato, Peter J; Wall, Dennis P; Abouelhoda, Mohamed

2017-01-20

Next Generation Genome sequencing techniques became affordable for massive sequencing efforts devoted to clinical characterization of human diseases. However, the cost of providing cloud-based data analysis of the mounting datasets remains a concerning bottleneck for providing cost-effective clinical services. To address this computational problem, it is important to optimize the variant analysis workflow and the used analysis tools to reduce the overall computational processing time, and concomitantly reduce the processing cost. Furthermore, it is important to capitalize on the use of the recent development in the cloud computing market, which have witnessed more providers competing in terms of products and prices. In this paper, we present a new package called MC-GenomeKey (Multi-Cloud GenomeKey) that efficiently executes the variant analysis workflow for detecting and annotating mutations using cloud resources from different commercial cloud providers. Our package supports Amazon, Google, and Azure clouds, as well as, any other cloud platform based on OpenStack. Our package allows different scenarios of execution with different levels of sophistication, up to the one where a workflow can be executed using a cluster whose nodes come from different clouds. MC-GenomeKey also supports scenarios to exploit the spot instance model of Amazon in combination with the use of other cloud platforms to provide significant cost reduction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first solution that optimizes the execution of the workflow using computational resources from different cloud providers. MC-GenomeKey provides an efficient multicloud based solution to detect and annotate mutations. The package can run in different commercial cloud platforms, which enables the user to seize the best offers. The package also provides a reliable means to make use of the low-cost spot instance model of Amazon, as it provides an efficient solution to the sudden termination of spot machines as a result of a sudden price increase. The package has a web-interface and it is available for free for academic use.
Spatial patterns of water quality in Xingu River Basin (Amazonia) prior to the Belo Monte dam impoundment.

PubMed

Rodrigues-Filho, J L; Abe, D S; Gatti-Junior, P; Medeiros, G R; Degani, R M; Blanco, F P; Faria, C R L; Campanelli, L; Soares, F S; Sidagis-Galli, C V; Teixeira-Silva, V; Tundisi, J E M; Matsmura-Tundisi, T; Tundisi, J G

2015-08-01

The Xingu River, one of the most important of the Amazon Basin, is characterized by clear and transparent waters that drain a 509.685 km2 watershed with distinct hydrological and ecological conditions and anthropogenic pressures along its course. As in other basins of the Amazon system, studies in the Xingu are scarce. Furthermore, the eminent construction of the Belo Monte for hydropower production, which will alter the environmental conditions in the basin in its lower middle portion, denotes high importance of studies that generate relevant information that may subsidize a more balanced and equitable development in the Amazon region. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the water quality in the Xingu River and its tributaries focusing on spatial patterns by the use of multivariate statistical techniques, identifying which water quality parameters were more important for the environmental changes in the watershed. Data sampling were carried out during two complete hydrological cycles in twenty-five sampling stations. The data of twenty seven variables were analyzed by Spearman's correlation coefficients, cluster analysis (CA), and principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed a high auto-correlation between variables (> 0.7). These variables were removed from multivariate analyzes because they provided redundant information about the environment. The CA resulted in the formation of six clusters, which were clearly observed in the PCA and were characterized by different water quality. The statistical results allowed to identify a high spatial variation in the water quality, which were related to specific features of the environment, different uses, influences of anthropogenic activities and geochemical characteristics of the drained basins. It was also demonstrated that most of the sampling stations in the Xingu River basin showed good water quality, due to the absence of local impacts and high power of depuration of the river itself.
Terra Pretas: Charcoal Amendments Influence on Relict Soils and Modern Agriculture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ricigliano, Kristin

2011-01-01

Most soils found in the Amazon region are characterized by highly weathered profiles that are incapable of longterm agricultural production. However, small patches of highly fertile relict soil referred to as Terra Pretas, are also found in the Amazon region, and have maintained their integrity for thousands of years. These soils were…
Andes hantavirus variant in rodents, southern Amazon Basin, Peru.

PubMed

Razuri, Hugo; Tokarz, Rafal; Ghersi, Bruno M; Salmon-Mulanovich, Gabriela; Guezala, M Claudia; Albujar, Christian; Mendoza, A Patricia; Tinoco, Yeny O; Cruz, Christopher; Silva, Maria; Vasquez, Alicia; Pacheco, Víctor; Ströher, Ute; Guerrero, Lisa Wiggleton; Cannon, Deborah; Nichol, Stuart T; Hirschberg, David L; Lipkin, W Ian; Bausch, Daniel G; Montgomery, Joel M

2014-02-01

We investigated hantaviruses in rodents in the southern Amazon Basin of Peru and identified an Andes virus variant from Neacomys spinosus mice. This finding extends the known range of this virus in South America and the range of recognized hantaviruses in Peru. Further studies of the epizoology of hantaviruses in this region are warranted.
Development Context, Regional Differences among Young Women, and Fertility: The Ecuadorian Amazon.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lobao, Linda M.; Brown, Lawrence A.

1998-01-01

Data from the 1990 Ecuadorian census indicate that expected fertility-reducing effects of women's education, student status, and labor force participation were lessened in the Amazon as a consequence of its family-based economy, class structure, and high-fertility demographic regime. Development of the extractive periphery in Ecuador is…
76 FR 23642 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Marajo: Ancient Ceramics...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-27

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice: 7432] Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: ``Marajo: Ancient Ceramics at the Mouth of the Amazon'' SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the... that the objects to be included in the exhibition ``Marajo: Ancient Ceramics at the Mouth of the Amazon...
Integrating genomics into future approaches for cocoa selection and propagation in Côte d’Ivoire

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In Côte-d’Ivoire cocoa breeding is based on a reciprocal recurrent scheme that has been prepared with the aim of improving simultaneously the characteristics of the two main populations: Upper Amazon and Lower Amazon+ Trinitario. Resistance to Phytophtora and Cacao Swollen Shoot Virus has become th...
Principal Connection / Amazon and the Whole Teacher

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoerr, Thomas R.

2015-01-01

A recent controversy over Amazon's culture has strong implications for the whole child approach, and it offers powerful lessons for principals. A significant difference between the culture of so many businesses today and the culture at good schools is that in good schools, the welfare of the employees is very important. Student success is the…
Metagenome Sequencing of Prokaryotic Microbiota Collected from Rivers in the Upper Amazon Basin.

PubMed

Santos-Júnior, Célio Dias; Kishi, Luciano Takeshi; Toyama, Danyelle; Soares-Costa, Andrea; Oliveira, Tereza Cristina Souza; de Miranda, Fernando Pellon; Henrique-Silva, Flávio

2017-01-12

Tropical freshwater environments, like rivers, are important reservoirs of microbial life. This study employed metagenomic sequencing to survey prokaryotic microbiota in the Solimões, Purus, and Urucu Rivers of the Amazon Basin in Brazil. We report a rich and diverse microbial community. Copyright © 2017 Santos-Júnior et al.
Along the Rio Negro: Brazilian Children's Environmental Views and Values.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howe, Daniel C.; And Others

1996-01-01

Interviews with fifth graders living in rural and urban parts of the Brazilian Amazon region revealed that children were aware of environmental problems, believed that throwing garbage into the Rio Negro harmed the environment and violated a moral obligation, cared about environmental harm, and supported conservation of the Amazon rain forest. (BC)
Polycystic Echinococcosis in Pacas, Amazon Region, Peru

PubMed Central

Mayor, Pedro; Baquedano, Laura E.; Sanchez, Elisabeth; Aramburu, Javier; Gomez-Puerta, Luis A.; Mamani, Victor J.

2015-01-01

In the Peruvian Amazon, paca meat is consumed by humans. To determine human risk for polycystic echinococcosis, we examined wild pacas from 2 villages; 15 (11.7%) of 128 were infected with Echinococcus vogeli tapeworms. High E. vogeli prevalence among pacas indicates potential risk for humans living in E. vogeli–contaminated areas. PMID:25695937
Mimivirus Circulation among Wild and Domestic Mammals, Amazon Region, Brazil

PubMed Central

Dornas, Fábio P.; Rodrigues, Felipe P.; Boratto, Paulo V.M.; Silva, Lorena C.F.; Ferreira, Paulo C.P.; Bonjardim, Cláudio A.; Trindade, Giliane S.; Kroon, Erna G.; La Scola, Bernard

2014-01-01

To investigate circulation of mimiviruses in the Amazon Region of Brazil, we surveyed 513 serum samples from domestic and wild mammals. Neutralizing antibodies were detected in 15 sample pools, and mimivirus DNA was detected in 9 pools of serum from capuchin monkeys and in 16 pools of serum from cattle. PMID:24564967
Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance

PubMed Central

Espírito-Santo, Fernando D.B.; Gloor, Manuel; Keller, Michael; Malhi, Yadvinder; Saatchi, Sassan; Nelson, Bruce; Junior, Raimundo C. Oliveira; Pereira, Cleuton; Lloyd, Jon; Frolking, Steve; Palace, Michael; Shimabukuro, Yosio E.; Duarte, Valdete; Mendoza, Abel Monteagudo; López-González, Gabriela; Baker, Tim R.; Feldpausch, Ted R.; Brienen, Roel J.W.; Asner, Gregory P.; Boyd, Doreen S.; Phillips, Oliver L.

2014-01-01

Forest inventory studies in the Amazon indicate a large terrestrial carbon sink. However, field plots may fail to represent forest mortality processes at landscape-scales of tropical forests. Here we characterize the frequency distribution of disturbance events in natural forests from 0.01 ha to 2,651 ha size throughout Amazonia using a novel combination of forest inventory, airborne lidar and satellite remote sensing data. We find that small-scale mortality events are responsible for aboveground biomass losses of ~1.7 Pg C y−1 over the entire Amazon region. We also find that intermediate-scale disturbances account for losses of ~0.2 Pg C y−1, and that the largest-scale disturbances as a result of blow-downs only account for losses of ~0.004 Pg C y−1. Simulation of growth and mortality indicates that even when all carbon losses from intermediate and large-scale disturbances are considered, these are outweighed by the net biomass accumulation by tree growth, supporting the inference of an Amazon carbon sink. PMID:24643258
The extreme 2014 flood in south-western Amazon basin: the role of tropical-subtropical South Atlantic SST gradient

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlo Espinoza, Jhan; Marengo, José Antonio; Ronchail, Josyane; Molina Carpio, Jorge; Noriega Flores, Luís; Loup Guyot, Jean

2014-12-01

Unprecedented wet conditions are reported in the 2014 summer (December-March) in South-western Amazon, with rainfall about 100% above normal. Discharge in the Madeira River (the main southern Amazon tributary) has been 74% higher than normal (58 000 m3 s-1) at Porto Velho and 380% (25 000 m3 s-1) at Rurrenabaque, at the exit of the Andes in summer, while levels of the Rio Negro at Manaus were 29.47 m in June 2014, corresponding to the fifth highest record during the 113 years record of the Rio Negro. While previous floods in Amazonia have been related to La Niña and/or warmer than normal tropical South Atlantic, the 2014 rainfall and flood anomalies are associated with warm condition in the western Pacific-Indian Ocean and with an exceptionally warm Subtropical South Atlantic. Our results suggest that the tropical and subtropical South Atlantic SST gradient is a main driver for moisture transport from the Atlantic toward south-western Amazon, and this became exceptionally intense during summer of 2014.
Road building, land use and climate change: prospects for environmental governance in the Amazon.

PubMed

Perz, Stephen; Brilhante, Silvia; Brown, Foster; Caldas, Marcellus; Ikeda, Santos; Mendoza, Elsa; Overdevest, Christine; Reis, Vera; Reyes, Juan Fernando; Rojas, Daniel; Schmink, Marianne; Souza, Carlos; Walker, Robert

2008-05-27

Some coupled land-climate models predict a dieback of Amazon forest during the twenty-first century due to climate change, but human land use in the region has already reduced the forest cover. The causation behind land use is complex, and includes economic, institutional, political and demographic factors. Pre-eminent among these factors is road building, which facilitates human access to natural resources that beget forest fragmentation. While official government road projects have received considerable attention, unofficial road building by interest groups is expanding more rapidly, especially where official roads are being paved, yielding highly fragmented forest mosaics. Effective governance of natural resources in the Amazon requires a combination of state oversight and community participation in a 'hybrid' model of governance. The MAP Initiative in the southwestern Amazon provides an example of an innovative hybrid approach to environmental governance. It embodies a polycentric structure that includes government agencies, NGOs, universities and communities in a planning process that links scientific data to public deliberations in order to mitigate the effects of new infrastructure and climate change.
Simultaneous abrupt shifts in hydrology and fish assemblage structure in a floodplain lake in the central Amazon

PubMed Central

Röpke, Cristhiana P.; Amadio, Sidinéia; Zuanon, Jansen; Ferreira, Efrem J. G.; Deus, Cláudia Pereira de; Pires, Tiago H. S.; Winemiller, Kirk O.

2017-01-01

Combined effects of climate change and deforestation have altered precipitation patterns in the Amazon. This has led to changes in the frequency of extreme events of flood and drought in recent decades and in the magnitude of the annual flood pulse, a phenomenon that influences virtually all aspects of river-floodplain ecosystem dynamics. Analysis of long-term data revealed abrupt and synchronous changes in hydrology and fish assemblage structure of a floodplain lake near the confluence of Amazon and Negro rivers. After an intense drought in 2005, the assemblage assumed a different and fairly persistent taxonomic composition and functional structure. Declines in abundance after 2005 were more pronounced for species of all sizes having equilibrium life history strategy, large species with periodic life history strategy, and for all trophic levels except primary consumers. Our results suggest that the extreme drought triggered changes in the fish assemblage and subsequent anomalous hydrological conditions have hampered assemblage recovery. These findings stress the need to account for climatic-driven hydrological changes in conservation efforts addressing aquatic biodiversity and fishery resources in the central Amazon. PMID:28071701
A Simulation Model of Carbon Cycling and Methane Emissions in Amazon Wetlands

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Potter, Christopher; Melack, John; Hess, Laura; Forsberg, Bruce; Novo, Evlyn Moraes; Klooster, Steven

2004-01-01

An integrative carbon study is investigating the hypothesis that measured fluxes of methane from wetlands in the Amazon region can be predicted accurately using a combination of process modeling of ecosystem carbon cycles and remote sensing of regional floodplain dynamics. A new simulation model has been build using the NASA- CASA concept for predicting methane production and emission fluxes in Amazon river and floodplain ecosystems. Numerous innovations area being made to model Amazon wetland ecosystems, including: (1) prediction of wetland net primary production (NPP) as the source for plant litter decomposition and accumulation of sediment organic matter in two major vegetation classes - flooded forests (varzea or igapo) and floating macrophytes, (2) representation of controls on carbon processing and methane evasion at the diffusive boundary layer, through the lake water column, and in wetland sediments as a function of changes in floodplain water level, (3) inclusion of surface emissions controls on wetland methane fluxes, including variations in daily surface temperature and of hydrostatic pressure linked to water level fluctuations. A model design overview and early simulation results are presented.

Diel variation of larval fish abundance in the Amazon and Rio Negro.

PubMed

Araujo-Lima, C A; da Silva, V V; Petry, P; Oliveira, E C; Moura, S M

2001-08-01

Many streams and large rivers present higher ichthyoplankton densities at night. However, in some rivers this does not occur and larvae are equally abundant during the day. Larval drift diel variation is an important information for planning sampling programs for evaluating larval distribution and production. The aim of this study was to test whether the abundance of larval fish was different at either period. We tested it by comparing day and night densities of characiform, clupeiform and siluriform larvae during five years in the Amazon and one year in Rio Negro. We found that larvae of three species of characiform and larvae of siluriform were equally abundant during day and night in the Amazon. Conversely, the catch of Pellona spp. larvae was significantly higher during the day. In Rio Negro, however, larval abundance was higher during the night. These results imply that day samplings estimate adequately the abundance of these characiform and siluriform larvae in the Amazon, but not Pellona larvae. Evaluations of larved densities of Rio Negro will have to consider night sampling.
Increasing seroprevalence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) with age confirms HHV-8 endemicity in Amazon Amerindians from Brazil.

PubMed

Cunha, A M G; Caterino-de-Araujo, A; Costa, S C B; Santos-Fortuna, E; Boa-Sorte, N C A; Gonçalves, M S; Costa, F F; Galvão-Castro, B

2005-09-01

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) seroprevalences were determined in two isolated Amazon Amerindian tribes, according to age, gender and familial aggregation. Plasma and serum samples obtained from 982 Amazon Amerindians (664 Tiriyó and 318 Waiampi) were tested for antibodies against lytic and latent HHV-8 antigens by using 'in-house' immunofluorescence assays. Overall, HHV-8 seroprevalence was 56.8 % (57.4 % in the Tiriyó tribe and 55.7 % in the Waiampi tribe). Seroprevalence was independent of gender and increased linearly with age: it was 35.0 % among children aged 2-9 years, 51.4 % in adolescents (10-19 years), 72.9 % in adults and 82.3 % in adults aged >50 years. Interestingly, 44.4 % of children under 2 years of age were HHV-8-seropositive. No significant differences in seroprevalence between tribes and age groups were detected. It is concluded that HHV-8 is hyperendemic in Brazilian Amazon Amerindians, with vertical and horizontal transmission during childhood, familial transmission and sexual contact in adulthood contributing to this high prevalence in these isolated populations.
Asynchronous Amazon forest canopy phenology indicates adaptation to both water and light availability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Matthew O.; Kimball, John S.; Nemani, Ramakrishna R.

2014-12-01

Amazon forests represent nearly half of all tropical vegetation biomass and, through photosynthesis and respiration, annually process more than twice the amount of estimated carbon (CO2) from fossil fuel emissions. Yet the seasonality of Amazon canopy cover, and the extent to which seasonal fluctuations in water availability and photosynthetically available radiation influence these processes, is still poorly understood. Implementing six remotely sensed data sets spanning nine years (2003-2011), with reported field and flux tower data, we show that southern equatorial Amazon forests exhibit a distinctive seasonal signal. Seasonal timing of water availability, canopy biomass growth and net leaf flush are asynchronous in regions with short dry seasons and become more synchronous across a west-to-east longitudinal moisture gradient of increasing dry season. Forest cover is responsive to seasonal disparities in both water and solar radiation availability, temporally adjusting net leaf flush to maximize use of these generally abundant resources, while reducing drought susceptibility. An accurate characterization of this asynchronous behavior allows for improved understanding of canopy phenology across contiguous tropical forests and their sensitivity to climate variability and drought.
Spatial and temporal variations of evapotranspiration, groundwater and precipitation in Amazonia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, J.; Riley, W. J.; Shen, C.; Melack, J. M.; Qiu, H.

2017-12-01

We used wavelet coherence analysis to investigate the effects of precipitation (P) and groundwater dynamics (total water storage anomaly, TWSA) on evapotranspiration (ET) at kilometer, sub-basin, and whole basin scales in the Amazon basin. The Amazon-scale averaged ET, P, and TWSA have about the same annual periodicity. The phase lag between ET and P (ΦET-P) is 1 to 3 months, and between ET and TWSA (ΦET-TWSA) is 3 to 7 months. The phase patterns have a south-north divide due to significant variation in climatic conditions. The correlation between ΦET-P and ΦET-TWSA is affected by the aridity index (the ratio between potential ET (PET) and P, PET / P), of each sub-basin, as determined using the Budyko framework at the sub-basin level. The spatial structure of ΦET-P is negatively correlated with the spatial structure of annual ET. At Amazon-scale during a drought year (e.g., 2010), both phases decreased, while in the subsequent years, ΦET-TWSA increased, indicating strong groundwater effects on ET immediately following dry years Amazon-wide.
Seasonal dynamics in methane emissions from the Amazon River floodplain to the troposphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Devol, Allan H.; Richey, Jeffrey E.; Forsberg, Bruce R.; Martinelli, Luiz A.

1990-01-01

Methane fluxes to the troposphere from the three principal habitats of the floodplain of the Amazon River main stem (open waters, emergent macrophyte beds, and flooded forests) were determined along a 1700-km reach of the river during the low-water period of the annual flood cycle (November-December 1988). Overall, emissions averaged 68 mg CH4/sq m per day and were significantly lower than similar emissions determined previously for the high-water period, 184 mg CH4/sq m per day (July-August 1986). This difference was due to significantly lower emissions from floating macrophyte environments. Low-water emissions from open waters and flooded forest areas were not significantly different than at high water. A monthly time series of methane emission from eight lakes located in the central Amazon basis showed similar results. The data were used to calculate a seasonally weighted annual emission to the troposphere from the Amazon River main stem floodplain of 5.1 Tg/yr, which indicates the importance of the area in global atmospheric chemistry.
Amazon plant diversity revealed by a taxonomically verified species list.

PubMed

Cardoso, Domingos; Särkinen, Tiina; Alexander, Sara; Amorim, André M; Bittrich, Volker; Celis, Marcela; Daly, Douglas C; Fiaschi, Pedro; Funk, Vicki A; Giacomin, Leandro L; Goldenberg, Renato; Heiden, Gustavo; Iganci, João; Kelloff, Carol L; Knapp, Sandra; Cavalcante de Lima, Haroldo; Machado, Anderson F P; Dos Santos, Rubens Manoel; Mello-Silva, Renato; Michelangeli, Fabián A; Mitchell, John; Moonlight, Peter; de Moraes, Pedro Luís Rodrigues; Mori, Scott A; Nunes, Teonildes Sacramento; Pennington, Terry D; Pirani, José Rubens; Prance, Ghillean T; de Queiroz, Luciano Paganucci; Rapini, Alessandro; Riina, Ricarda; Rincon, Carlos Alberto Vargas; Roque, Nádia; Shimizu, Gustavo; Sobral, Marcos; Stehmann, João Renato; Stevens, Warren D; Taylor, Charlotte M; Trovó, Marcelo; van den Berg, Cássio; van der Werff, Henk; Viana, Pedro Lage; Zartman, Charles E; Forzza, Rafaela Campostrini

2017-10-03

Recent debates on the number of plant species in the vast lowland rain forests of the Amazon have been based largely on model estimates, neglecting published checklists based on verified voucher data. Here we collate taxonomically verified checklists to present a list of seed plant species from lowland Amazon rain forests. Our list comprises 14,003 species, of which 6,727 are trees. These figures are similar to estimates derived from nonparametric ecological models, but they contrast strongly with predictions of much higher tree diversity derived from parametric models. Based on the known proportion of tree species in neotropical lowland rain forest communities as measured in complete plot censuses, and on overall estimates of seed plant diversity in Brazil and in the neotropics in general, it is more likely that tree diversity in the Amazon is closer to the lower estimates derived from nonparametric models. Much remains unknown about Amazonian plant diversity, but this taxonomically verified dataset provides a valid starting point for macroecological and evolutionary studies aimed at understanding the origin, evolution, and ecology of the exceptional biodiversity of Amazonian forests.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Jian; Krejci, Radovan; Giangrande, Scott

The nucleation of atmospheric vapours is an important source of new aerosol particles that can subsequently grow to form cloud condensation nuclei in the atmosphere. Most field studies of atmospheric aerosols over continents are influenced by atmospheric vapours of anthropogenic origin and, in consequence, aerosol processes in pristine, terrestrial environments remain poorly understood. The Amazon rainforest is one of the few continental regions where aerosol particles and their precursors can be studied under near-natural conditions, but the origin of small aerosol particles that grow into cloud condensation nuclei in the Amazon boundary layer remains unclear. Here we present aircraft- andmore » ground-based measurements under clean conditions during the wet season in the central Amazon basin. We find that high concentrations of small aerosol particles (with diameters of less than 50 nanometres) in the lower free troposphere are transported from the free troposphere into the boundary layer during precipitation events by strong convective downdrafts and weaker downward motions in the trailing stratiform region. Lastly, this rapid vertical transport can help to maintain the population of particles in the pristine Amazon boundary layer, and may therefore influence cloud properties and climate under natural conditions.« less
Extratropical Respones to Amazon Deforestation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Badger, A.; Dirmeyer, P.

2014-12-01

Land-use change (LUC) is known to impact local climate conditions through modifications of land-atmosphere interactions. Large-scale LUC, such as Amazon deforestation, could have a significant effect on the local and regional climates. The question remains as to what the global impact of large-scale LUC could be, as previous modeling studies have shown non-local responses due to Amazon deforestation. A common shortcoming in many previous modeling studies is the use of prescribed ocean conditions, which can act as a boundary condition to dampen the global response with respect to changes in the mean and variability. Using fully coupled modeling simulations with the Community Earth System Model version 1.2.0, the Amazon rainforest has been replaced with a distribution of representative tropical crops. Through the modifications of local land-atmosphere interactions, a significant change in the region, both at the surface and throughout the atmosphere, can be quantified. Accompanying these local changes are significant changes to the atmospheric circulation across all scales, thus modifying regional climates in other locales. Notable impacts include significant changes in precipitation, surface fluxes, basin-wide sea surface temperatures and ENSO behavior.
Petrobras eyes LNG project in Amazon region

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1995-08-07

The Brazilian state oil company has proved gas reserves in the Rio Urucu area of the Amazon jungle totaling 1.84 tcf. That compares with 3.08 tcf contained in the offshore Campos basin, source of most of Brazil`s oil and gas production. The environmentally sensitive Urucu region is one of the most dense, remote jungles in the world. Because of environmental concerns about pipelines in the rain forest and a government emphasis on boosting the natural gas share of Brazil`s energy mix, a small liquefied natural gas project is shaping up as the best option for developing and marketing Urucu gas.more » The amazon campaign underscores a government initiative to boost Brazilian consumption of natural gas. In Brazil natural gas accounts for only 4% of primary energy consumption. Some years ago, the government set an official goal of boosting the gas share of the primary energy mix to 10% by 2000. The paper discusses current drilling activities, gas production and processing, the logistics of the upper Amazon, and gas markets.« less
Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance.

PubMed

Espírito-Santo, Fernando D B; Gloor, Manuel; Keller, Michael; Malhi, Yadvinder; Saatchi, Sassan; Nelson, Bruce; Junior, Raimundo C Oliveira; Pereira, Cleuton; Lloyd, Jon; Frolking, Steve; Palace, Michael; Shimabukuro, Yosio E; Duarte, Valdete; Mendoza, Abel Monteagudo; López-González, Gabriela; Baker, Tim R; Feldpausch, Ted R; Brienen, Roel J W; Asner, Gregory P; Boyd, Doreen S; Phillips, Oliver L

2014-03-18

Forest inventory studies in the Amazon indicate a large terrestrial carbon sink. However, field plots may fail to represent forest mortality processes at landscape-scales of tropical forests. Here we characterize the frequency distribution of disturbance events in natural forests from 0.01 ha to 2,651 ha size throughout Amazonia using a novel combination of forest inventory, airborne lidar and satellite remote sensing data. We find that small-scale mortality events are responsible for aboveground biomass losses of ~1.7 Pg C y(-1) over the entire Amazon region. We also find that intermediate-scale disturbances account for losses of ~0.2 Pg C y(-1), and that the largest-scale disturbances as a result of blow-downs only account for losses of ~0.004 Pg C y(-1). Simulation of growth and mortality indicates that even when all carbon losses from intermediate and large-scale disturbances are considered, these are outweighed by the net biomass accumulation by tree growth, supporting the inference of an Amazon carbon sink.
Simultaneous abrupt shifts in hydrology and fish assemblage structure in a floodplain lake in the central Amazon.

PubMed

Röpke, Cristhiana P; Amadio, Sidinéia; Zuanon, Jansen; Ferreira, Efrem J G; Deus, Cláudia Pereira de; Pires, Tiago H S; Winemiller, Kirk O

2017-01-10

Combined effects of climate change and deforestation have altered precipitation patterns in the Amazon. This has led to changes in the frequency of extreme events of flood and drought in recent decades and in the magnitude of the annual flood pulse, a phenomenon that influences virtually all aspects of river-floodplain ecosystem dynamics. Analysis of long-term data revealed abrupt and synchronous changes in hydrology and fish assemblage structure of a floodplain lake near the confluence of Amazon and Negro rivers. After an intense drought in 2005, the assemblage assumed a different and fairly persistent taxonomic composition and functional structure. Declines in abundance after 2005 were more pronounced for species of all sizes having equilibrium life history strategy, large species with periodic life history strategy, and for all trophic levels except primary consumers. Our results suggest that the extreme drought triggered changes in the fish assemblage and subsequent anomalous hydrological conditions have hampered assemblage recovery. These findings stress the need to account for climatic-driven hydrological changes in conservation efforts addressing aquatic biodiversity and fishery resources in the central Amazon.
Amazon plant diversity revealed by a taxonomically verified species list

PubMed Central

Cardoso, Domingos; Särkinen, Tiina; Alexander, Sara; Amorim, André M.; Bittrich, Volker; Celis, Marcela; Daly, Douglas C.; Fiaschi, Pedro; Funk, Vicki A.; Giacomin, Leandro L.; Heiden, Gustavo; Iganci, João; Kelloff, Carol L.; Knapp, Sandra; Cavalcante de Lima, Haroldo; Machado, Anderson F. P.; dos Santos, Rubens Manoel; Mello-Silva, Renato; Michelangeli, Fabián A.; Mitchell, John; Moonlight, Peter; de Moraes, Pedro Luís Rodrigues; Mori, Scott A.; Nunes, Teonildes Sacramento; Pennington, Terry D.; Pirani, José Rubens; Prance, Ghillean T.; de Queiroz, Luciano Paganucci; Rapini, Alessandro; Rincon, Carlos Alberto Vargas; Roque, Nádia; Shimizu, Gustavo; Sobral, Marcos; Stehmann, João Renato; Stevens, Warren D.; Taylor, Charlotte M.; Trovó, Marcelo; van den Berg, Cássio; van der Werff, Henk; Viana, Pedro Lage; Zartman, Charles E.; Forzza, Rafaela Campostrini

2017-01-01

Recent debates on the number of plant species in the vast lowland rain forests of the Amazon have been based largely on model estimates, neglecting published checklists based on verified voucher data. Here we collate taxonomically verified checklists to present a list of seed plant species from lowland Amazon rain forests. Our list comprises 14,003 species, of which 6,727 are trees. These figures are similar to estimates derived from nonparametric ecological models, but they contrast strongly with predictions of much higher tree diversity derived from parametric models. Based on the known proportion of tree species in neotropical lowland rain forest communities as measured in complete plot censuses, and on overall estimates of seed plant diversity in Brazil and in the neotropics in general, it is more likely that tree diversity in the Amazon is closer to the lower estimates derived from nonparametric models. Much remains unknown about Amazonian plant diversity, but this taxonomically verified dataset provides a valid starting point for macroecological and evolutionary studies aimed at understanding the origin, evolution, and ecology of the exceptional biodiversity of Amazonian forests. PMID:28923966
[Universal health systems and territory: challenges for a regional policy in the Brazilian Legal Amazon].

PubMed

Viana, Ana Luiza d'Avila; Machado, Cristiani Vieira; Baptista, Tatiana Wargas de Faria; Lima, Luciana Dias de; Mendonça, Maria Helena Magalhães de; Heimann, Luiza S; Albuquerque, Mariana Vercesi; Iozzi, Fabíola Lana; David, Virna Carvalho; Ibañez, Pablo; Frederico, Samuel

2007-01-01

This article presents the results of a study on Federal health policy in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) from 2003 to 2005, aimed at backing the development of regional health policies. The region has peculiar dynamics, an extensive border area, and adverse social indicators. The methodology included documental and financial analysis, participatory observation, interviews with heads of various Federal Ministries and State and Municipal health secretaries from the BLA; characterization of geographic situations in the BLA; and field studies in 15 municipalities. Institutional consolidation of health policy proved to be low in the Amazon during the study period, due to structural, institutional, and political difficulties. The identification of six geographic situations was useful for systematizing land use differences with repercussions on health, and which should be considered when implementing public policies. There is a certain gap between Federal actions and territorial dynamics, expressed as a mismatch between the current policy and its recognition by local administrators. In addition to establishing a regional policy for the Amazon, there is an evident need for differentiated policies within the region.
Synergy between land use and climate change increases future fire risk in Amazon forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Page, Yannick; Morton, Douglas; Hartin, Corinne; Bond-Lamberty, Ben; Cardoso Pereira, José Miguel; Hurtt, George; Asrar, Ghassem

2017-12-01

Tropical forests have been a permanent feature of the Amazon basin for at least 55 million years, yet climate change and land use threaten the forest's future over the next century. Understory forest fires, which are common under the current climate in frontier forests, may accelerate Amazon forest losses from climate-driven dieback and deforestation. Far from land use frontiers, scarce fire ignitions and high moisture levels preclude significant burning, yet projected climate and land use changes may increase fire activity in these remote regions. Here, we used a fire model specifically parameterized for Amazon understory fires to examine the interactions between anthropogenic activities and climate under current and projected conditions. In a scenario of low mitigation efforts with substantial land use expansion and climate change - Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 - projected understory fires increase in frequency and duration, burning 4-28 times more forest in 2080-2100 than during 1990-2010. In contrast, active climate mitigation and land use contraction in RCP4.5 constrain the projected increase in fire activity to 0.9-5.4 times contemporary burned area. Importantly, if climate mitigation is not successful, land use contraction alone is very effective under low to moderate climate change, but does little to reduce fire activity under the most severe climate projections. These results underscore the potential for a fire-driven transformation of Amazon forests if recent regional policies for forest conservation are not paired with global efforts to mitigate climate change.
Potential contribution of groundwater to dry-season ET in the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miguez-Macho, Gonzalo; Fan, Ying

2010-05-01

Climate and land ecosystem models simulate vegetation stress in the Amazon forest in the dry season, but observations show enhanced growth in response to higher radiation under less cloudy skies indicating an adequate water supply. The question is: how does the vegetation obtain sufficient water, and what is missing in the models? Shallow model soil and rooting depth is a factor; the ability of roots to move water up and down (hydraulic redistribution) may be another, but another cause may lie in the buffering effect of the groundwater found in nature but absent in models. We present observational and modeling evidence that the vast groundwater store, consequence of high annual rainfall combined with poor drainage in the Amazon, may provide a stable source for dry-season photosynthesis. The water table beneath the Amazon is sufficiently shallow (38% area <5m and 63% area <10m deep) as to contribute >2mm/day to dry-season evapotranspiration, a non-negligible portion of tower-observed flux of 3-4mm/day, the latter including canopy-interception loss and open-water evaporation. This may have important implications to our understanding of Amazonia ecosystem response and feedback to climate change. Current models, lacking groundwater, predict a significant reduction in dry-season photosynthesis under current climate and large-scale dieback under projected future climate converting the Amazon from a net carbon sink to a net source and accelerating warming. If groundwater is considered in the models, the magnitude of the responses and feedbacks may be reduced.
Plasma Drug Concentrations of Orally Administered Rosuvastatin in Hispaniolan Amazon Parrots (Amazona ventralis).

PubMed

Beaufrère, Hugues; Papich, Mark G; Brandão, João; Nevarez, Javier; Tully, Thomas N

2015-03-01

Atherosclerotic diseases are common in pet psittacine birds, in particular Amazon parrots. While hypercholesterolemia and dyslipidemia have not definitely been associated with increased susceptibility to atherosclerosis in parrots, these are important and well-known risk factors in humans. Therefore statin drugs such as rosuvastatin constitute the mainstay of human treatment of dyslipidemia and the prevention of atherosclerosis. No pharmacologic studies have been performed in psittacine birds despite the high prevalence of atherosclerosis in captivity. Thirteen Hispaniolan Amazon parrots were used to test a single oral dose of 10 mg/kg of rosuvastatin with blood sampling performed according to a balanced incomplete block design over 36 hours. Because low plasma concentrations were produced in the first study, a subsequent pilot study using a dose of 25 mg/kg in 2 Amazon parrots was performed. Most plasma samples for the 10 mg/kg dose and all samples for the 25 mg/kg dose had rosuvastatin concentration below the limits of quantitation. For the 10 mg/kg study, the median peak plasma concentration and time to peak plasma concentration were 0.032 μg/mL and 2 hours, respectively. Our results indicate that rosuvastatin does not appear suitable in Amazon parrots as compounded and used at the dose in this study. Pharmacodynamic studies investigating lipid-lowering effects of statins rather than pharmacokinetic studies may be more practical and cost effective in future studies to screen for a statin with more ideal properties for potential use in psittacine dyslipidemia and atherosclerotic diseases.
Extreme Drought Events Revealed in Amazon Tree Ring Records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, H. S.; Baker, P. A.; Guilderson, T. P.

2010-12-01

The Amazon basin is a center of deep atmospheric convection and thus acts as a major engine for global hydrologic circulation. Yet despite its significance, a full understanding of Amazon rainfall variability remains elusive due to a poor historical record of climate. Temperate tree rings have been used extensively to reconstruct climate over the last thousand years, however less attention has been given to the application of dendrochronology in tropical regions, in large part due to a lower frequency of tree species known to produce annual rings. Here we present a tree ring record of drought extremes from the Madre de Dios region of southeastern Peru over the last 190 years. We confirm that tree ring growth in species Cedrela odorata is annual and show it to be well correlated with wet season precipitation. This correlation is used to identify extreme dry (and wet) events that have occurred in the past. We focus on drought events identified in the record as drought frequency is expected to increase over the Amazon in a warming climate. The Cedrela chronology records historic Amazon droughts of the 20th century previously identified in the literature and extends the record of drought for this region to the year 1816. Our analysis shows that there has been an increase in the frequency of extreme drought (mean recurrence interval = 5-6 years) since the turn of the 20th century and both Atlantic and Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) forcing mechanisms are implicated.
Oil pollution in soils and sediments from the Northern Peruvian Amazon.

PubMed

Rosell-Melé, Antoni; Moraleda-Cibrián, Núria; Cartró-Sabaté, Mar; Colomer-Ventura, Ferran; Mayor, Pedro; Orta-Martínez, Martí

2018-01-01

Oil has been extracted from the Northern Peruvian Amazon for over four decades. However, few scientific studies have assessed the impacts of such activities in the environment and health of indigenous communities in the region. We have investigated the occurrence of petrogenic hydrocarbon pollution in soils and sediments from areas favoured as hunting or fishing grounds by local indigenous inhabitants. The study was conducted in one of the most productive oil blocks in Peru, located in the headwaters of the Amazon river. Soils and river sediments, in the vicinity of oil extraction and processing infrastructure, contained an oil pollution signature as attested by the occurrence of hopanes and steranes. Given the lack of any other significant source of oil pollution in the region, the sources of hydrocarbons are likely to be the activities of the oil industry in the oil block, from voluntary discharges or accidental spills. Spillage of produced water was commonplace until 2009. Moreover, petrogenic compounds were absent in control samples in sites far removed from any oil infrastructure in the oil block. Our findings suggest that wildlife and indigenous populations in this region of the Amazon are exposed to the ingestion of oil polluted soils and sediments. The data obtained supports previous claims that the local spillage of oil and produced waters in the water courses in the Corrientes and Pastaza basins could have eventually reached the main water course of the Amazon. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Effects of Convective Transport on the Budget of Amazonian Aerosol under Background Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Krejci, R.; Giangrande, S. E.; Kuang, C.; Barbosa, H. M.; Brito, J.; Carbone, S.; Chi, X.; Comstock, J. M.; Ditas, F.; Lavric, J. V.; Manninen, H. E.; Mei, F.; Moran, D.; Pöhlker, C.; Pöhlker, M. L.; Saturno, J.; Schmid, B.; Souza, R. A. F. D.; Springston, S. R.; Tomlinson, J. M.; Toto, T.; Walter, D.; Wimmer, D.; Smith, J. N.; Machado, L.; Artaxo, P.; Andreae, M. O.; Martin, S. T.

2016-12-01

Aerosol particles can strongly influence the radiative properties of clouds, and they represent one of the largest uncertainties in computer simulations of climate change. The large uncertainty is in large part due to a poor understanding of processes under natural conditions, which serves as the baseline to measure change against. Understanding the processes under natural conditions is critical for a reliable assessment and quantification of ongoing and future climate change. The Amazon rainforest is one of the few continental regions where aerosol particles and their precursors can be studied under near-natural conditions. Here we examine the aerosol number and CCN budget under background conditions in the Amazon basin using data collected during the Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon 2014/5) campaign, which took place from January 2014 to December 2015 near Manaus, Brazil. The aerosol size spectrum was observed at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO), 150 km upwind of Manaus, and its variation with convection and precipitation during the wet season is presented. Air masses arriving at the ATTO during the wet season are typically brought by the northeasterly trade winds and travel across at least 1000 km of undeveloped tropical rainforest, therefore are generally clean. Also shown are vertical profiles of aerosol observed onboard the DOE Gulfstream-1 research aircraft. The impact of convective transport on the budget of boundary layer aerosol and CCN under the background conditions is discussed.
Colloquium paper: how many tree species are there in the Amazon and how many of them will go extinct?

PubMed

Hubbell, Stephen P; He, Fangliang; Condit, Richard; Borda-de-Agua, Luís; Kellner, James; Ter Steege, Hans

2008-08-12

New roads, agricultural projects, logging, and mining are claiming an ever greater area of once-pristine Amazonian forest. The Millennium Ecosystems Assessment (MA) forecasts the extinction of a large fraction of Amazonian tree species based on projected loss of forest cover over the next several decades. How accurate are these estimates of extinction rates? We use neutral theory to estimate the number, relative abundance, and range size of tree species in the Amazon metacommunity and estimate likely tree-species extinctions under published optimistic and nonoptimistic Amazon scenarios. We estimate that the Brazilian portion of the Amazon Basin has (or had) 11,210 tree species that reach sizes >10 cm DBH (stem diameter at breast height). Of these, 3,248 species have population sizes >1 million individuals, and, ignoring possible climate-change effects, almost all of these common species persist under both optimistic and nonoptimistic scenarios. At the rare end of the abundance spectrum, however, neutral theory predicts the existence of approximately 5,308 species with <10,000 individuals each that are expected to suffer nearly a 50% extinction rate under the nonoptimistic deforestation scenario and an approximately 37% loss rate even under the optimistic scenario. Most of these species have small range sizes and are highly vulnerable to local habitat loss. In ensembles of 100 stochastic simulations, we found mean total extinction rates of 20% and 33% of tree species in the Brazilian Amazon under the optimistic and nonoptimistic scenarios, respectively.

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