Biomes of Brazil - Resilience, Recovery and Diversity
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Geography - SoGE
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Planned Impact
Who will benefit from this research, and how will they benefit?
The national and regional governments of tropical nations within forest and savanna biomes will benefit from greater information relating to the resistance and resilience of these ecosystems to climate change, land-use change and other forms of disturbance. In addition, this information will help them to receive payments for ecosystem services, such as REDD+, opening up new income streams. PES schemes such as REDD+ are most likely to support rural people, who are often some of the poorest members of society in developing countries.
Brazilian federal research agencies such as INPE and EMBRAPA are responsible for monitoring changes in forest cover and ecosystem services. WP4 and WP5 will provide results relevant to the monitoring of Brazilian ecosystems.
The Brazilian federal government, including the ministry of the environment (MMA) and science and technology (MCT), will benefit from WP5, which will help guide appropriate restoration and conservation policies in Brazil, and will assist Brazil if the federal government decides to engage in REDD+.
Developed nations interested in climate change mitigation. Relevant EU counties such as Norway, Germany, the UK and France, whose national governments and other institutions have contributed $1,900M, $783M, $645M and $445M to REDD+ schemes in developing countries. BIO-RED will help these countries invest in lower-risk and cost-effective REDD+ projects that maximise biodiversity and livelihoods co-benefits.
Other key beneficiaries are
* International non-governmental organisations developing strategies to conserve and restore biodiversity, reduce climate change and aid sustainable development (e.g. World Wildlife Fund - WWF, The Nature Conservation - TNC, Conservation International - CI, International Union of Conservation of Nature - IUCN).
* The United Nations, most notably by producing outputs relevant for the Environment Programme (UNEP, and especially the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, WCMC), Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
* The World Bank, via the Global Agricultural Research Partnership (CGIAR), which includes the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
* National NGOs in Brazil (e.g. IIS - International Institute for Sustainability in Rio de Janiero), and those that focus on conservation issues in individual biomes (e.g. SOS Mata Atlantica).
BIO-RED will help all these international and national governmental and non-governmental organisations to develop REDD+ projects that maximise carbon assimilation as well as biodiversity and livelihoods co-benefits. Improvements to monitoring will assist them in tracking changes in ecosystem health and extent. Information on species responses to extreme events, such as heat, drought and fire, will help them predict the future of tropical biomes under different scenarios of climate and land-use change. This in turn provides a powerful tool to exert pressure on governments to adapt and change their policies.
Finally, (1) several Brazilian students involved in BIO-RED will gain training from leading UK scientists, including many transferable skills relating to data management, data analysis and scientific writing, and (2) the Brazilian biome environmental science base will be further strengthened by the development of two new Young Investigators in country, each establishing their own new research team in leading research institutions and each working across the three largest Brazilian biomes.
The national and regional governments of tropical nations within forest and savanna biomes will benefit from greater information relating to the resistance and resilience of these ecosystems to climate change, land-use change and other forms of disturbance. In addition, this information will help them to receive payments for ecosystem services, such as REDD+, opening up new income streams. PES schemes such as REDD+ are most likely to support rural people, who are often some of the poorest members of society in developing countries.
Brazilian federal research agencies such as INPE and EMBRAPA are responsible for monitoring changes in forest cover and ecosystem services. WP4 and WP5 will provide results relevant to the monitoring of Brazilian ecosystems.
The Brazilian federal government, including the ministry of the environment (MMA) and science and technology (MCT), will benefit from WP5, which will help guide appropriate restoration and conservation policies in Brazil, and will assist Brazil if the federal government decides to engage in REDD+.
Developed nations interested in climate change mitigation. Relevant EU counties such as Norway, Germany, the UK and France, whose national governments and other institutions have contributed $1,900M, $783M, $645M and $445M to REDD+ schemes in developing countries. BIO-RED will help these countries invest in lower-risk and cost-effective REDD+ projects that maximise biodiversity and livelihoods co-benefits.
Other key beneficiaries are
* International non-governmental organisations developing strategies to conserve and restore biodiversity, reduce climate change and aid sustainable development (e.g. World Wildlife Fund - WWF, The Nature Conservation - TNC, Conservation International - CI, International Union of Conservation of Nature - IUCN).
* The United Nations, most notably by producing outputs relevant for the Environment Programme (UNEP, and especially the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, WCMC), Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
* The World Bank, via the Global Agricultural Research Partnership (CGIAR), which includes the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
* National NGOs in Brazil (e.g. IIS - International Institute for Sustainability in Rio de Janiero), and those that focus on conservation issues in individual biomes (e.g. SOS Mata Atlantica).
BIO-RED will help all these international and national governmental and non-governmental organisations to develop REDD+ projects that maximise carbon assimilation as well as biodiversity and livelihoods co-benefits. Improvements to monitoring will assist them in tracking changes in ecosystem health and extent. Information on species responses to extreme events, such as heat, drought and fire, will help them predict the future of tropical biomes under different scenarios of climate and land-use change. This in turn provides a powerful tool to exert pressure on governments to adapt and change their policies.
Finally, (1) several Brazilian students involved in BIO-RED will gain training from leading UK scientists, including many transferable skills relating to data management, data analysis and scientific writing, and (2) the Brazilian biome environmental science base will be further strengthened by the development of two new Young Investigators in country, each establishing their own new research team in leading research institutions and each working across the three largest Brazilian biomes.
Publications
Aguirre-Gutiérrez J
(2019)
Drier tropical forests are susceptible to functional changes in response to a long-term drought.
in Ecology letters
Aragão LEOC
(2018)
21st Century drought-related fires counteract the decline of Amazon deforestation carbon emissions.
in Nature communications
Barreto JR
(2021)
Assessing invertebrate herbivory in human-modified tropical forest canopies.
in Ecology and evolution
Bauters M
(2022)
Tropical wood stores substantial amounts of nutrients, but we have limited understanding why
in Biotropica
Berenguer E
(2021)
Tracking the impacts of El Niño drought and fire in human-modified Amazonian forests.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Berenguer E
(2018)
Tree growth and stem carbon accumulation in human-modified Amazonian forests following drought and fire.
in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
Bruelheide H
(2018)
Global trait-environment relationships of plant communities.
in Nature ecology & evolution
Correa D
(2022)
Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates
in Global Ecology and Biogeography
Davies S
(2021)
ForestGEO: Understanding forest diversity and dynamics through a global observatory network
in Biological Conservation
Doughty CE
(2018)
Tropical forest leaves may darken in response to climate change.
in Nature ecology & evolution
Description | We have described the nutrient cycle of savanna biomes in Brazil, showing that savannas store high amounts of phosphorus. We are completing similar analyses for Atlantic and Amazon forest biomes. |
Exploitation Route | This approach opens up a new approach to understanding nutrient cycling in ecosystems which we are applying more widely. |
Sectors | Environment |
Description | Vulnerability of Brazilian Biomes to drought and fire |
Amount | R$ 200,000 (BRL) |
Funding ID | 2017/16923-1 |
Organisation | State University of Campinas |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | Brazil |
Start | 02/2018 |
End | 01/2020 |
Title | Nutrient concentration in plant organs |
Description | Macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium) concentration (g kg-1) for green and senescent leaves, wood, bark, root and branches from 21 species in the Cerrado biome and 58 species in the Atlantic Forest biome, |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | With this database we will understand how gradients in disturbance and across biomes are influenced by variation in net primary productivity (NPP), nutrient use across species and ecosystem flow and demands for key nutrients. |
Description | Multiple collaborations enabled via ForestPlots.net |
Organisation | Universities UK International |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Via ForestPlots.net we are entering into dozens of new collaborations each year, mostly academic exchanges of data, skills, training, and with increasing research outputs as well as some support for science policy. These are detailed here where they are updated regularly http://www.forestplots.net/en/join-forestplots/research-projects ForestPlots.net is global-leading research infrastructure hosted at the University of Leeds. The partnerships are worldwide, and powering global collaborations including much support for developing country scientists. This particular NERC-funded project has contributed to the development of the shared ForestPlots.net resource and particularly to the successful networking with our many partners in South America. |
Collaborator Contribution | ForestPlots.net is led from the University of Leeds by Professor Oliver Phillips and colleagues, but it exists as a collective effort whose benefits and contributions are widely shared. Partners contribute immensely valuable field data from the tropics, and ideas for projects which they are now leading. They also contribute funded work (ie ForestPlots.net is now growing more due to NON-UK funded research than to UK-funded research). UK funding has therefore acted as a powerful multiplier. |
Impact | There are too many to list and the outputs increase month-on-month. Outputs are reported on the ForestPlots website, eg http://www.forestplots.net/en/join-forestplots/research-projects http://www.forestplots.net/en/publications |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Partnership with Unicamp and NEPAD Dr. Simone Vieira |
Organisation | State University of Campinas |
Country | Brazil |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This is a new grant by FAPESP to work on ecophysiological attributes in the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado BIO_RED sites. The grant is led by Dr. Simone Vieira and co-led by Dr. Imma Oliveras |
Collaborator Contribution | They write |
Impact | Not yet, this collaboration started in February 2020 |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | BBC News Night |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Interview for BBC2 Newsnight on 27/08/2019, Erika Berenguer, Senior Research Associate, University of Oxford https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49gCYWfNeYE&t=180s |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49gCYWfNeYE&t=180s |
Description | BBC News at Ten |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Climate change: How important is the rainforest in limiting global warming? Billions of leaves in the Amazon rainforest take in carbon dioxide - a gas which contributes to global warming. So does deforestation cause a rise in global temperatures? Erika Berenguer is a scientist at the Oxford Environmental Change Institute. She's been studying the same patch of trees in the Amazon for ten years. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-48917148/climate-change-how-important-is-the-rainforest-in-limiting-global-warming |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-48917148/climate-change-how-important-is-the-rainf... |
Description | Channel News Asia |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Erika Berenguer, Senior Research Associate, University of Oxford featured in the programme below: Politics Of Climate Change: Ep 3: Brazil's Amazonian Battle 14 Feb 2020 03:19PM (Updated: 14 Feb 2020 03:20PM) Deforestation in Brazil has skyrocketed. The size of 8.4 million fields have been chopped down. We investigate the need for gold that is forcing people to burn the trees down. About the show: The World Health Organization puts the number of deaths from climate change at 250,000 by 2050. Droughts, wildfires, floods, and catastrophic rains only lead to one question: Has the politics of climate change finally reached the tipping point? CNA traverses around the world to investigate Australia's coal conundrum, Pakistan's Himalayan meltdown and Brazil Amazonian battle. Along the way, we meet people and activists trying to find ways to tackle the biggest issue of the 21st century. A combination of bad policies and political apathy is speeding up climate change. Have we reached the tipping point? Can it be reversed? |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/video-on-demand/politics-of-climate-change/brazil-s-amazonian-b... |
Description | NOS - Holland |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | De nasleep van de Amazonebranden: het regenwoud van alle kanten bedreigd Contributor to the programme Erika Berenguer, Senior Research Associate, University of Oxford |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2315890-de-nasleep-van-de-amazonebranden-het-regenwoud-van-alle-kan... |
Description | O Globo documentary |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Fogo 'invisível' consome Amazônia por até 30 anos, dizem estudos Erika Berenguer, especialista em queimadas, diz que árvores gigantes podem levar até três anos para morrer e que, após três décadas, matas afetadas ainda têm 25% menos biomassa |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://oglobo.globo.com/sociedade/fogo-invisivel-consome-amazonia-por-ate-30-anos-dizem-estudos-239... |
Description | Tropical forests and the decline of the carbon sink talk |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | UK BEIS with many international attendees, Tropical forests and the decline of the carbon sink talk (virtual), Oliver Phillips |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Workshop communities of two reserves in the Brazilian Amazon |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | This workshop was designed/ focused on community members of two reserves in the Brazilian Amazon. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Workshop with fire brigades of two reserves in the Brazilian Amazon |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Workshop with fire brigades of two reserves in the Brazilian Amazon |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |