Project Universal 2023

Project approved in CNPq/MCTI Call No. 10/2023 - Band B - Consolidated Groups - Universal 2023

The Universal 2023 project will be developed in the Rio Negro Sustainable Development Reserve (RDS) and aims to understand the contributions of soil structure, water table depth and land use to maintaining biodiversity in typical white sand environments of the region. We will use the RAPELD method, which is a standardized monitoring system that involves and trains local people and has already been shown to be effective in assessing the effects of soil and groundwater on Amazonian vegetation. The study area already has 3 RAPELD research modules, which provide the necessary infrastructure to conduct the project and raise many other subsidiary hypotheses.

The overall objective of the project is to understand the ecosystem processes that result in the unique biodiversity of the white sand forests in the Solimões-Negro interfluve. Its specific objectives are:

(1) To determine the composition of local flora and fauna groups;

(2) To determine the relationships between species composition (vegetation, understory herbs, primates, mammals, beetles, frogs and reptiles) and environmental and anthropic factors in the Rio Negro Reserve, relating it to ecological gradients;

(3) To train local community members to carry out activities related to ecological monitoring, so that community members can use their knowledge about biodiversity as a source of income generation for local communities, as well as use it in the Reserve Management Plan;

(4) To promote the scientific inclusion of local communities, aiming to conserve the reserve's biodiversity, with the purpose of developing sustainable economic activities, such as community ecotourism.

To download the proposal, click here