INCT for Amazon Biodiversity

Project approved under Call No. 58/2022  

National Institutes of Science and Technology Program - INCT

 
The INCT-CENBAM studies Amazonian biodiversity, the environmental factors affecting it, and the use of biodiversity by local communities, coordinating a network of Amazonian and extra-Amazonian institutions involved in biodiversity studies. The structure of this network is innovatively different from existing networks, as elaborated in the following sections. The term "biodiversity" used in this proposal follows the Guidelines of the National Biodiversity Policy (Decree No. 4,339, 08/22/2002) (DPB), which defines the official position of the Brazilian government regarding the areas encompassed by this term.
 
CENBAM is a thematic center and a mobilizing program that involves a regionally organized research and teaching network (Amazon), but with strong interactions with other national and international networks. In addition to supporting around 30 million Brazilians, the Amazon provides essential environmental services to maintain the regions of highest agricultural production in Brazil and affects the global climate. There is great potential for the bioeconomy (e.g., natural products, ecotourism, carbon market) to boost Brazil's economy, but there are also serious threats, such as deforestation and mercury pollution from uncontrolled mining. The Amazon is a region of mega-diversity the size of Western Europe, yet little is known about the distribution of most biodiversity elements, the extent to which they are affected by anthropogenic threats, and how to build production chains to utilize them sustainably. The importance and needs of the region are not reflected in research investment, and people in the interior have little access to research and technology. The INCT-CENBAM has not been funded by CNPq since 2014 but continues to work to deepen knowledge about Amazonian biodiversity and bring the benefits of scientific knowledge to Amazonian peoples. This involves a wide range of methodologies being applied by INCT members across all Amazonian regions through surveys and monitoring using the RAPELD system, estimates of carbon stocks in permanent plots, assessment of threats such as mercury pollution, and development of production chains for natural products like native mushrooms. The results obtained so far show that the strategy is effective and productive.
 
The overall objective of INCT-CENBAM is to consolidate the research network to enable monitoring, sustainable use, and conservation of Amazonian biodiversity. Its specific objectives are:
 
1. To re-sample at least 3 elements of biodiversity in at least 20 modules (>200 RAPELD plots) to avoid temporal trends;
 
2. To establish at least 10 new research modules (>100 permanent plots) and sample at least 6 biological groups in each module to assess spatial patterns in Amazonian biodiversity;
 
3. To estimate carbon stocks in at least 10 modules (>100 plots) in 10 new modules to fill knowledge gaps;
 
4. To assess the amount of mercury in at least 50 areas near and far from mercury mining sources;
 
5. To test the capacity of using NIRs to identify species in at least 5 Amazonian biological groups;
 
6. To evaluate the potential of using new biological groups (e.g., understory herbs) to complement butterfly studies in the ICMBIO monitoring system (MONITORA);
 
7. To maintain and revitalize field infrastructure in at least 50 RAPELD modules distributed throughout the Amazon;
 
8. To produce appropriate booklets for ecotourism guides and school students about elements of Amazonian biodiversity;
 
9. To translate the booklets and other materials into indigenous languages and distribute the material in indigenous communities;
 
10. To monitor the diversity of Amazonian mushrooms;
 
11. To hold annual meetings among INCT-CENBAM members and other participants to integrate studies on Amazonian biodiversity;
 
12. To include new data (re-sampling and new plots) in international databases, such as ForestPlots and ATDN;
 
13. To produce a book in Portuguese on the use of multivariate techniques to assess organism assemblages for graduate students;
 
14. To assess the potential of acoustic monitoring to monitor Amazonian biodiversity at least 5 RAPELD sites;
 
15. To evaluate the potential for using eDNA in monitoring Amazonian biodiversity at least 5 RAPELD sites;
 
16. To assess leaf decomposition using the "tea bag index";
 
17. To monitor the groundwater;
 
18. To conduct bioprospecting studies;
 
19. To assess microbial decomposer diversity.
 
For more information about the proposal, click here.