Objectives and Goals

1. Integration of the environmental, land use change and social dynamics issues in Amazonia: the challenge of the sustainable development – MilenioLBA2 CNPq Project 420199/2005-5

2. Objectives and Goals Study several key socio-environmental issues that are essential to build up strategies for sustainable development in Amazonia. These issues will be investigated using an integrative human‑environment dynamics. Quantify the landscape changes from the conversion of forests in Amazonia. Study the main socio-environmental consequences of this landscape change. Investigate the impacts in the hydrological cycle from land use change and biomass burning emissions. How the surface characteristics of Amazonia in terms of land cover and aerosols and trace gas emissions are altering the regional and continental hydrological cycles? Produce scenarios for land use change for Amazonia and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts at short and long terms. Investigate the impact on the population health of biomass burning emissions (particularly aerosol particles and ozone) in the deforestation arc of Amazonia. Produce indicators to study the vulnerabilities of a coupled health-environment management in Amazonia.

3. Objectives and Goals Quantify the influence of aerosol particles in the solar radiation budget and in the precipitation pattern in Amazonia and South America. Quantify the carbon balance in the Amazonian forest as a whole, and the environmental forcing in this balance. Which is the quantitative contribution of Amazonia in the global budget of greenhouse gases, especially CO2, CH4, and N2O ? Model the impact of the climate change in the Amazonian ecosystem functioning and sustainability at long term. As a result of global warming, which will be the main changes in the Amazonian environment for the next 100 years? Evaluate the role of limiting nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, in the development of the Amazonian ecosystem. How the nutrient cycling affects sustainable agriculture in Amazonia? Study the Amazon region formation and development in geological time scales. How the formation and development at geological periods in the Amazon could be affecting, at the present time, the climate pattern and biodiversity in Amazonia? Develop strategies to minimize the negative impacts of land use change, working with the social implications of the processes of land use change in Amazonia. Develop alternatives to deforestation in the agricultural sector that could be sustainable for the development of Amazonia.

4. The proposal was organized in 10 sub-projects listed below: • Aquatic biogeochemistry: This sub-project will investigate the role of the aquatic ecosystems in the greenhouse gases emissions as well as at the water quality of small scale catchments. Coordinators: Reynaldo Victoria and Alex Krusche (CENA/USP), Ricardo Figueiredo (EMBRAPA) and Bruce Forsberg (INPA). • Carbon cycling and surface water: This sub-project will study the carbon fluxes in the LBA towers focusing in the ecophysiologic changes which can influence the carbon dynamics. Coordinators: Humberto Rocha (IAG/USP), Antonio Nobre (INPE/INPA) and Antonio Manzi (INPA). • Climate changes: This sub-project will work on modeling the impacts in Amazonia from global changes scenarios looking at past and future characteristics of Amazon Basin. A paleoclimate component will study the past climates of Amazonia while another will work with global and regional climate models to model future climates using IPCC scenarios. Coordinators: Carlos Nobre (INPE/CPTEC), Julia Cohen (UFPa) and Jaci Saraiva (SIPAM). • Complex modeling of biosphere-atmosphere interactions: This sub-project will develop integrated complex models with dynamic vegetation incorporating land-use changes processes and its impacts on the hydrological cycle. Coordinators: Maria Assunção Faus da Silva Dias (INPE/CPTEC), Julia Cohen (UFPa) and Jaci Saraiva (SIPAM). • Social interactions and land-use changes: This sub-project will study the social interactions under the scenario of the land-use changes for the Amazon Basin. The landscape changes and the social drivers for land use change will be studied. Coordinators: Mateus Batistela (EMBRAPA), Diógenes Alves, INPE and Edna Ramos de Castro, NAEA, UFPa.

5. The proposal was organized in 10 sub-projects listed below: 6 - Terrestrial biogeochemical: This sub-project will investigate the role of nutrients dynamics, including phosphorous and nitrogen, in the development of the forest. The influences of the land-use changes in the nutrients dynamics will also be studied. Coordinators: Flávio Luizão (INPA), Mercedes Bustamente (UnB) and Luis Martinelli (CENA/USP). 7 - Aerosols effects on the radiative balance in the hydrological cycle in Amazonia: This sub-project will study the impact of aerosols particles in the radiative balance of the atmosphere as well as its role in cloud microphysics acting as cloud condensation nuclei. Additionally, it will be investigated the large scale precipitation patterns with the SIPAM radar network. Coordinators: Paulo Artaxo (IF/USP), Márcia Yamasoe (IAG/USP), Carlos Morales (IAG/USP) and Alejandro Duarte (UFAc). 8 - Deforestation and biomass burning: This sub-project will develop new methodologies with much improved accuracy in the determination of the burned areas. This will be done with a combination of several satellite products which allow a larger coverage of the fire occurrence. In addition, it will calculate carbon emissions from deforestation. Coordinators: Alberto Setzer (INPA) and Philip Fearniside (INPA). 9 - Human health impacts due to biomass burning emissions: This component will study the effects of aerosols and ozone from biomass burning emissions in human health. Studies of respiratory illness associated with smoke and contamination by mercury in the population will be done. Coordinator: Sandra Hacon (FIOCRUZ). 10 - Environmental sustainability indicators: This sub-project will work the issue of small scale agriculture in Amazonia as well as the building up of sustainability indicators in the agricultural sector in the Amazon region. It will construct indicators of sustainability for small scale agricultural activities based on land cover change in Amazonia. Additionally, it will be investigate alternatives for the deforestation with innovated agricultural techniques minimizing the environmental impacts Coordinators: Cláudio Carvalho, Steel Vasconcelos (EMBRAPA).

6. Brazilians institutions: 25 institutions from 9 Brazilian states • 1) IFUSP - Instituto de Física da Universidade de São Paulo • 2) INPA - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia • 3) MPEG - Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi • 4) SIPAM – Sistema de Proteção Ambiental da Amazônia • 5) EMBRAPA – Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisas Agropecuárias • 6) UFPa - Universidade Federal do Pará • 7) INPE/CPTEC Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais • 8) 5) UFAc – Universidade Federal do Acre • 9) UFAM – Universidade do Amazonas • 10) UNIR – Universidade de Rondônia • 11) CENA/USP – Centro de Estudos Nucleares na Agricultura da USP • 12) IAG/USP – Instituto Astronômico, Geofísico e de Ciências Atmosféricas da USP • 13) Instituto de Botânica do Estado de São Paulo • 14) FANEP - Fundação Agroecológica do Nordeste Paraense • 15) UFMT - Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso • 16) CPRM - Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais • 17) FUCAPI – Fundação Centro de Análises Pesquisas e Inovação Tecnológicas • 18) UNEMAP – Universidade Estadual do Mato Grosso • 19) UNITINS – Universidade Federal do Tocantins • 20) UFSM - Universidade Federal de Santa Maria • 21) UNB – Universidade de Brasília • 22) FIOCRUZ – Fundação Oswaldo Cruz – Escola Nacional de Saúde R.J. • 23) UERJ – Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro. • 24) PUC/RJ – Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro • 25) UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho

7. Researchers participating in MilenioLBA2 from institutions outside Brazil

8. Budget: Three years, starting August 2005

9. Extra issues • Strong integration with SIPAM • Partners from outside Brazil a strong issue • LBA/BARCA integrated in the project • Training and education with teaching at Belem graduate course, as well as INPA and others in Amazonia. • Integration with social interactions from the beginning (Diógenes, Mateus and Edna Castro) • New project on health effects of biomass burning smoke with FIOCRUZ (Sandra Hacon) • New partners: Phil Fearniside, Mateus, Sandra Hacon, Bruce, Edna Castro, Dilce Rossetti, and many others.