The Amazonia Third Way Initiative: The Role of Technology to Unveil the Potential of a Novel Tropical Biodiversity-Based Economy

Abstract For the last two decades, the Amazon development debate has been torn between attempts to reconcile two rather opposing views of land use: on one hand, a vision of setting aside large tracts of the Amazon forests for conservation purposes (referred hereafter to as The First Way) and, on the other hand, seeking a ‘sustainable’ resource-intensive development, mostly through agriculture/livestock, energy and mining (referred hereafter to as The Second Way). The decrease of Brazilian Amazon deforestation from 2005 to 2014 (about 75% decline) opens a window of opportunity to conceive a novel sustainable development paradigm: The Amazonia Third Way initiative (A3W). It can represent a new opportunity emerging to protect the Amazon ecosystems and the indigenous and traditional peoples who are their custodians and at the same time develop a vibrant, socially inclusive biodiversity-driven ‘green economy’ in the Amazon by harnessing Nature’s value through the physical, digital and biological technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). 4IR technologies are increasingly harnessing these assets across many industries from pharmaceutical to energy, food, cosmetics, materials and mobility, and making profits. A3W addresses ways to channel to the Amazon the benefits of the 4IR for the creation of bio-industries and local development as it protects the forests

O balanço de carbono da Amazônia brasileira

GLOBALLY, the terrestrial biota acts as a significant carbon sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). The most recent estimate from IPCC for the 1990's puts the terrestrial biota at a net sink of 1.4 gigaton of carbon per year (net carbon uptake by the biota minus emissions from land use changes). It is likely that most of this presumed sink takes place in mid-latitude and tropical forests. Carbon cycle studies in the LBA Experiment indicate that the undisturbed forest of Amazonia may be a strong sink of carbon, at rates from 1 to 7 tons per hectare per year, whereas the wetlands may act as a source of carbon into the atmosphere of up to 1.2 ton per hectare per year. Deforestation and biomass burning in Brazilian Amazonia alone account for a net carbon dioxide emission of about 0,2 gigaton of carbon per year. Notwithstanding the still large uncertainties of these estimates, the balance of observational evidence points to the possibility that the tropical forests of South America function as a sink of carbon from the atmosphere.GLOBALMENTE, a biota terrestre é um sumidouro significativo de dióxido de carbono (CO2) atmosférico. Estudos recentes do IPCC para a década de 1990 estimam a biota terrestre com sendo um sumidouro líquido de aproximadamente 1,4 gigatonelada de carbono por ano (assimilação líquida pela biota terrestre menos as emissões devidas às mudanças dos usos da terra). É provável que a maior parte desse suposto sumidouro aconteça nas florestas das latitudes médias e dos trópicos. Estudos do ciclo do carbono do Experimento LBA estão mostrando que as florestas não-perturbadas da Amazônia comportam-se com um forte sumidouro de carbono, com taxas na faixa de 1 a 7 toneladas por hectare por ano, ao passo que as áreas inundadas e os rios podem estar agindo como fonte de carbono de até 1,2 tonelada por hectare por ano. O desmatamento e a queima de biomassa representam uma emissão líquida de aproximadamente 0,2 gigatonelada de carbono por ano na Amazônia brasileira. Ainda que se leve em conta as grandes incertezas existentes sobre essas medidas, o balanço das evidências observacionais aponta para a possibilidade de que as florestas tropicais da América do Sul estejam funcionando como sumidouros de carbono da atmosfera

Tropical heat sources and their associated large-scale atmospheric circulation

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, 1983.Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science.Bibliography: leaves 248-252.by Carlos A. Nobre.Ph.D

Brazilian Network on Global Climate Change Research (Rede CLIMA):: structure, scientific advances and future prospects

In order to create the necessary scientific knowledge for Brazil to understand and deal with thecauses and consequences of climate change, the federal government created, in 2007, the BrazilianNetwork on Global Climate Change Research (Rede CLIMA). Rede CLIMA needs to discuss issues,pose questions, develop methodologies and technological products, find answers, and suggestsolutions that are relevant to society. In its first phase, it focused mainly on providing infrastructureand consolidating the sub-networks. Several scientific advances were also achieved, a selectionof which are presented in sections focusing on climate modelling, agriculture, energy and water,human development and mobility, biodiversity and ecosystem services, and human health. Now,in its second phase, the objective is to straighten collaboration between sub-networks by meansof interdisciplinary projects. It is argued that in order to succeed the Network needs to fosterresearch whose merit is measured not exclusively by academic production.A fim de criar o conhecimento científico necessário para o Brasil entender e lidar com as causas e consequências das mudanças climáticas, o governo federal criou, em 2007, a Rede Brasileira de Pesquisa em Mudanças Climáticas Globais (Rede CLIMA). A Rede CLIMA precisa discutir questões, fazer perguntas, desenvolver metodologias e produtos tecnológicos, encontrar respostas e sugerir soluções que sejam relevantes para a sociedade. Em sua primeira fase, a Rede concentrou-se em fornecer infraestrutura e consolidar suas sub-redes. Houve também vários avanços científicos, alguns dos quais são apresentados em seções focadas em modelagem climática, agricultura, energia e água, desenvolvimento e mobilidade humana, biodiversidade e serviços dos ecossistemas, e saúde humana. Agora, em sua segunda fase, o objetivo é estabelecer colaborações entre sub-redes por meio de projetos interdisciplinares. Argumenta-se que, para que tenha sucesso, a Rede precisa fomentar pesquisas de longo-prazo cujo mérito não seja medido apenas pela produção acadêmica

Ecological research in the Large Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia: A discussion of early results

The Large-scale Biosphere–Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA) is a multinational, interdisciplinary research program led by Brazil. Ecological studies in LBA focus on how tropical forest conversion, regrowth, and selective logging influence carbon storage, nutrient dynamics, trace gas fluxes, and the prospect for sustainable land use in the Amazon region. Early results from ecological studies within LBA emphasize the variability within the vast Amazon region and the profound effects that land-use and land-cover changes are having on that landscape. The predominant land cover of the Amazon region is evergreen forest; nonetheless, LBA studies have observed strong seasonal patterns in gross primary production, ecosystem respiration, and net ecosystem exchange, as well as phenology and tree growth. The seasonal patterns vary spatially and interannually and evidence suggests that these patterns are driven not only by variations in weather but also by innate biological rhythms of the forest species. Rapid rates of deforestation have marked the forests of the Amazon region over the past three decades. Evidence from ground-based surveys and remote sensing show that substantial areas of forest are being degraded by logging activities and through the collapse of forest edges. Because forest edges and logged forests are susceptible to fire, positive feedback cycles of forest degradation may be initiated by land-use-change events. LBA studies indicate that cleared lands in the Amazon, once released from cultivation or pasture usage, regenerate biomass rapidly. However, the pace of biomass accumulation is dependent upon past land use and the depletion of nutrients by unsustainable land-management practices. The challenge for ongoing research within LBA is to integrate the recognition of diverse patterns and processes into general models for prediction of regional ecosystem function

Construction and bioproduction of a "green" synthetic protein-based polymer exhibiting a smart behaviour

Natural occurring elastomeric proteins occur in a wide range of biological systems, fulfilling precise functional roles [Tatham and Shewry, 2000]. Their properties are due to the presence of short repeating oligopeptide sequences contained in fibrous proteins, such as silk fibroin (GAGAGS) and mammalian elastin (VPGVG). Elastin is widely distributed in vertebrate tissues, acting statically in dermis to resist long-term forces and dynamically in arteries to store and release energy rapidly. Natural silk from Bombyx mori (silkworm) has been used for centuries either in textile industry or as biomedical suture material, exhibiting impressive mechanical properties as well as high biocompatibility [Kim et al, 2004]. With the development of protein engineering and nano(bio)technologies in general, it is now possible to use amino acids to design and produce genetically engineered Protein-Based Polymers (PBPs) fully biodegradable that simulate the properties of natural occurring proteins . With the advance in recombinant DNA technology it is possible to precisely control the composition, sequence and length of large molecular weight PBPs [Haider et al, 2000]. Recombinant Elastin-Like Polymers (ELPs) are biopolymers based on the aminoacid sequence VPGXG (V-valine, P-proline, G-glycine), where X, termed the guest residue, is any naturally occurring aminoacid except proline. The most striking feature of the ELPs is their Inverse Temperature Transition (ITT) behaviour. Below a specific critical temperature (Tt) and in the presence of water they are soluble, with the polymer chains relatively extended in a disordered state and fully hydrated mainly by hydrophobic hydration. Above the Tt, the polymer chains hydrophobically fold and adopt a dynamic structure, called β-spiral, stabilized by hydrophobic contacts . The ability of ELPs to self-assemble into nanostructures in response to environmental changes allows their utilization in many devices such as microparticles for controlled drug delivery systems or nanosensors. The polymer poly(VPAVG), a ELP where the central glycine (G) is substituted by a L-alanine (A), was chemically synthesized by Rodríguez-Cabello and co-workers and described by Urry as having thermoplastic properties. These groups reported its characterization, demonstrating its extreme biocompatibility both in vitro and in vivo, as well as the ability to self-assemble, forming microparticles that can entrap active substances during the self-assembling process [Herrero-Vanrell et al, 2005; Rincón et al, 2006]. In the present work a new thermal responsive, biologically synthesized ELP based on the (VPAVG)220 sequence was produced, by recurring to standard molecular genetic tools and, as expected, the polymer displayed an inverse temperature transition (Tt) which could be explored as a purification step. Additionally, the purified polymer (VPAVG)220 showed the ability to self-associate at physiological temperature forming aggregates. The culture media and fermentation conditions were optimized using a Central Composite Design (CCD) approach while exploring the use of low cost carbon sources like lactose and glycerol. Sequence and purity of (VPAVG)220 was confirmed by MALDI TOF analysis and purified polymer was subjected to thermal and physical characterization. Due to its self-assembling behaviour near 34 ºC stable spherical microparticles of a ~1μm diameter were obtained, ready solubilized when a strong undercooling was achieved. Moreover, we have constructed and produced a new set of copolymers (Silk-ElastinLike Polymers – SELPs) consisting of flexible ELP and crystalline silk-like blocks (GAGAGS) at different proportions. By this strategy it was possible to produce a variety of biomaterials with diverse physical properties, such as viscosity and gelation time depending on the number of elastin-blocks and silk-like blocks, respectively [Megeed et al, 2000]. The stability of these SELPs in combination with their biocompatibility and unique mechanical properties, provide the basis of their exploitation for biomedical applications

Exploiting the sequence of naturally occurring elastin : construction, production and characterization of a recombinant thermoplastic protein-based polymer

Genetic engineering was used to produce an elastin-like polymer (ELP) with precise amino acid composition, sequence and length, resulting in the absolute control of MW and stereochemistry. A synthetic monomer DNA sequence encoding for (VPAVG)20, was used to build a library of concatemer genes with precise control on sequence and size. The higher molecular weight polymer with 220 repeats of VPAVG was biologically produced in Escherichia coli and purified by hot and cold centrifugation cycles, based on the reversible inverse temperature transition property of ELPs. The use of low cost carbon sources like lactose and glycerol for bacteria cells culture media was explored using Central Composite Design approach allowing optimization of fermentation conditions. Due to its self-assembling behaviour near 33 oC stable spherical microparticles with a size ~ 1μm were obtained, redissolving when a strong undercooling is achieved. The polymer produced showed hysteresis behaviour with thermal absorbing/releasing components depending on the salt concentration of the polymer solution.Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) - MAT2007-66275-C02-01 and NAN2004-08538Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) e Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) - POCI/CTM/57177/2004Marie Curie Research Training Networks (RTN) Biopolysurf - MRTN-CN-2004-005516Junta de Castilla y Leon - VA087A06, VA016B08 and VA030A08Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - SFRH/BD/36754/200

Climate diagnostics of three major drought events in the Amazon and illustrations of their seasonal precipitation predictions

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