Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space. While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes, vast areas of the tropics remain understudied. In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity, but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases. To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge, it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Crescimento e resistência à seca de leucena em solo de cerrado Growth and drought resistence of leucaena in "cerrado" soil

Plantas envasadas de Leucaena leucocephala Lam. (De Witt) foram cultivadas em casa de vegetação sob 30% de sombreamento artificial, em solo de cerrado, com adição de 0, 750, 1.500 e 3.000 kg ha-1 de NPK (4-14-8). Aos 180 dias após a emergência (DAE), as plantas crescidas em solo sem adubo químico apresentaram os menores valores de taxa de crescimento relativo (TCR = 0,028 g g-1 dia-1), biomassa total (5,2 g), taxa assimilatória líquida (TAL= 4,2.10-4 g cm-2 dia-1), e não produziram nem flores nem vagens. Entre as plantas cultivadas em solo fertilizado, as que receberam maiores quantidades de adubo químico apresentaram maiores valores de biomassa total e área foliar, a partir de 90 DAE. Porém, os maiores valores de TCR (43,92.10-4 g g-1 dia-1) e TAL (15,01 g cm-2 dia-1) foram obtidos nas plantas crescidas em solo com 750 kg ha-1 de NPK. A presença de flores e vagens nas plantas que receberam 1.500 e 3.000 kg ha-1 de NPK ocorreu a partir dos 120 DAE, e aos 150 DAE se iniciou o processo de abscisão foliar nos vegetais crescidos em todos os tratamentos, com conseqüente redução da área foliar, TAL e TCR. Na presença de estresse hídrico simulado, as plantas com 90 DAE mostraram-se mais resistentes que as de 30 dias. Porém, nos dois casos, as plantas mais tolerantes à dessecação foram as crescidas em solo com maiores teores de NPK, e um ajuste osmótico auxiliou as plantas a sobreviverem durante o período da seca.<br>Leucaena leucocephala Lam. (De Witt) plants were cultivated in a growth chamber, with 30% of artificial shading and in "cerrado" soil fertilized or not with addition of 0, 750, 1,500 and 3,000 kg ha-1 NPK, in Brazil.. At 180 days after emergence, plants grown in soil without fertilization presented the lowest values of relative growth rate (TCR= 0.028 g g-1 day-1), total biomass (5.2 g), net assimilation rate (TAL = 4.2.10-4 g cm-2 day-1) and did not produce neither flowers or fruit. Among plants grown in fertilized soil, the highest values of TCR (43.92.10-4 g g-1 dia-1) and TAL (15.01 g cm-2 day-1) occurred in leucaenas fertilized with 750 kg ha-1 NPK. Plants fertilized with 1,500 and 3,000 kg ha-1 produced flowers and fruit since 120 days after emergence. Leaf senescence process began at 150 days after emergence, reducing the leaf area, TAL and TCR. Resistence to water stress was greater in 90 day-old plants than in 30 day-old ones. In both cases, the most desiccation resistant plants were those grown in soil with higher NPK rates. An osmotic adjustment aided the plants to survive during the drought period