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

Sistemas de cultivo, sucessões de culturas, densidade do solo e sobrevivência de patógenos de solo Cropping systems and previous crops on soil density and survival of soil-borne pathogens

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de sistemas de manejo do solo e de cultivos prévios ao plantio do feijoeiro (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) sobre a densidade do solo e as populações de Rhizoctonia spp. e de Fusarium spp. Os cultivos prévios incluíram as leguminosas: guandu-anão (Cajanus cajan), estilosantes (Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Mineirão) e crotalária (Crotalaria spectabilis); e as gramíneas: milheto (Pennisetum glaucum cv. BN-2), sorgo granífero (Sorghum bicolor cv. BR 304), capim-mombaça (Panicum maximum cv. Mombaça), braquiária (Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu) e milho (Zea mays) consorciado com braquiária. As culturas utilizadas no cultivo prévio foram semeadas nos verões de 2002, 2003 e 2004, e os plantios de feijoeiro, cultivar BRS Valente, foram realizados nos invernos subseqüentes de 2003, 2004 e 2005, com irrigação por pivô central. Os restos culturais dos cultivos eram incorporados ao solo, no plantio convencional, e ficavam à superfície, no plantio direto. De modo geral, as maiores populações de Fusarium spp. e Rhizoctonia spp. e as maiores densidades de solo foram encontradas no solo cultivado em plantio direto. As maiores populações de Rhizoctonia spp. foram observadas em solos mais adensados. As leguminosas geralmente aumentaram populações desses patógenos e devem ser evitadas como culturas prévias ao cultivo do feijoeiro, em ambos os sistemas de cultivo. Plantios prévios de gramíneas, em geral, são supressores das populações de Rhizoctonia spp. e de Fusarium spp. no solo.<br>The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of cropping systems and crops cultivated previously to common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) on soil density and soil populations of Rhizoctonia spp. and Fusarium spp. Previous crops included the following legumes: Cajanus cajan,Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Mineirão and Crotalaria spectabilis; and the following grasses: Pennisetum glaucum (cv. BN-2, millet), Sorghum bicolor (cv. BR 304), Panicum maximum cv. Mombaça, Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu and a consortium of corn (Zea mays) and B. brizantha. Previous crops were planted in Brazil summer seasons (wet) of 2002, 2003 e 2004, and bean crop (cv. BRS Valente) was planted in the correspondent subsequent winters (dry) of 2003, 2004 and 2005, irrigated by central pivot. Crop residues were incorporated to the soil, in conventional tillage, and kept on the surface, in no tillage management. In general, soil populations of Fusarium spp. and Rhizoctonia spp. were higher in no tillage cropping system. Higher populations of Rhizoctonia spp. were found in heavier soils. Legume crop residue increased soil populations of Rhizoctonia spp. and Fusarium spp. and, therefore, Leguminosae should be avoided as previous crops to common beans, in both cultivation systems. Generally, Gramineae previous crops are supressive to soil populations of Rhizoctonia spp. and Fusarium spp