Integrating Cross-scale Socio-Ecological Feedbacks in Freshwater Fisheries
Our approach will push knowledge frontiers by pioneering contributions to the theory, methods, and applications of coupled natural and human systems research to freshwater fisheries and other common pool resources such as marine fisheries or wildlife, using arapaima fisheries as a case study. Research results will inform policy on the integrated dynamics of community-based management of fish resources. In addition to education of graduate students and peer-reviewed publication of the research, we will build on our case study to develop an open-access, web-based training program on fisheries as coupled natural and human systems aimed at senior-level undergraduate students. This program will use written, video, and project-based materials to contribute to fill the growing demand in higher education for development and sharing of teaching materials in coupled human and natural systems. The project is led by four main faculty who will coordinate different aspects of the project: L. Castello, H. Kindsvater, M. Sorice, and E. Brondizio, including a broad range of collaborators in the US, Brazil, Canada, and UK.
SYNERGIZE – SYNthesising Ecological Responses to deGradation In amaZonian Environments
SYNERGIZE means to “interact or cooperate with one or more other agents to produce a joint effect greater than the sum of effects achieved separately”. This newly project funded by Brazil’s National Research Council aims to achieve this in an Amazonian context by fostering a multi- and trans-disciplinary network to understand how human-driven and climate-associated forest disturbances affect Amazonian aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. We will bring together researchers with complementary expertise and use modeling approaches of large multi-scale datasets pertaining to distinct Amazonian regions to synthesize knowledge and promote cost-effective and integrative solutions for landscape management, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem recovery. This project is led by Joice Ferreira from Embrapa, the largest state-owned research corporation in Brazil; more information can be found here.
Sustaining Amazon floodplain biodiversity and fisheries under climate change
Working and learning with stakeholders to preserve Amazon River floodplain biodiversity and fisheries in the face of climate change
Our new project — funded by BNP Paribas — will combine remote sensing, hydrologic modeling, fisheries and habitat modeling, and participatory work with local riverine communities to develop policies and strategies to preserve Amazonian biodiversity and fisheries in the face of climate change. Involving researches from Brazil, France, UK, Canada, US, our lab’s contribution to this project will be developing empirical models of fish catch for all key commercial taxa, to project the effects on fisheries catch of altered river hydrology induced by potential future impacts of climate change.
BONDS “Balancing BiOdiversity CoNservation with Development in Amazonian WetlandS”
Funded by NSF, this project involving six countries will develop scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services for selected “whitewater” river floodplains of the lowland Amazon. Seasonally inundated by nutrient-rich sediments, these floodplains have historically been centers for human settlements practicing subsistence agriculture supplemented by fishing and hunting; whitewater floodplain districts are thus the most densely populated rural areas in central Amazonia. Over the past several decades, commercial jute cultivation, commercial fisheries, and the expansion of cattle ranching have disrupted traditional patterns of resource use. These impacts have been felt most heavily on the lower Amazon, where about half the floodplain forest cover was lost since the late 1970s. This reduced floodplain forest cover threatens both biodiversity and ecosystem services, since fish biodiversity and fisheries yields are strongly associated with floodplain forest cover. Our project group will assess the dependency of fishery yields by local fishing communities on floodplain hydrological connectivity and habitat structure.
Improved knowledge of the role of the forests for food security and nutrition
Funded by CIFOR, this project will assess the sustainability of fisheries in rivers of Cameroon and potential fish-forest relationships.
Understanding the migration of Arapaima in ria lake ecosystems of the Amazon Basin
NEW PROJECT: Management of commercially important fish populations requires understanding of fish population dynamics. As such, ongoing development of management efforts for Arapaima spp.—a widely overexploited fish species of the Amazon Basin—must be based on adequate scientific understanding of their biology and ecology. Previous studies have described the migration of arapaima in floodplain ecosystems of the Amazon. Many upland lakes, called ria lakes, which are surrounded by dry land, have populations of arapaima that are commercially exploited. In some cases, these lakes are connected to floodplain ecosystems, allowing for fish migration between these ecosystems. Many fishing communities inhabiting ria lakes of the Amazon are currently seeking to develop management systems for arapaima. However, lack of understanding of the migration of arapaima in ria lakes makes it difficult to devise effective management actions. The objective of the present study is to unravel the migratory behavior of arapaima in a ria lake of the Amazon.
The study will be conducted in the Piagaçu-Purus Sustainable Development Reserve, located in the lower Purus River, Amazon Basin, Brazil. The study will be based on the use of telemetry technology. It is funded by the Instituto Piagaçu, and it is done in close collaboration with Dr. Eduardo Martins of Carleton University and Dr. Jansen Zuanon of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa da Amazônia.
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New project on the impacts of floods and droughts on aquatic macrophytes, forests, and fisheries of central Amazonian river floodplains
NEW PROJECT: About 20% of the Amazon basin is seasonally inundated, and these wetlands are sites of intense biological activity with highly productive macrophytes, forests, and fisheries. Floodplains and river channels—maintained by seasonal inundation—promote nutrient cycling and high biological production, and support diverse biological communities as well as human populations with one of the highest per capita rates of fish consumption. However, the hydrology of Amazon river-floodplains is increasingly being impacted by extreme climatic events and land use changes in the uplands. The extreme droughts of 2005 and 2010 and the extreme flood of 2009 provide an excellent opportunity to understand the feedbacks of such extreme events on seasonal inundation and, ultimately, on the future productivity of floodplain ecosystems and associated ecosystem services.
We have assembled an interdisciplinary team of qualified scientists from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the Woods Hole Research Center, and University of California Santa Barbara. The team has developed a varied research approach based on suitably sophisticated remote sensing, ground observation, statistical modeling, and numerical simulation methods. The project is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
This proposal aims to:
(1) Explore the consequences of droughts and floods for the integrity of river-floodplain ecosystems.
(2) Quantify the relationship between inter-annual inundation variability and the productivity of fisheries and floodplain vegetation.
(3) Model the effect of extreme climatic events on inundation dynamics under historic and alternative future scenarios.
Impacts of dams on the integrity of Amazonian ecosystems
NEW PROJECT: Freshwater ecosystems in the Amazon are among the most biological diverse and productive in the world. Current infrastructure development (e.g., hydroelectric dams) is altering the structure and function of these ecosystems. However, detailed ecological assessments of the impacts created by such dams on the integrity of these freshwater ecosystems are lacking. With funding from WWF-Brasil, the project will assess the potential impacts of hydroelectric dams on the lateral and longitudinal connectivity of Amazon freshwater ecosystems. Participants include Marcia N. Macedo (Woods Hole Research Center).
Muskellunge population dynamics in the New River
NEW PROJECT: A project in the New River of Virginia to reassess the potential of muskellunge (Esox masquiongy) to impact the smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) population through predation. With funding from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the project will assess current population dynamics and life history of muskellunge, and model musky growth dynamics and effects of musky predation on smallmouth bass. Participants include Brian Murphy (Virginia Tech).