Ana Paula Dias Turetta

Impact of natural climate change and historical land use on landscape development in the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Climate variations and historical land use had a major impact on landscape development in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica). In southeast Brazil, rainforest expanded under warm-humid climate conditions in the late Holocene, but have been dramatically reduced in historical times. Nevertheless, the numerous remaining forest fragments are of outstanding biological richness. In our research in the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro we aim at the reconstruction of the late Quaternary landscape evolution and an assessment of human impact on landscapes and rainforests. In this context, special focus is given on (a) effects of climate variations on vegetation cover, soil development, and geomorphological processes, and (b) spatial and temporal land use and landscape degradation patterns. In this paper we present some new results of our interdisciplinary research in the Serra dos Órgãos mountain range, state of Rio de Janeiro.

An approach to assess the sustainability for sugarcane expansion in Mato Grosso do Sul - Brazil

The necessity of sustainable development has driven the replacement of fossil fuels by using renewable sources, which has enabled advances in agricultural and industrial research and strengthened the com- petitiveness of the Brazilians sugarcane industry. The sugarcane expansion and the development and modernization of the sugar sector are contributing to the strengthening of the Brazilian agribusiness

Evaluating the Potential of Landscape Metrics in Supporting Landscape Planning in Atlantic Forest: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The landscapes are highly dependent on the dynamics of local land use and land cover, which directly affects landscape structure and determines the spatial patterns of forest patches, as well as to the major land uses within a specific region. The calculation of landscape metrics can support the understanding of such spatial distribution. In this study, 16 landscape metrics were analyzed in a drainage watershed in a high relief region in the Rio de Janeiro state, Southeastern Brazil, with the aim to evaluate the use of landscape metrics as indicators for agricultural management. Metrics calculation was followed by a Principal Component Analysis, which indicated the metrics that were most effective in evidencing the landscape structure in analysis. The results showed that the late-succession forest is the dominant component in the landscape. This class also presented the highest MPS metric value, related to the mean patch size by class. Some PCA results suggest that the metrics association was less effective in clustering the overgrown pasture, clean pasture, and annual crops classes, but this could result from the intrinsic association among those classes, by crop rotation, meaning the abandon of a site formerly occupied by an annual crop. Some metrics better suggested an interaction among land use classes and have potential to be use in the analyses of agricultural landscapes in high relief sites.

Uma abordagem para avaliar o potencial de agroecossistemas em prover serviços ambientais

The objective of this work was to present an approach to evaluate soil functions in agroecosystems and their impact on environmental services (ES). An approach with case studies was proposed to assess the relationship between the establishment and management of agroecosystems, in three Brazilian biomes (Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Caatinga), and their environmental services provision, considering the specificities of each area. A set of soil parameters that can be used as indicators to monitor changes in the agroecosystem was also proposed. The environmental services types most affected by the establishment and management of the agroecosystems were the supporting and provisioning services, showing the potential of agricultural management in providing multiple services, besides food, fiber, and energy. “No fire use” and “agricultural consortium” were the criteria for the establishment and management of agroecosystems with greater potential to increase environmental services provision, whereas biomass stock in soil and litter was the most appropriate soil parameter to be used as an indicator to monitor the impact of agroecosystems in environmental services provision.

Soil and Water Management for Ecosystem Services Provision in Agricultural Landscapes: The Challenge of Monitoring

Soil and water conservation management includes practices that help to preserve the quality of soil, water, and biodiversity, to promote sustainable agriculture and to provide ecosystem services (ES). In the state of Rio de Janeiro, some agriculture conservation practices such as minimal tillage, crop rotation, agroforestry systems, rotational grazing, and fallow can contribute to value and provide ES and also increase productivity and income of the family farmers. However, it is necessary to identify the impacts of these practices on the provision of ES, and monitoring is an important means of analysis. This chapter presents a review of studies on the conservation management practices in the state of Rio de Janeiro and their impacts on ES. Moreover, it highlights aspects to be considered in monitoring of ecosystem service indicators. The main challenges of the monitoring approach include participatory efforts and multidisciplinary criteria used at appropriate scales in order to provide adequate and useful answers to society.

Improving Regional Landscapes Management to Support Climate Change Adaptation

This paper aims to contribute to informing the management of regional landscapes to enhance ecosystems services to support climate change adaptation. The paper draws lessons from two extreme rainfall events that caused widespread damage to the State of Queensland in Australia and the State of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in early 2011. It outlines the major impacts on social-ecological systems in the two most affected regions in both countries: the Lockyer Valley in Australia and the Regiao Serrana of Rio de Janeiro in the Southeast of Brazil. While intense rainfall events are already common during the summer season in both regions and likely to become more frequent and intense due to climate change, policies supporting social-ecological systems protection, recovery and rehabilitation are relatively rare and lack long-term, strategic focus. The paper concludes by identifying key lessons for regional landscapes management to increase adaptive capacity to future climate change impacts.

An Ecosystem Approach to Indicate Agriculture Adaptive Strategies to Climate Change Impacts

Agriculture is a very exposed activity to climate change, since it is dependent of weather conditions. This study presents some results concerning the implementation of an integrated and multidimensional methodology related to alternatives to adapt to the impact of climate change—Ecosystem-based Adaptation—EbA. Such approach provides profiles with opportunities, limitations and contexts for adaptive technologies implementation. Furthermore, the approach is aligned to ecosystem services (ES), which are also considered in the creation of the adaptation technologies profiles. The case study is the Pito Aceso watershed, located in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro State—Brazil. This area is a typical landscape of this region, with a mosaic of land use types and steep relief. It was possible to identify the potential areas to ES provision, as well as, the agricultural practices with the highest ability to adaptation to the impacts of climate change.