Henrique dos Santos Pereira

Walls talk: Microbial biogeography of homes spanning urbanization.

Home microbes track space-use and reflect a decreasing exposure to environmental microbes due to urbanization. Westernization has propelled changes in urbanization and architecture, altering our exposure to the outdoor environment from that experienced during most of human evolution. These changes might affect the developmental exposure of infants to bacteria, immune development, and human microbiome diversity. Contemporary urban humans spend most of their time indoors, and little is known about the microbes associated with different designs of the built environment and their interaction with the human immune system. This study addresses the associations between architectural design and the microbial biogeography of households across a gradient of urbanization in South America. Urbanization was associated with households’ increased isolation from outdoor environments, with additional indoor space isolation by walls. Microbes from house walls and floors segregate by location, and urban indoor walls contain human bacterial markers of space use. Urbanized spaces uniquely increase the content of human-associated microbes—which could increase transmission of potential pathogens—and decrease exposure to the environmental microbes with which humans have coevolved.

Etnobotânica das variedades locais do cará (Dioscorea spp.) cultivados em comunidades no município de Caapiranga, estado do Amazonas

This study employed methodological tools of ethnobotany to better understand agrobiodiversity conservation practices used for yams (Dioscorea spp.) cultivated by farming communities in the municipality of Caapiranga (Amazonas State. For this work, a four-celled method, botanical inventory and collecting, a form, interviews and participant observation with farmers about the peculiarities of each species and varieties were used. The collected material was identified by an expert at the Herbarium of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Amazonas (EAFM) and the Institute of Botany, IBt, Sao Paulo, and deposited in the Herbarium of Federal University of Amazonas (HUAM). For further identification of all collected species and varieties, the collected material was grown in a UFAM experimental field. Among the fifteen local varieties surveyed, ten are believed to belong to D. trifida and one to D. bulbifera. It was not possible to identify the four other taxa because they are no longer cultivated in gardens. It was found that the traditional farmers surveyed have great knowledge about the cultivated fields, as well as about cultivated local varieties, and that they have different forms of management and conservation that are fundamental to the maintenance of the agrobiodiversity of their gardens. The production systems of Caapiranga are true germplasm collections and the major local strategy for in situ/on farm conservation of genetic resources, and, therefore, should be maintained and encouraged.

TOPOPHILIA AND ENVIRONMENTAL VALUATION OF URBAN FOREST FRAGMENTS IN AN AMAZONIAN CITY

The factors that can influence the environmental valuation of urban forest fragments (UFFs) in two neighborhoods of the city of Manaus (AM) were assessed. The valuation data were obtained through the technique of pile sorting followed by ranking, considering 14 socioenvironmental attributes. Most of the residents (59%, N = 69) mentioned positive feelings (topophilia) regarding the conservation of the fragments in the urban landscape. The attributes associated with the ecocentric vision were those that received the highest positive values, followed by anthropocentric attributes associated with the direct non-consumptive use of environmental resources, such as “aesthetic” and “learning”. Residents who live closer tended to value the fragment more than distant residents, and the opposite occurred when there was an association between the presence of the fragment and violence and crime in the neighborhood. Among the socioeconomic variables investigated, only the time as a resident seemed to be related to the way the city residents value these forest remnants.

Saberes e práticas locais dos produtores de guaraná (Paullinia cupana Kunth var. sorbilis) do médio Amazonas: duas organizações locais frente à inovação

Guarana (Paullinia cupana Kunth var. sorbilis) is a native plant of the Amazon, known worldwide for its stimulant properties. Since 1974, a process of modernization of farming systems has been widespread in the region by monopolistic agribusiness and agricultural research companies. This has resulted in the dissemination of modernizing technological packages aimed at increasing agricultural productivity. Managed and originally consumed by Satere-Mawe indians, guarana has lost the link with its region of origin, which from 1990 on stimulated the search for alternative valorization of the origin and of family-based and agroecologically-based production. Research, conducted with producers of two local organizations from the lower Amazon aimed to identify initiatives to further re-territorialization of production, management practices and in situ conservation of the plant, as well as reactions to the dissemination of innovative forms of production and marketing. Starting from the hypothesis that different functional dynamics exist in each organization, we established that the producers’ relationships with the market, with traditional knowledge protection and with the plant itself evolved in different socio-historical trajectories. These trajectories resulted in different systems of socio-cultural, ecological and technological reference.

Interações socioculturais com a fauna silvestre em uma unidade de conservação na Amazônia: relações de gênero e geração

This article describes socioculturally established interactions between inhabitants of Unini River, at Jau National Park, Central Amazon, with the local wild fauna. The diversity of these interactions and how their reproduction is influenced by associated factors of gender and generation. The methodological procedures used were participative observation and focus group workshops. In these workshops, free-listings of wild fauna related to diverse forest habitats and ecological niches were produced and the degree of similarity and dissimilarity between those lists were analyzed using the Jaccard index, illustrated in dendrograms. In general, mental associations between fauna and habitats are similar among community members. Nevertheless, effects of gender and generation are noticeable. Reproduction of such interaction permeates the issue of habitus, which structures the socialization process of cultural interaction with the local fauna.

Morphological diversity and identification key for landraces of the Amerindian yam in central Amazon

The objective of this work was to select an optimal set of morphological descriptors, in order to characterize the phenotipical diversity of Amerindian yam (Dioscorea trifida) landraces cultivated in the municipality of Caapiranga, in the central Amazon region of Brazil, and to develop a botanical identification key for them. A collection of 140 accessions and an experimental plot with a representative sample of 20 landraces were used to test 64 morphological descriptors for the aerial and subterranean plant parts. Fortyeight descriptors were selected, of which 13 were for tubers, 12 for stems, 14 for leaves, and 9 for inflorescences and seed. A cluster analysis based on the morphological data showed the formation of two landrace groups with greater similarity: white and purple pulp tubers. The results provide tools for in situ and ex situ conservation and for plant breeding programs, considering the importance of maintaining and recognizing the value of Ameridian yam as an important native genetic resource for food security in the region.

The Várzea: Old Challenges and New Demands for Integrated Research in the Coming Decade

This concluding chapter highlights the ways the past decade of research on varzea natural and social systems has informed and may inform management and policy decisions related to varzea society and environment. This chapter summarizes and responds to the main points in preceding chapters, examining the socioecological complexities of the varzea, production and conservation goals and strategies, and the evolution of institutional arrangements related to resource management and social welfare of the varzea people. Anticipating the decade ahead, this chapter suggests focused research on the question of what are the current and predicted future drivers of change on the varzea, and what is the suite of predicted outcomes. Adapting to climate change, accessing emerging markets for ecosystem goods and services, and strengthening institutions are some issues that should be explored to help policymakers and residents alike prepare for the decade ahead. The chapter recommends an exploration of a paradigm shift from centralized management, which has traditionally predominated in governmental institutions, to more coordinated policies.