Neil Damas de Oliveira-Junior

Secondary vegetation (SV) is the vegetation regenerating after deforestation or degradation of primary vegetation. Its identification and qualification are relevant to public policies for conservation and sustainable land management. This study analyzed the structural attributes of SV in the Amazon biome and their associations with land-tenure categories, considering the mapping evolution from 2008 to 2022. SV were analyzed regarding the age of each patch; landscape ecology metrics: area, core area, fractal dimension index, and Euclidean nearest-neighbor distance; the nearest-neighbor vegetation type; and the land-tenure categories. A principal component analysis synthesized the qualification of the vegetation. The SV landscape is predominantly in early-to-intermediate stages, with a mean age and half-life of approximately 7 years. Most polygons were small and had no core area, suggesting edge-dominated SV. Primary vegetation was the dominant neighboring class, and this prevalence of near-zero distances indicates a high degree of connectivity between these vegetation areas. Nearly half of the SV is associated with the land-tenure class, area without land registration, reflecting the fragility of forest conservation in contexts of weak or undefined land regulation. Four SV clusters were identified: Initial regeneration, Isolated small fragments, Consolidated regeneration, and Largest patch. This information is the basis for public policies such as the Brazilian National Vegetation Recovery Plan to identify priority areas for conservation and/or restoration.

The expansion of agricultural frontiers in the Amazon region poses a significant threat to forest conservation and biodiversity persistence. This study focuses on Pará state, Brazil, aiming to identify and characterize the predominant production systems by combining remote sensing data and landscape structure metrics. A rule-based classification tree algorithm is applied to classify hexagonal cells based on land cover, deforestation patterns, and distance from dairy facilities. The results reveal three dominant production systems: Natural Region, Non-Intensive Beef, and Initial Front, with livestock production being prominent. The analysis indicates that there is a correlation between the productive area and deforestation, emphasizing the role of agriculture as a driver of forest loss. Moreover, road networks significantly influence production system spatial distribution, highlighting the importance of infrastructure in land use dynamics. The Shannon diversity index reveals that areas with production systems exhibit greater diversity in land use and land cover classes, reflecting a wider range of modifications. In contrast, natural vegetation areas show lower Shannon values, suggesting that these areas are more intact and are less affected by human activities. These findings underscore the urgent need for sustainable development policies that will mitigate threats to forest resilience and biodiversity in Pará state.

Native tropical forests hold high levels of diversity, challenging forest restoration of large areas in a global change scenario. For a site-specific restoration is required the understanding of the main influences ruling the assemblages. We aimed to answer three questions. 1) how do environmental variables influence taxonomic, phylogenetic diversities, and the phylogenetic structure in the of Rio Doce Basin (TFRD)? 2) How do environmental variables, phylogenetic structure and the main types of seed dispersal relate to each other? 3) Which information of the TFRD assemblages can be used for ecological restoration and conservation? We used 78 sites with their checklists to calculate taxonomic, and phylogenetic diversities, phylogenetic structures, and dispersal proportions. Then, we related the diversities of the sites to their bioclimatic variables and built GLM models. Species richness was influenced negatively by water excess duration, by water deficit duration, and positively by maximum temperature, and temperature seasonality. Water regime drives diversity and phylogenetic community structure in the TFRD more than other variables. Annual precipitation and maximum temperature presented the clearer influences on diversity and phylogenetic structure. Zoochory was positively, and anemochory, autochory were negatively related to sesMPD. By choosing the lineages with high fitness for each site, the functioning and the stability of ecosystems should increase. The addition of species with anemochory and autochory increases functional and phylogenetic diversity in areas with extreme water excess or water deficit, important in a global change scenario. A high proportion of zoochory allows the communities to function conserving dispersers, biodiversity, and services. Implications for practice: The use of objective methods based on community assembly rules enhances the choice of species, and of phylogenetic lineages better fitted to the bioclimatic profiles of the areas to be restored, improving the functioning and stability of the restored forests. The water purification service should be improved through forest restoration as much as possible because ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation are co-benefits of restored forests. The inclusion of species with anemochory, and autochory in forest restoration practices should become usual, as they increase functional, and phylogenetic diversities, and as a consequence, the ecosystem stability. A large proportion of species with zoochory in restored forests co-benefits taxonomic diversity, phylogenetic diversity, and ecosystem stability.

The probability that a propagule reaches a certain location where it can establish and persist is affected by the distance from the source. Fragmented landscapes often promote the isolation of habitats that hinder or impede the movement of species that affect their range distribution, even when environmental conditions are adequate. Studies that assess the connectivity of the landscape are essential to ensure that ecological conservation planning covers all vital processes that occur on a landscape scale. Based on the classification of land cover in the Rio Doce Basin - RDB, we used a habitat / non-habitat approach to assess RDB connectivity for tree species. Based on circuit theory, we built 6 surface models of resistance based on habitat and non-habitat areas. We performed the analysis using the GIS plug-in and Linkage Mapper to generate lest cost path maps. The RDB is very fragmented, but still has functionally connected regions. The west to nothwestern and southeastern portions of the basin are well-connected and demand conservation practices, while the center-north of the basin and the far southwest are regions with greater resistance to connectivity as a result of strong anthropic pressures that reduce forests, requiring intervention through restoration projects avoiding loss due to lack of connectivity. In addition, land reclamation projects in degraded areas must also be organized in the Linhares region, as it is inserted in a region of very high biodiversity with a high level of endemism and a high number of threatened species.