Project Funding: 2014 - 2017

NRA: 2012 NASA: Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science   

Funded by NASA

Abstract:
The annual flood of the Amazon River is the world’s largest inundation event, flooding about 300,000 km^2 for six or more months each year, with water levels reaching as high as 15 meters. This seasonal inundation connects river channels to adjacent floodplains, driving immense biological and ecological productivity. The ecosystem services derived from this floodplain system provide food and livelihoods for local people. However, climate and land-cover changes are increasing the frequency and severity of extreme climate events such as droughts and intense rain, resulting in greater variability and decreased predictability of the annual flood. This disruption may adversely affect fishery yields and floodplain vegetation productivity. Despite the importance of Amazon inundation dynamics for both ecosystem health and local livelihoods, we know relatively little about the vulnerability of these systems to changing climate and extreme events. The proposed project will explore the mechanisms linking basin-wide hydrology, river-floodplain connectivity, and the productivity of floodplain ecosystems. This proposal is responsive to several themes of the solicitation for ‘Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science’ under sub-element 1: “Understanding Earth System Vulnerabilities to Climate Extremes”. We have assembled an interdisciplinary team of qualified scientists and developed a varied research approach based on suitably sophisticated remote sensing, ground observation, statistical modeling, and numerical simulation methods. The team proposes to: 1. Explore the consequences of extreme droughts and floods for the integrity of river-floodplain ecosystems. 2. Quantify the relationship between flood extent and the productivity of fisheries and floodplain vegetation. 3. Model the effect of deforestation and extreme climatic events on inundation dynamics under historic and alternative future scenarios.

Publications:

Arantes, C. C., Winemiller, K. O., Petrere, M., Castello, L., Hess, L. L., Freitas, C. E. C. 2017. Relationships between forest cover and fish diversity in the Amazon River floodplain. Journal of Applied Ecology. 55(1), 386-395. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12967

Castello, L., Hess, L. L., Thapa, R., McGrath, D. G., Arantes, C. C., Reno, V. F., Isaac, V. J. 2017. Fishery yields vary with land cover on the Amazon River floodplain. Fish and Fisheries. 19(3), 431-440. DOI: 10.1111/faf.12261

Castello, L., Isaac, V. J., Thapa, R. 2015. Flood pulse effects on multispecies fishery yields in the Lower Amazon. Royal Society Open Science. 2(11), 150299. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.150299

Castello, L., Macedo, M. N. 2015. Large-scale degradation of Amazonian freshwater ecosystems. Global Change Biology. 22(3), 990-1007. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13173

Fabre, N. N., Castello, L., Isaac, V. J., Batista, V. S. 2017. Fishing and drought effects on fish assemblages of the central Amazon Basin. Fisheries Research. 188, 157-165. DOI: 10.1016/j.fishres.2016.12.015

Forsberg, B. R., Melack, J. M., Dunne, T., Barthem, R. B., Goulding, M., Paiva, R. C. D., Sorribas, M. V., Silva, U. L., Weisser, S. 2017. The potential impact of new Andean dams on Amazon fluvial ecosystems. PLOS ONE. 12(8), e0182254. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182254

Forsberg, B. R., Melack, J. M., Richey, J. E., Pimentel, T. P. 2017. Regional and seasonal variability in planktonic photosynthesis and planktonic community respiration in Amazon floodplain lakes. Hydrobiologia. 800(1), 187-206. DOI: 10.1007/s10750-017-3222-3

Hermann, T. W., Stewart, D. J., Limburg, K. E., Castello, L. 2016. Unravelling the life history of Amazonian fishes through otolith microchemistry. Royal Society Open Science. 3(6), 160206. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160206

Isaac, V. J., Castello, L., Santos, P. R. B., Ruffino, M. L. 2016. Seasonal and interannual dynamics of river-floodplain multispecies fisheries in relation to flood pulses in the Lower Amazon. Fisheries Research. 183, 352-359. DOI: 10.1016/j.fishres.2016.06.017

Petersen, T. A., Brum, S. M., Rossoni, F., Silveira, G. F. V., Castello, L. 2016. Recovery ofArapaimasp. populations by community-based management in floodplains of the Purus River, Amazon. Journal of Fish Biology. 89(1), 241-248. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12968

Sorribas, M. V., Paiva, R. C. D., Melack, J. M., Bravo, J. M., Jones, C., Carvalho, L., Beighley, E., Forsberg, B., Costa, M. H. 2016. Projections of climate change effects on discharge and inundation in the Amazon basin. Climatic Change. 136(3-4), 555-570. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-016-1640-2

2015 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)

• Impacts of extreme hydrological events on Amazon floodplain hydrology and inundation dynamics   --   (Prajjwal K Panday, Michael T Coe, Paul Lefebvre, Marcia Macedo, Leandro Castello)   [abstract]
• Impacts of floods and droughts on aquatic macrophytes, forests, and fisheries of central Amazonian river floodplains   --   (Leandro Castello, Marcia Macedo, John Melack, Michael T Coe, Laura L. Hess, Peter B. Bayley, Bernardo Flores)   [abstract]

More details may be found in the following project profile(s):

• NASA Terrestrial Ecology (TE) Project Profile