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1. Socioeconomic and environmental effects of soybean production in metacoupled systems

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98256-6  

   da Silva, Ramon Felipe; Viña, Andrés; Moran, Emilio F.; Dou, Yue; Batistella, Mateus; Liu, Jianguo (December 2021, Scientific Reports)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Human–environment interactions within and across borders are now more influential than ever, posing unprecedented sustainability challenges. The framework of metacoupling (interactions within and across adjacent and distant coupled human–environment systems) provides a useful tool to evaluate them at diverse temporal and spatial scales. While most metacoupling studies have so far addressed the impacts of distant interactions (telecouplings), few have addressed the complementary and interdependent effects of the interactions within coupled systems (intracouplings) and between adjacent systems (pericouplings). Using the production and trade of a major commodity (soybean) as a demonstration, this paper empirically evaluates the complex effects on deforestation and economic growth across a globally important soybean producing region (Mato Grosso in Brazil). Although this region is influenced by a strong telecoupling process (i.e., soybean trade with national and international markets), intracouplings pose significant effects on deforestation and economic growth within focal municipalities. Furthermore, it generates pericoupling effects (e.g., deforestation) on adjacent municipalities, which precede economic benefits on adjacent systems, and may occur during and after the soybean production takes place. These results show that while economic benefits of the production of agricultural commodities for global markets tend to be localized, their environmental costs tend to be spatially widespread. As deforestation also occurred in adjacent areas beyond focal areas with economic development, this study has significant implications for sustainability in an increasingly metacoupled world. 

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2. Evapotranspiration Seasonality over Tropical Ecosystems in Mato Grosso, Brazil

   https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14102482  

   Biudes, Marcelo Sacardi; Geli, Hatim M.; Vourlitis, George Louis; Machado, Nadja Gomes; Pavão, Vagner Marques; dos Santos, Luiz Octávio; Querino, Carlos Alexandre (May 2022, Remote Sensing)

   Brazilian tropical ecosystems in the state of Mato Grosso have experienced significant land use and cover changes during the past few decades due to deforestation and wildfire. These changes can directly affect the mass and energy exchange near the surface and, consequently, evapotranspiration (ET). Characterization of the seasonal patterns of ET can help in understanding how these tropical ecosystems function with a changing climate. The goal of this study was to characterize temporal (seasonal-to-decadal) and spatial patterns in ET over Mato Grosso using remotely sensed products. Ecosystems over areas with limited to no flux towers can be performed using remote sensing products such as NASA’s MOD16A2 ET (MOD16 ET). As the accuracy of this product in tropical ecosystems is unknown, a secondary objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of the MOD16 ET (ETMODIS) to appropriately represent the spatial and seasonal ET patterns in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Actual ET was measured (ETMeasured) using eight flux towers, three in the Amazon, three in the Cerrado, and two in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso. In general, the ETMODIS of all sites had no significant difference from ETMeasured during all analyzed periods, and ETMODIS had a significant moderate to strong correlation with the ETMeasured. The spatial variation of ET had some similarity to the climatology of Mato Grosso, with higher ET in the mid to southern parts of Mato Grosso (Cerrado and Pantanal) during the wet period compared to the dry period. The ET in the Amazon had three seasonal patterns, a higher and lower ET in the wet season compared to the dry season, and minimal to insignificant variation in ET during the wet and dry seasons. The wet season ET in Amazon decreased from the first and second decades, but the ET during the wet and dry season increased in Cerrado and Pantanal in the same period. This study highlights the importance of deepening the study of ET in the state of Mato Grosso due to the land cover and climate change. 

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3. Combining airborne lidar and acoustic remote sensing to characterize the impacts of Amazon forest degradation

   Rappaport, D.I.; Morton, D.C. (May 2017, Anais do Simpósio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto)

   Frontier forests in the Brazilian Amazon have been heavily altered by nearly a half-century of deforestation for agriculture and degradation from fire and logging. The long-term effects of forest degradation on habitat structure and habitat use remain poorly understood, largely due to the limitations of traditional field methods for characterizing heterogeneity at relevant spatial and temporal scales. This work demonstrates the opportunity to assess degradation impacts on ecosystem structure and biodiversity at landscape scales (200 km2) by combining airborne lidar and acoustic remote sensing across two municipalities in Mato Grosso, Feliz Natal and Nova Ubiratã. Among degradation classes, our results indicate that repeated fire events have the most destructive legacy for both habitat structure and habitat use. Lidar analyses reveal that repeated fire events can result in a total loss of original canopy trees. Similarly, our acoustic analyses suggest that repeated fires may fundamentally transform animal community composition. The combination of remote sensing approaches bridges the scale gap between ground-based and satellite observations to support a regional-scale investigation into the complex consequences of Amazon forest degradation. 

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4. Beyond Deforestation: Carbon Emissions From Land Grabbing and Forest Degradation in the Brazilian Amazon

   https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.645282  

   Kruid, Sanne; Macedo, Marcia N.; Gorelik, Seth R.; Walker, Wayne; Moutinho, Paulo; Brando, Paulo M.; Castanho, Andrea; Alencar, Ane; Baccini, Alessandro; Coe, Michael T. (July 2021, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change)

   null (Ed.)

   Carbon losses from forest degradation and disturbances are significant and growing sources of emissions in the Brazilian Amazon. Between 2003 and 2019, degradation and disturbance accounted for 44% of forest carbon losses in the region, compared with 56% from deforestation (forest clearing). We found that land tenure played a decisive role in explaining these carbon losses, with Undesignated Public Forests and Other Lands (e.g., private properties) accounting for the majority (82%) of losses during the study period. Illegal deforestation and land grabbing in Undesignated Public Forests widespread and increasingly are important drivers of forest carbon emissions from the region. In contrast, indigenous Territories and Protected Natural Areas had the lowest emissions, demonstrating their effectiveness in preventing deforestation and maintaining carbon stocks. These trends underscore the urgent need to develop reliable systems for monitoring and reporting on carbon losses from forest degradation and disturbance. Together with improved governance, such actions will be crucial for Brazil to reduce pressure on standing forests; strengthen Indigenous land rights; and design effective climate mitigation strategies needed to achieve its national and international climate commitments. 

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5. Mapping and Analyzing the Distribution, Drivers, and Impacts of Small Agricultural Reservoirs in Brazil from 1984 to 2023

   Solvik, Kylen (June 2025, University of Colorado, Boulder)

   Small stream dams and their reservoirs are ubiquitous in Brazil but mostly unmapped in existing datasets. Often used for cattle watering, farm-scale hydropower, irrigation, and/or fish aqua-culture, these reservoirs can have immense cumulative impacts on aquatic habitats, down-stream water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and water balances. By applying deep learning to data from Landsat and Sentinel satellites, we created the first comprehensive datasets on small surface-water reservoirs in Brazil, including annual maps from 1984 to 2023. Then, we synthesized these maps with land-use data, property information, and semi-structured inter-views conducted in Mato Grosso state to elucidate the drivers and impacts of reservoir creation and persistence. First, we used high-resolution Sentinel-1 and -2 satellite data from 2021 to map over 1 million in-stream reservoirs smaller than 1 km2, a massive increase from existing datasets. Using weather data and climate models, we estimated that these reservoirs lose approximately 11.7 km3yr-1 to surface evaporation, a number projected to increase by 3-13% as climate change drives warmer and drier weather. Next, we showed that these reservoirs can be consistently and accurately mapped over time using Landsat 5, 7, and 8 data with only a slight de-crease in performance compared to Sentinel. From 1984 to 2023, the number of reservoirs in Brazil increased dramatically from 265,617 to 1,040,754 and the total surface area increased from 3526 km2 to 8629 km2. Then, we drew on interviews and MapBiomas land-use data to demonstrate that creation typically accompanied clearing of forest and savanna for cattle pasture in the first-waves settlement in the so-called hollow frontier of Mato Grosso. In many cases, these reservoirs were obsolete legacies of the hollow frontier, left over after intensified crop agriculture replaced dispersed cattle ranching. However, others are still critical and flexible sources of water, particularly for small-scale dairy, beef, fruit, and vegetable producers. Finally, we analyzed how the overarching discourse of resource abundance in eastern Mato Grosso obscures daily experiences of water scarcity, showing that the abundances of land, capital, and infrastructure contribute to and intersect with water inequality to favor large, export-oriented crop farms over small-scale producers. Applying an interdisciplinary approach to synthesize deep learning and remote sensing with political ecologies of water and agriculture, we highlight the important role of these reservoirs in agricultural expansion and intensification in Brazil and especially Mato Grosso state. Although they have widespread negative environmental impacts, reservoirs are also a critical form of water infrastructure for many. As climate change and the adoption of irrigation alter agricultural water use across Brazil, our results can inform water management decisions that balance the positive and negative social, environmental, and economic effects of stream damming. 

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