Poster Details
VEGETATION PATTERNS, HABITATS, AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN AMAZON FOREST FLOODPLAINS: POTENTIAL IMPACTS BY DAMS
Freshwater habitats of the Amazon region (wetlands, floodplains, lakes, and rivers) represent 14% of the total basin area. Despite their low extent with respect to area, freshwater habitats have provided irreplaceable ecosystem services to local Amazon communities for millennia. Locally, the production of ecosystem services in these habitats include fisheries, wildlife meat, edible fruits, navigation, and fertile areas for seasonal agriculture. Other ecosystem services linked to these habitats have a more global-level impact, namely carbon sequestration by recently discovered Amazon peatlands. These ecosystem services are being threatened by the recent impetus for the construction of > 300 new hydropower projects in the region. We identify key ecosystem services associated with Amazon forest floodplains, and discuss the potential impacts of dams in relation to dam characteristics and their location in the different Amazon sub-basins.
Roosevelt García-Villacorta (Primary Presenter/Author), Cornell University, roosevelt.garcia@gmail.com;
Xiaojian Wu (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Microsoft, CA, USA, xiaojian.academy@gmail.com;
Qinru Shi (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Cornell University, qs63@cornell.edu;
Elizabeth P Anderson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA, eanderson8@gmail.com;
Bruce Forsberg (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), National Institute of Amazon Research, Manaus, AM, Brazil, brforsberg@gmail.com;
Stephen Hamilton (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, hamilton@caryinstitute.org;
Scott Steinschneider (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Cornell University, ss3378@cornell.edu;
Carla Gomes (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Cornell University, gomes@cs.cornell.edu;
Alexander Flecker (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA, asf3@cornell.edu;
the Amazon Dams CompSust Working Group (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Cornell University, Amazon.Dams.Comp.Sust@gmail.com;