Paisagens no Tempo e Espaço (PATES)

Goal

The present project has the main goal to solve the problems of biodiversity mapping in Amazonia by a combination of novel remote sensing methods, exceptionally extensive and internally consistent field data, and a thorough understanding of the geology of the Amazon basin and the environmental requirements of selected plant groups.

Other objectives are:

1. mapping the compositional heterogeneity of Amazonian vegetation through a combination of local-scale field data on the occurrence of species, soil chemistry and topography with geological, hydrological models and terrain characteristics derived from remote sensing products;

2. analyzing the distribution and origin of the phylogenetic diversity of plant species, applying newly established method of phylogenetic communities to study the origin and distribution of the phylogenetic diversity of the Amazonia;

3. determining the geological mechanisms with the potential to influence the development of Amazonian biodiversity through the reconstruction of mainly of Neogene and Quaternary geological history in different parts of Amazonia that can serve as a basis for interpretation ecological and evolutionary processes in effect in the current distribution biodiversity.