While solutions can be plotted
and implemented with the best of intentions, the success of the solution is
impossible to gauge without a comprehensive assessment of its effects.
Already there are massive projects that are being implemented to evaluate
situations within the Amazon Rainforest. SIVAM is perhaps the largest
monitoring project currently being tackled in the Amazon Rainforest. Using a
network of radar stations and airplanes, SIVAM patrols the Amazon Rainforest,
monitoring land usage and tracking illegal activities.
Below you will find a synopsis
of the monitoring solutions Project Amazonia has developed. You can explore
the various monitoring solutions in detail by clicking on the links within the
synopses or by clicking on the navigation bar at the top of the page.
Land Monitoring
One of the problems with
monitoring the land is that the vegetation above ground does not necessarily
reflect the status of the soil. For example, a portion of land can be
deforested, yet the ground will still show relatively normal concentrations of
nutrients for at least a couple of months. Alternatively, trees can be
planted on poor quality soil stuffed with fertilizers, but that does not mean
the soil is in any decent condition.
However, since life in the
Amazon depends on the soil, Project Amazonia researched how one would go about
testing the soil for specific properties. Since pH is related to ion
solubility, ion concentration influences plant health and contaminants (i.e.
mercury) harm plant life, these were the characteristics focused on.
Water Monitoring
As the major medium by which
ions, nutrients and contaminants are transferred throughout the Amazon
Rainforest, it is important to be able to monitor the waterways and
precipitation rates in the Amazon. While the sheer quantity of water makes
some monitoring schemes of Amazonian waterways impractical, a variety of
methods can be used to monitor fish, sediment transfer, rainfall,
evapotranspiration and other properties.
Because it is impractical to
actually go to the Amazon and try to measure properties of water, most of the
monitoring techniques researched involve remote sensing equipment. These
primarily fall into two categories, overhead sensing and land sensing.
Overhead monitoring would be largely compatible with SIVAM, while monitoring
from land level would be done with equipment left within the Amazon, sending
data to satellites.
Flora Monitoring
Considering the flora is the
object of preservation projects, it is critical to understand the effects
solutions are having on its health. Project Amazonia researched the
possibility of three primary methods for monitoring the Amazon's flora:
measuring overgrowth density and complexity, using epiphytes as an indicator
species, and taking literfall measurements.
By measuring overgrowth density
and complexity associations between animal and plant habitats can be
extrapolated. Densities and complexities would be compared among many
different areas to generate a model for an ideal density/complexity model.
Epiphytes are a class of flora
that are far more vulnerable to changes in their environments than typical
Amazonian trees and shrubs. Because epiphytes are affected by changes in the
environment (i.e. increased CO2 levels) more strongly than surrounding flora,
they would act as an effective indicator/warning species for potential
dangers.
Litterfall is the plant matter
that falls to the ground to decay and be reabsorbed into the ecosystem. This
organic matter can be analyzed to determine its chemical composition and the
relative concentration of various elements and ions. As well, the change in
pure weight of the organic matter that is collected can be measured to
determine activity in the area (i.e. deforestation).
Fauna Monitoring
As the highest members of the
food chain, the chemical composition of the fauna in the Amazon is indicative
of the chemical composition in its surroundings. For example, toxins in water
accumulate in the flora that absorbs it. The fauna that eats the flora needs
to eat a lot of flora to stay healthy, therefore the toxins in the flora
accumulate in the fauna. Amphibians, on top of being in a fairly high trophic
level, absorb toxins through their skin while soaking in the water. By doing
blood tests on amphibians, therefore, contaminants in the water can be
detected.
While not usually used to test
for contaminants, the behavioral patterns of bats can be monitored to
determine the state of the surrounding rainforest. For example, it has been
determined that bats will go into hibernation if there is a significant lack
of food. Since bats are so common in the Amazon, they would make ideal
species to monitor.
Monitoring Laws
While monitoring techniques
are important to analyze solution success, unless the laws revolving around
monitoring implementation are understood the ideas are not applicable.
Therefore, Project Amazonia researched the Brazilian laws surrounding the
application of foreign monitoring programs in the Amazon Basin.
The key to getting approval for
a monitoring scheme in the Amazon Rainforest (Decree No. 98830) is to make the
suggestion palatable to the Brazilian government. By getting pre-approval by
a major organization within Brazil and demonstrating how the monitoring
techniques will be beneficial to the state of Brazil, the odds of a proposal
being granted approval are increased.
Environmental Modeling
Data gathered from
monitoring the rainforest are pieces of a very complex puzzle. In order for
any information to have significance, it must agree with data collected from
other monitoring projects. In order to tie all lose ends together, it is
necessary to implement a modeling program that can analyze the importance of
the data gathered.
Next: Land Monitoring ->