Like the rainforest that bears its name, the Amazon is the largest and most biodiversityd river on the planet: the Amazon transports more than five times the volume of the world’s largest river, Congo, and its basin is home to at least 3000 species. fish. The river and its tributaries are a critical step for a dominance of the length of the continental United States and serve as an important source of food and sustenment for millions of people.
Yet despite its vastness and importance, the Amazon faces an avalanche of threats: a damming frenzy in the basin disrupts fish migration and nutrient cycling, large-scale deforestation destroys habitats and increases sedimentation. , contaminants from mines and agribusiness affect the In aquatic ecosystems, overfishing reduces the ability of some species to recover, and cycles of drought and floods are expanding. The effects of climate replacement may exacerbate some of these effects. through the expansion of temperatures, severe droughts and the incidence of chimneys. vulnerable.
Few other people perceive the ecology of the Amazon and the larger role it plays on the South American continent more than Michael Goulding, an aquatic ecologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) who has worked in the region for years. 1970 and studies problems ranging from the effect of hydroelectric dams to the epic migration of the goliath catfish. Goulding has written and is co-author of some of the most definitive books and articles on the river, its resident species, and its ecological role.
The Field Museum will honor Goulding today with the Parker / Gentry Award, honoring his life in advancing conservation efforts in the Amazon, honoring ornithologist Theodore A. Parker III and botanist Alwyn Gentry, who died in a plane crash during a plane crash. aerial survey of an Ecuadorian cloud forest in 1993 – awarded annually to “a person, team, or organization notable in the conservation biology cadre whose efforts have had a significant effect on the preservation of the world’s herbal heritage and whose movements and technique can serve as a style for others.
According to the Field Museum, the award “is designed to highlight works that can benefit from wider exposure and more comprehensive dissemination of clinical results. ” The Museum said it had selected Goulding as “one of the world’s leading experts on Amazon rivers and their biodiversity. “
“It’s helping to replace our largely terrestrial conservation vision in one that puts rivers in the center,” Field said in a statement. “It combines several disciplines and collaborators in the Amazon basin to perceive old models and identify existing considerations. “and make recommendations for the future. “
“[Goulding] has been a driving force in a series of peer-reviewed articles advocating a basin-wide technique for replicating Amazonian fish for consumption, i. e. long-distance migrants. His efforts have led to new techniques for the conservation of the Amazon, focusing on his aquatic life.
In an interview in September 2020 before the awards ceremony, Goulding spoke with Mongabay about his and current state of the Amazon.
Mongabay: What drove you to pursue your career?
Michael Goulding: I was interested in nature and rivers since childhood; In college, I first became interested in geography due to a preference for foreign countries, which temporarily led me to become interested in the tropics, especially the New World.
During my university studies in California, I traveled extensively in Mexico and saw rain forests for the first time. It sparked my interest in the rainforest. Along with the preference for examining rivers, this led me to start thinking about where to take my career, and I temporarily settled in South America and, sometime later, in the Amazon, which has the largest forests. tropics and rivers of the world.
My interest in fish also from childhood, but learning the unheard of diversity of Amazonian fish, a simple zoological selection for my naturalistic side.
In graduate school at UCLA, I focused on ecosystems, biogeography, conservation, ichthyology, and plant taxonomy to prepare to paint in the Amazon. I was very fortunate to be hired through the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) in Manaus, Brazil, while also completing my doctoral thesis. This opportunity was the first clue to fulfill my professional dreams.
He has worked in the Amazon since the 1970s, in which more than 750,000 square kilometers of forest were cleared in the basin. What are the most important adjustments that you have noticed since starting your career? Both in terms of adjustments in studies and ecological / environmental adjustments.
At the mega level, deforestation and dams on primary rivers have been the two main adjustments since the early 1970s, when I made my first change in the Amazon. Artisanal mining and large-scale urbanization are the next major adjustments. Together, those tweaks now have Synergistic Effects at the ecosystem level. The possible effects of deforestation have become apparent relatively early, especially with the structure of the Tran-Amazonas highway in Brazil to open ranches for farm animals and install farmers in northeast Brazil to expand the Amazon.
However, little attention has been paid to the destruction of wetland forests, namely in the floodplains of the Amazon River, where jute cultivation and livestock had wreaked havoc. The exponential accumulation on new roads and roads since the 1970s has led to large-scale deforestation giants in a giant component of the Amazon, namely south of the Amazon River. The expansion of the soybean frontier in the Amazon basins of the southeast and the expansion of agriculture and mining in the Andes have also led to severe deforestation and local pollutants from the top Western sources.
Satellite imagery and GIS software from more than two decades have made it imaginable, as it should be, to track deforestation throughout the Amazon. The conceptual link of the rainforest with the hydrological cycle through the evapotranspiration role of trees has significantly reinforced the need for an ecosystem technique for the Amazon. Paradoxically, however, since the 1980s, maximum studies and conservation efforts have focused on relatively small spaces with no complementary perspectives on a larger scale to position them in a larger ecological context. The effects on the flow of the river that accumulate downstream; so they are all downstream in some way. It has become apparent that river basin perspectives provide a compelling synergistic insight into the effects of highlands and wetlands at multiple scales in the Amazon for aquatic ecosystem conservation control to be successful.
Since the last 1990s, the Amazon has experienced at least 4 primary droughts. What are the implications of these droughts for aquatic life in the region?
Extreme hydrological events, be they droughts or floods, or some combination, have effects on the functioning of the ecosystem. For aquatic biodiversity, droughts are more of a fear than excessive flooding, and the opposite is true for human societies along rivers. to a giant relief in the habitat space, especially in the alluvial plains but also in the rivers and streams. The accumulation of fish mortality and other elements of biodiversity is expanding due to limited space, increasing predation and overfishing by local and urban fishermen. it greatly exacerbates the already precarious control of fisheries. Similarly, other species of aquatic wildlife, such as Amazonian turtles and manatees, are even more vulnerable than fish.
The long-term effects of giant floods on aquatic biodiversity are more difficult to determine; it turns out that they may increase fish production due to area expansion and a longer era of flooding; however, with excessive droughts and related mortality, this theoretical benefits of giant floods would disappear. Extreme degrees of flooding over 3 or 4 years can also result in the death of parts of shrub and tree communities in floodplains, as they require one year of emergency.
Although several dam projects have been suspended in recent years, ambitious hydroelectric expansion plans still exist in much of the Amazon basin. What are the implications of large-scale dam construction in the basin?
The biggest focus was on the giant dams built on the Tocantins, Xingu and Madeira rivers in the eastern part of the Amazon basin in Brazil. These dams are located in the old highlands called the Brazilian Shield, which extends to the west a bit across the Madeira River, where their dams are located. The Brazilian Shield drains 4 primary rivers, and the only one so far that has not been blocked is the Tapajós, although there are also proposals to block it. The 4 tributaries enter the Amazon basin in its eastern part. To date, the giant dams of its individual tributaries have more than a cumulative effect on the Amazon River or its estuary. Since the southeastern sub-basins are also vital agricultural and mining frontiers, a synergistic mix of deforestation, dams, pollutants, and river mining. We do not yet know where the tipping point is, that is, how many giant tributaries with dams start in the ecology of the Amazon River and its estuary.
Unlike the other 3 tributaries of the Brazilian Shield, Madeira has resources in the Andes of Bolivia and Peru. The two existing Madeira dams constitute the first primary basin to affect the Amazonian aquatic ecosystem. Although they are run-of-river dams with relatively low walls, Madeira’s dams block the migrations of fish, such as goliath catfish, that migrate upstream of the estuary to spawn in or near the Andes. A fish diversion built at the Santo Antonio dam near the city of Porto Velho in Rondônia state is not working as expected, and no outlet at the Jirau dam upstream. This means that Madeira’s dams are blocking some of the vital peak migrations of fish in the Amazon, and has effects all the way to the Amazon River estuary, the nurseries of some species. Similar to salmon, it turns out that at least dourada (Portuguese) or dorado (Spanish) catfish can practice spotting, the biological phenomenon where a species returns to the general region of its birth. This would mean that Madeira’s dams would result in the extinction of a significant population of the species and in all likelihood would eliminate 40% of the species’ spawning grounds.
So far, the Andes have few giant dams, although governments have known about six potential primary hydroelectric dams near the mountain outlets. Unlike the eastern Amazon, the giant Andean dams would likely have upper walls with deep deposits. The Andes are the bank of sediments and nutrients not only for the triateros that drain them, but also for the Amazon River. Thus, upper wall dams can be the chemistry and alluvial homes of much of the Amazonian aquatic ecosystem, from more than 4,000 km upriver to the Atlantic. Declining sediment and nutrients would lead to decreased productivity in the western floodplains and along the Amazon River to its estuary, all of which are vital nurseries for fish. The maximum ecological and social concentrate is found in the Marañón River in Ponpass de Manseriche, a pass where the largest of the six possible dams is located. It is not yet clear whether Peru will go ahead with the Manseriche dam.
Many small prey can have even greater effects than a giant single prey. The structure of small dams is exploding across the Amazon, from the upper plateaus to the lowlands, but especially in the drier spaces of the north and south and in the upper portions of With expected drier climates, expanded agriculture and aquaculture, and a lack of river management, the small dam structure now presents a primary ecological challenge in parts of the Amazon.
Perhaps a major positive note on the structure of dams in the region is that the Amazon River will remain the main river in the world without dams or locks. Although there have been futuristic proposals to block the Amazon River, none is feasible.
A generation ago, there was much discussion about the prospect of fish farming in the Amazon floodplains to provide a more sustainable source of protein than land livestock. Did it materialize? And what are the implications?
Governments made many of the first efforts, but the personal sector is now the leader in aquaculture development. Fish farming exists between ecological controversy and the land of dreams, with a practical medium somewhere in between.
Two main facets of aquaculture fear the Amazon, which are classified as extensive and extensive fish farming: most fish farming in the Amazon is extensive and uses excavated ponds or damged streams, with floating cages in alluvial plains lakes or smaller, smaller river channels. Most aquaculture is used for food fishing with minimal production of aquarium and hunting fishing species. There have been aquaculture projects for export markets as a result of emerging prices, but to date they have not been a success. -high-priced species now threatened in nature, opening up an urban market for aquaculture beyond reducing the overpesca of wild populations.
Of particular importance is the giant fruit and seed eater called tambaqui in Brazil and gamitana in the Spanish-speaking countries of the Amazon. Overfishing has led to a peak advertising extinction of wild giant fish across much of the Amazon. The tambaqui was the most important publicity species caught in the central Amazon in the 1970s, but is now relatively unvital in the fishery. Aquaculture now produces more tonnes of this species than the maximum wild catches recorded decades ago, but this has done little to reduce overexploitation of wild populations. A giant wild tambaqui can sell for over $ 100, so there is an economic incentive to exploit it despite its rarity. Farmed fish contributes relatively little to overall food security because it is too expensive for low-income groups. In short, it is unlikely that aquaculture can replace wild fishing or reduce pressure on favored wild species.
Another big question is whether aquaculture can simply be an option for animal husbandry, i. e. deforestation, protein production and, if so, how?Perhaps the main parameter is whether quality fish, without subsidies, is sold at the same price or less expensive than chicken, as poultry is sometimes less expensive than beef and red meat and is more available for reduced economic classes. poorer. Chicken farming is as extensive, if not more extensive, than aquaculture and works in terms of processed food for captive animals. So, if the concept is to produce affordable protein for various economic classes, poultry could be a better solution to relieve fishing pressure on wild fish stocks.
Aquaculture has a role in the Amazon for urban markets. The biggest controversy is whether overexploited species, such as tambaqui, would gain benefits from restocking. Extensive aquaculture is about catching young fish raised in hatcheries in the wild to fill overfished populations. There is little pleasure in knowing whether this would be successful even in the Amazon and what effects it might have, such as on the genetic diversity of wild populations. Extensive aquaculture already exists to some extent with exotic rainbow trout in the upper Andes, however this has brought in exotic parasites, which remains a major concern for the fitness of local species.
Together with your colleagues, you have written several books and articles on the aquatic ecology of the Amazon basin, what effects or projects are you most proud of?
Rather, my main criterion has been that our paintings applied directly to conservation and how it supports the bigger picture. At the ultimate fundamental point of ecological connectivity, this meant elucidating how rivers and rainforests are connected. I very simply called it “the fish and the forest” because they both depend on each other. Fish in the Amazon rely heavily on the wetland forests to which they migrate during floods for food and protection from predators. Also, fruit fish are vital seed dispersers for many species of wetland trees and shrubs.
Another large-scale phenomenon in which we work to dispel the concept that the largest triatario in the Amazon, the black-water Black River, may not cope with superior aquatic biodiversity due to its excessive nutrient poverty, low pH and biological compounds that is blackish or brown. We have been able to demonstrate that in fact there is a “life rich in poor water”, a concept of great importance not only for the conservation of the Rio Negro, but also for other rivers of black water of the Amazon.
A third major theme that I have worked on for decades, along with Ronaldo Barthem of the Goeldi Museum and other colleagues, was long-distance fish migrations from the Amazon River estuary to the foothills. Andean. Demonstrating these migrations and the scale at which they occur showed how the Amazonian aquatic ecosystem is biologically connected from the Andes to the Atlantic in what we have called “The Catfish Connection”. This has primary implications in terms of effects on infrastructure development, adding dams and headwaters deforestation that can affect these migrations across the continent.
Other projects included visualizing fisheries at the ecosystem level, the importance of palm swamps, human use of the Amazon River floodplain and helping to expand a new watershed classification. river systems for the Amazon, which improves the spatial analyzes and perspectives of the aquatic ecosystem in its many facets. All these paintings were aimed at constructing the scale of the ecosystem and its implications for conservation and control planning.
What is your vision of the aquatic ecology of the Amazon and what do you think are the most productive tactics for the fitness and productivity of the ecosystem?
The greatest merit of the Amazon in terms of conservation of aquatic ecology is its size, this also presents the greatest challenge, because there are very few people and budget to analyze the effects on water and soil of deforestation, dams, mining . . , increased river traffic, urbanization and other large-scale influences of watersheds. In addition to addressing these demanding situations through environmental policy, there will also have to be a replacement in the clinical and social paradigm beyond a propensity to focus. only in local areas A comprehensive complementary technique is also needed that incorporates biological and social knowledge.
I that the most successful technique that unites the perspectives of highlands and wetlands, as well as local and broader visions, is to incorporate watershed control. This technique also addresses transnational problems such as dams and migratory fish, accumulated downstream pollution, upstream deforestation and the effectiveness of protected areas and indigenous territories for the conservation and control of aquatic ecosystems.
If we are customers of conservation through the lens of the main watersheds and the main course of the Amazon River, which includes its vast alluvial plains, some of the giant sub-basins, such as Tocantins, Xingu, Tapajós and parts of the Madeira basin, will continue to undergo major changes through deforestation, dams and mining and will eventually want to be restored. Blackwater basins, such as the Rio Negro, will be less affected in general due to poorer soils for agricultural development, although they will remain threatened by mining operations and spring deforestation. Agricultural and mining roads and borders flowing through all Andean-Amazonian primary tributaries provide situations of transnational demand for watershed control and, in combination, provide the “upstream water inflection point” of the aquatic ecosystem.
Brazil is downstream of all the Andean countries in the Amazon basin, so it deserves to be as involved with what is happening in the Andes as it is in its own territory. Likewise, the Andean countries will have to look downstream because many migrations of fish that enter their territory come from Brazil. The declining floodplain of the Amazon River has been heavily deforested. If deforestation of wetlands continues upstream, it will have major effects on biodiversity and aquatic production, not only in the mainstream but also in its triaterials. The main stretch of the Amazon is particularly problematic as it has few indigenous spaces and territories that can only help manage its floodplains. Even where there are spaces, river channels are not included.
Maintaining the fitness and productivity of the aquatic ecosystem for biodiversity and human well-being requires taking a number of critical steps within a realistic time frame, likely to be decades. In the first place, it is a question of responding to the desire to accentuate conservation projects at the basin level, adding coordinated transnational titling where necessary. Second, the critical importance of wetland forests to fish and other aquatic biodiversity, and to human well-being, requires a particular law and its implementation to protect those habitats from conversion to farm rice fields. or other types of large-scale agriculture. Today, the fishery suffers from a lack of robust control and a lack of knowledge gathering. Overfishing is within the norm. Community control projects help to remove the obscurity of local challenges, however monitoring of urban fish markets and regulations applied to the Amazon will be required to control overfishing. The lack of statistical knowledge for a resource as vital as fish in the Amazon is indefensible and, given the many effects that are occurring, it becomes even more apparent.
All Amazonian countries now have the right scientists dealing with ecological and social disorders similar to or parts of the Amazon aquatic ecosystem. This human capital is an asset and governments will have to recognize it as such to count and mitigate the progression of infrastructure and the correct control of the aquatic resources on which biodiversity and human well-being depend in the Amazon, which is where optimism for the future lies.
Learn about the ecology of the Amazon River in AmazonWaters. org.
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