Amazon Floodplains in the Face of Climate Change – Long-Term Integrated Functioning (CNPq)
The main objective of the proposal is to gain a better understanding and quantification of how current and future changes in the hydrology of the Amazon rivers may affect the functioning of the aquatic ecosystems of the floodplains and what the potential consequences may be for the riverine populations. Our proposal has two main components. The first aims to improve the quantification of flood extent using recently launched satellite data and to model the current and future circulation of the water mass under the influence of climate change. The second will explore the relationships between physicochemical parameters (especially temperature, oxygen, suspended matter) and phytoplankton, as well as simulated physical variables (depths, current velocities (direction, magnitude)) with the goal of developing a predictive model and studying the possible consequences for riverine populations. Both components are based on the experience of the proposing team, their modeling work, and the water quality databases they have developed. In addition to these scientific objectives, our proposal will strengthen a long-standing partnership between teams from France and Brazil, but most importantly, it will expand by including teams from other South American countries and the state of Pará, while providing young scientists (postdocs, doctoral students, and master’s students) the opportunity to be part of an international research group.
