The Amazonia is the largest continuous river basin and rainforest ecosystem in the world. In all aspects it is a natural wonder, and the rainforest with its billions of trees is a vital carbon store that slows down the advance of global warming. It is home to one million indigenous people and some three million species of plants and animals. There have been many climate fluctuations during the last 55 million years of its existence, but never before have “the lungs of the world” been at greater risk than they are today due to uncontrolled fires, expanding agriculture and heavy industrial development in the forms of oil drilling, mining and large hydroelectric dams. Over twelve chapters, this book describes the anthropological, biological and industrial problems facing the Amazonia, and seeks to find new solutions.

This book focuses on ecosystems and species adaptations in the unique Peruvian Andean-Amazonian region. The presence of the Andes as the backbone is the cause of the huge ecosystem diversity and biodiversity of species that characterize the Andean-Amazonian ecosystems. The complex orography of Peru as results of the Andes presence in its tropical setting favors the occurrence of local climatic features that provide diverse environmental conditions for multiple, unique plant and animal species, many of them endemic to the Andes. The book will introduce the reader to the climatic history and geography of the Peruvian Andes and the Peruvian Natural Areas Protection system focusing on the Manu and Northwest biosphere reserves given their relevant ecological importance as well as the relationship between them and the local population. Important global topics like urbanization, deglaciation and global warming will be analyzed and discussed due to their impact in the Andes-Amazon ecosystems. Finally, the traditional land-use systems, agrobiodiversity and agrodiversity in Peru are present and linked with the climate change adaptations.

The loss of biological diversity has become an increased concern over recent years and is now enshrined in international conventions. Most biodiversity in fact occurs in the soil. Soil organisms (especially bacteria, fungi and soil invertebrates) play a major role in the formation of soil structure and are primary agents of decomposition and are drivers of nutrient cycling, and hence agricultural production.This book reviews soil biodiversity in one of the key biodiversity hotspots of the world, i.e. the Amazon and nearby regions of Brazil. It covers both the tropical savannah and rain forests . The work reported is based on a project "Conservation and Sustainable Management of Below-Ground Biodiversity", executed by TSBF-CIAT with co-financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implementation support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The book represents a major contribution to the literature and will interest those in biodiversity conservation, soil scienceand ecology and biodiversity conservation.

The book focuses on geological history as the critical factor in determining the present biodiversity and landscapes of Amazonia. The different driving mechanisms for landscape evolution are explored by reviewing the history of the Amazonian Craton, the associated sedimentary basins, and the role of mountain uplift and climate change. This book provdes an insight into the Meso- and Cenozoic record of Amazonia that was characterized by fluvial and long-lived lake systems and a highly diverse flora and fauna. This fauna includes giants such as the ca. 12 m long caiman Purussaurus, but also a varied fish fauna and fragile molluscs, whilst fossil pollen and spores form relics of ancestral swamps and rainforests. Finally, a review the molecular datasets of the modern Amazonian rainforest and aquatic ecosystem, discussing the possible relations between the origin of Amazonian species diversity and the palaeogeographic, palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental evolution of northern South America. The multidisciplinary approach in evaluating the history of Amazonia has resulted in a comprehensive volume that provides novel insights into the evolution of this region.

This book focuses on mechanisms of human adaptability. It integrates findings from ecology, physiology, social anthropology, and geography around a set of problems or constraints posed by human habitats.

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 186. Amazonia and Global Change synthesizes results of the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA) for scientists and students of Earth system science and global environmental change. LBA, led by Brazil, asks how Amazonia currently functions in the global climate and biogeochemical systems and how the functioning of Amazonia will respond to the combined pressures of climate and land use change, such as Wet season and dry season aerosol concentrations and their effects on diffuse radiation and photosynthesis Increasing greenhouse gas concentration, deforestation, widespread biomass burning and changes in the Amazonian water cycle Drought effects and simulated drought through rainfall exclusion experiments The net flux of carbon between Amazonia and the atmosphere Floodplains as an important regulator of the basin carbon balance including serving as a major source of methane to the troposphere The impact of the likely increased profitability of cattle ranching. The book will serve a broad community of scientists and policy makers interested in global change and environmental issues with high-quality scientific syntheses accessible to nonspecialists in a wide community of social scientists, ecologists, atmospheric chemists, climatologists, and hydrologists.