| Grant number: | 08/57939-9 |
| Support Opportunities: | Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Young Investigators Grants |
| Start date: | August 01, 2009 |
| End date: | January 31, 2015 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology |
| Principal Investigator: | Luis Cesar Schiesari |
| Grantee: | Luis Cesar Schiesari |
| Host Institution: | Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
| City of the host institution: | São Paulo |
| Associated scholarship(s): | 13/19834-9 - Performance of larval amphibians and aquatic insects in agroindustrial landscapes,
BP.MS 11/20458-6 - Effects of land use change on the ecology of fishes in the headwaters of the Xingu River, BP.DR 10/14767-3 - Direct and indirect effects of fertilizers on experimental aquatic communities, BP.MS |
Abstract
The dawn of a new paradigm in energy supply - biofuels - points to the continued expansion of agriculture in Brazil in the near future. The country is in an exceptionally favorable position to assume the global leadership in biofuel production for possessing both ideal geographic and environmental conditions and the already most efficient ethanol industry worldwide. Not surprisingly however, agriculture involves both benefits and costs to the society, In particular, industrial agriculture is one of the most environmentally harmful human activities, being directly involved in native habitat destruction and in the contamination of water resources through the employment of fertilizers and pesticides. It is unacceptable that Brazil, entering the XXI century with the largest share of the world's biodiversity and the largest extensions of native tropical habitats, and with adequate technical and scientific human resources, misses the historical chance to assume, in addition, a model role in reconciling economic growth with environmental preservation. This project proposes to test the hypothesis that the expansion of sugarcane has substantial impacts on freshwater communities, and that a significant part of these impacts can be directly or indirectly attributed to the employment of agrochemicals. More than documenting impacts, it proposes to understand the mechanisms through which these impacts are generated- urgently needed as a basis for effective and efficient problem management. This project proposes in addition to validate, for tropical systems, research methodologies employed in ecological and ecotoxicological studies in temperate systems, as well as to establish the foundations for the development of a bioindication concept for the contamination of water bodies by agrochemicals. These hypotheses will be tested in a broad research programme involving sampling and experimentation in laboratory, mesocosms and field. Sampling surveys of temporary pond communities _ including algae, tadpoles and predatory insects - across a gradient of environmental degradation (cerrado forest and grasslands < pasture < sugarcane plantations) will reveal patterns of association among land use, environmental physico-chemical properties, and community composition and structure. In turn, experiments will test the importance of agrochemicals in generating the observed patterns. Through studies conducted in multiple experimental scenarios, we aim at generating a line of extrapolation from lab to field, and lo establish clear cause-and-effect relationships between hypothesized processes and observed impacts. Knowledge derived from this project will be important in the development of better agroindustrial practices, towards sustainability in biofuel production and a larger acceptance of Brazilian biofuels in international markets. (AU)
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