DETERMINATION OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN OF COMMERCIALLY IMPORTANT TIMBER SPECIES FROM THE AMAZON REGION THROUGH VARIATIONS IN CARBON AND NITROGEN ISOTOPE RATIOS

• Grant number: 23/13568-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Antonio Martinelli
• Grantee: Isabela Maria Souza Silva
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/11119-3 - Developing isoscape models to trace timber origin of commercially exploited timber in the Amazon region using stable isotopes of strontium and sulfur., BE.EP.DR

Abstract

The illegal exploitation of timber is one, if not the primary, cause of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. As a consequence of this type of criminal activity, it is estimated that approximately 40% of the annual volume of extracted timber, whose source is unknown, is traded in domestic and international markets. Therefore, it becomes essential for both the scientific community and the government to invest in solutions and tools that assist in elucidating the true origin of this material, as current methods of certifying the origin of exploited timber can be susceptible to fraud. In order to verify the true legality of timber, scientific methods for certifying origin and identifying the exploited species should be mandatory attributes of any proposed certification system. Thus, the objective of this project is to, through the development and enhancement of models attributing geographic origin using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in wood (isoscapes), aid in tracking commercially exploited tree species in the Amazon region. It is anticipated that through this pioneering work in the country, the first isoscapes will be established using samples of commercially valuable wood, which can then be used to identify the origin of illegally extracted timber seized by the Federal Police.