Floristics and physiognomy of two varzea forests: pollen signatures as a tool for the interpretation of paleoenvironmental records of Amazonia

• Grant number: 25/06041-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Eduardo de Oliveira
• Grantee: Marcelo Iwata Espindola
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IGC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/23899-2 - Trans-Amazon Drilling Project: origin and evolution of the forests, climate, and hydrology of the South American tropics, AP.PFPMCG.TEM

Abstract

The main objective of this project is to generate floristic pollen spectra and infer modern physiognomic aspects from surface soil samples from two Amazonian floodplain forests at different stages of ecological succession, which are contrasted by parameters generated by images of their canopies obtained by drones. Secondary objectives include: a) correlating the palynological signal from surface soil samples with forest physiognomy; b) detailing and characterizing macromorphological, chemical, granulometric, morphoscopic and mineralogical aspects of the collected soils; c) evaluating the canopy of the Amazon forest in the transect region, which ranges from the river floodplains to the lakes, through aerial photointerpretation, inferred from UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) images; d). to compare, through statistical analyses, the floristic similarity of modern signs of these forests with fossil palynological spectra from paleoenvironmental studies in the Amazon floodplain and igapó system, especially those derived from the FAPESP Thematic Project Trans-Amazon Drilling Project (TADP: Grant no. 2018/23899-2) coordinated by Prof. Dr. André Oliveira Sawakuchi (IGc/USP), to which this project is linked. (AU)