Conservation In Amazon Research Articles

Planning for autonomy and conservation: ‘Life Plans’ and communal reserves in the Amazonian borders of Peru

ABSTRACT State-promoted biodiversity conservation can either align with or diverge from Indigenous Peoples’ priorities, knowledge, and self-determined development paths. Drawing on fieldwork at the Amazon borders of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, this paper examines Indigenous organizations’ efforts to uphold territorial rights and pursue planning with Indigenous values in landscapes earmarked for conservation. The key question centers on how ‘border configurations’ affect grassroots planning and conservation focusing on the experience of Peruvian Secoya (Siékopai) People. Using expert interviews and ethnographic methods, the paper finds that conservation agencies risk losing credibility without genuine efforts toward social equity and well-being, constrained by mandates that often neglect local needs. The success of Life Plans depends on solidarity networks that balance conservation with viable economic alternatives, equitable power dynamics, and access to services. Ultimately, the paper shows that Life Plans empower Indigenous organizations, offering meaningful options for political self-representation within Amazonian conservation.

Amazonian conservation across archipelagos of Indigenous territories.

Indigenous stewardship is essential to the conservation of biocultural diversity, yet conventional conservation models often treat Indigenous territories (ITs) as homogeneous or isolated units. We propose that archipelagos of Indigenous territories (AITs), clusters of ITs that span geographies but are connected through shared cultural or political ties maintained by Indigenous nations, are crucial for understanding and enhancing conservation strategies that recognize the complexity of Indigenous stewardship. We classified 3572 ITs in the Amazon into 4 categories-single or multiple nations with either singular IT or AIT-to assess their spatial heterogeneity, governance, and conservation potential. We then assessed species richness, carbon stocks, and pressures across these different categories. To examine how AITs can enhance biocultural conservation efforts, we conducted a case study of the Cofán Nation in Ecuador. AITs covered 45% of the Amazonian land area and had higher species richness and carbon stocks than single IT configurations. However, AITs faced greater pressures from development and extractive activities. In the case study, the Cofán AIT was shaped by colonization and land titling challenges, but their community-driven governance, cross-territorial collaboration, and adaptive responses-such as comanagement agreements and resisting extractive activities-enhanced their ecological and cultural resilience amid growing development pressures. Our findings suggest that AITs facilitate the exchange of resources, knowledge, and cultural practices, which strengthens social connectivity, reinforces governance structures, and enables adaptive management across ITs, thereby enhancing biocultural resilience across discontinuous spaces. This work advocates for a paradigm shift in conservation planning and practice that recognizes the vital role of AITs in sustaining Amazonian ecosystems and Indigenous lifeways, particularly in the face of increasing pressures.

Understanding the diversity of private conservation in the Peruvian Amazon

AbstractGlobal awareness about the threats of ecosystem degradation in the Amazon is growing. While state‐managed protected areas remain key instruments for forest conservation, private actors are increasingly funding and implementing a broad range of conservation initiatives. Private actors are transforming the Amazonian conservation landscape and its governance, however, many aspects of private conservation, especially the diversity of local practitioners and the challenges they face, remain understudied. Drawing on a case study of Madre de Dios in the Peruvian Amazon, we aim to generate a better understanding of private conservation practitioners and their various approaches to conservation on private and public land. We used an extensive review of literature and databases, in addition to 13 semi‐structured interviews with various private conservation practitioners, to map privately conserved areas, and to gather perceptions about challenges, opportunities, and future pathways for private conservation. A total of 590 privately conserved areas, covering over one million hectares, were identified and mapped in Madre de Dios. We find that, while most initiatives are managed by individuals and families, for‐profit companies manage half of the total area privately protected. Furthermore, we find that private conservation initiatives face significant barriers and pressures. These barriers include complex bureaucratic processes, legal contradictions and incoherencies, corruption, weak law enforcement, and financial insecurity. Conservation policies largely favor national and international actors and less so local, grassroots initiatives run by individuals and communities. Finally, we highlight the need for more accessible and inclusive policies that recognize the contribution of less powerful actors, to foster more effective conservation efforts for the future of the Amazon.

Evolución de la biodiversidad amazónica: una revisión

ABSTRACT Amazonia (defined herein as the Amazon basin) is home to the greatest concentration of biodiversity on Earth, providing unique genetic resources and ecological functions that contribute to ecosystem services globally. The lengthy and complex evolutionary history of this region has produced heterogeneous landscapes and riverscapes at multiple scales, altered the geographic and genetic connections among populations, and impacted rates of adaptation, speciation, and extinction. In turn, ecologically diverse Amazonian biotas promoted further diversification, species coexistence, and coevolution, with biodiversity accumulating over tens of millions of years. Important events in Amazonian history included: (i) late Cretaceous and early Paleogene origin of major rainforest plant and animal groups; (ii) Eocene-Oligocene global cooling with rainforests contracting to tropical latitudes separating Atlantic coastal and Amazonian rainforests; (iii) Miocene uplift of central and northern Andes that separated Pacific coastal and Amazonian rainforests, spurred formation of mega-wetlands in the western Amazon, and contributed to the origin of the modern transcontinental Amazon River; (iv) late Neogene formation of the Panamanian Isthmus that facilitated the Great American Biotic Interchange; (v) Pleistocene climate oscillations followed by late Pleistocene-Holocene human colonization and megafaunal extinctions; and (vi) modern era of widespread anthropogenic deforestation, defaunation, and ecological transformations of regional landscapes and global climates. Amazonian conservation requires decade-scale investments into biodiversity documentation and monitoring to leverage existing scientific capacity, and strategic habitat planning to allow continuity of evolutionary and ecological processes now and into the future.

The challenges and potential of geogenomics for biogeography and conservation in Amazonia

AbstractAmazonia has a very high, although still incompletely known, species diversity distributed over a mosaic of heterogeneous habitats that are also poorly characterized. As a result of this multi‐faceted complexity, Amazonia poses a great challenge to geogenomic approaches that strive to find causal links between Earth's geological history and biotic diversification, including the use of genomic data to solve geologic problems. This challenge is even greater because of the need for interdisciplinary approaches despite the difficulties of working across disciplines, where misinterpretations of the literature in disparate research fields can produce unrealistic scenarios of biotic‐geologic linkages. The exchange of information and the joint work of geologists and biologists are essential for building stronger and more realistic hypotheses about how past climate may have affected the distribution and connectivity among populations, how the evolution of drainage networks influenced biotic diversification, and how ecological traits and species interactions currently define the spatial organization of biodiversity, and thus how this organization has changed in the past and may change in the future. The heterogeneity of Amazonia and the different effects of historical processes over its distinct regions and ecosystems have to be more completely recognized in biogeography, conservation; and policymaking. In this perspective, we provide examples of geological, climatological; and ecological information relevant to studies of biotic diversification in Amazonia, where recent advances (and their limitations) may not be apparent to researchers in other fields. The three examples, which include the limitations of climate model outputs, the complicated evolution of river drainages; and the complex link between species and their habitats modulated by ecological specialization, are a small subsample intended to illustrate the urgency for more integrated interdisciplinary approaches.

The Future of Nature Conservation in Amazonia: Evidence From Transboundary Protected Areas

Biological diversity has been recognized as a global asset that is key to the well-being and survival of present and future generations. In response to massive destruction of the world’s ecosystems, the international community has agreed on several initiatives, most importantly, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992, which is the basis of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020, and the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets. A central instrument of these initiative are protected areas. The nine Amazonian countries alone, have designated 390 million hectares of protected forest areas, some of which are under very heavy pressure. As explicitly stated in Aichi Targets 11, 17, and 18, the effective governance and management of these protected areas requires the active participation of indigenous and other local resource user groups and respect for their traditional knowledge and customary practices. This manuscript analyzes to what extent and in which way these targets have been achieved by analyzing three transboundary protected areas in Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia constituted of five national parks. The analysis shows that important progress has been made in terms of the local participation and the generation and sharing of economic benefits, mostly due to the engagement of non-governmental organization (NGOs) funded from overseas development assistance (ODA) sources. However, many of the established mechanisms show major shortcomings, such as power imbalances, lack of legitimacy of decision-makers, unclear responsibilities, unresolved logistical challenges, and the lack of financial support. In addition, the functionality of local governance structures is severely threatened by the vagaries of national policies that often put biodiversity conservation and economic development at loggerheads. In order to ensure the functionality of protected areas in the Amazon region, binding and sufficient commitments by national governments are needed for genuine and effective local governance.

Municipal environmental management and regional conservation in eastern Amazon: perceived performance by public agents in the Pará state, Brazil

Public agents play a key role in municipal environmental management (MEM) under decentralised regimes. This study aimed to evaluate the MEM through the combined perception of municipal agents and the municipal performance previously calculated by secondary data in Pará, Brazil. A questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was applied to environmental agents. The respondents (n = 75) from 53 municipalities were divided into poorly performing and well-performing municipalities. The perception of agents from poorly performing municipalities was more optimistic than shown by empirical data. Agents from well-performing municipalities prioritised “economic issues” as significant threats to management over the “institutional capacity” chosen by the other group, indicating a broader view of the reality. As the perception over land-use practices was vital to differentiate the agents from different groups, we concluded for the use of mixed monitoring methods and feedback information for agents for a better MEM, focusing on five variables (Rural environmental register – CAR, in Portuguese acronym; degraded area; deforested area; rural credit; and abandoned pasture) that differentiated the municipalities.

Certification of a\xe7a\xed agroforestry increases the conservation potential of the Amazonian tree flora

The harvesting of açaí berries (palm fruits from the genus Euterpe) in Amazonia has increased over the last 20 years due to a high local and global market demand and triggered by their widely acclaimed health benefits as a ‘superfood’. Although such increase represents a financial boom for local communities, unregulated extraction in Amazonia risks negative environmental effects including biodiversity loss through açai intensification and deforestation. Alternatively, the introduction of certified sustainable agroforestry production programs of açaí has been strategically applied to reduce the exploitation of Amazonian forests. Local açaí producers are required to follow principles of defined sustainable management practices, environmental guidelines, and social behaviors, paying specific attention to fair trade and human rights. In this study we investigate whether sustainable agroforestry and certification effectively promotes biodiversity conservation in Amazonia. To address this question, we conducted a forestry inventory in two hectares of long-term certified açai harvesting areas to gain further knowledge on the plant diversity and forest structure in açaí managed forests and to understand the contribution of certification towards sustainable forest management. On average, we found that certified managed forests harbor 50% more tree species than non-certified açaí groves. Trees in certified areas also have significantly higher mean basal area, meaning larger and hence older individuals are more likely to be protected. Certified harvesting sites also harbor dense populations of threatened species as classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (e.g. Virola surinamensis, classified as ‘endangered’). Besides increasing the knowledge of plant diversity in açaí managed areas, we present baseline information for monitoring the impact of harvesting activities in natural ecosystems in Amazonia.

Marked Differences in Butterfly Assemblage Composition between Forest Types in Central Amazonia, Brazil

Amazonia comprises a mosaic of contrasting habitats, with wide environmental heterogeneity at local and regional scales. In central Amazonia, upland forest (terra firme) is the predominant forest type and seasonally flooded forests inundated by white- and black-water rivers (várzea and igapó, respectively) represent around 20% of the forested areas. In this work, we took advantage of a natural spatial arrangement of the main vegetation types in central Amazonia to investigate butterfly assemblage structure in terra firme, várzea and igapó forests at the local scale. We sampled in the low- and high-water seasons, combining active and passive sampling with traps placed in both the understory and canopy. Terra firme supported the highest number of butterfly species, whereas várzea forest provided the highest number of butterfly captures. The high species richness in terra firme may reflect that this forest type is floristically richer than várzea and igapó. Várzea is a very productive environment and may thus support a higher number of butterfly individuals than terra firme and igapó. Most butterfly species (80.2%) were unique to a single forest type and 17 can be considered forest type indicator species in this landscape. Floodplain forest environments are therefore an important complement to terra firme in terms of butterfly species richness and conservation in Amazonia.

Land-Use System and Forest Floor Explain Prokaryotic Metacommunity Structuring and Spatial Turnover in Amazonian Forest-to-Pasture Conversion Areas.

Advancing extensive cattle production is a major threat to biodiversity conservation in Amazonia. The dominant vegetation cover has a drastic impact on soil microbial communities, affecting their composition, structure, and ecological services. Herein, we explored relationships between land-use, soil types, and forest floor compartments on the prokaryotic metacommunity structuring in Western Amazonia. Soil samples were taken in sites under high anthropogenic pressure and distributed along a ±800 km gradient. Additionally, the litter and a root layer, characteristic of the forest environment, were sampled. DNA was extracted, and metacommunity composition and structure were assessed through 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Prokaryotic metacommunities in the bulk soil were strongly affected by pH, base and aluminum saturation, Ca + Mg concentration, the sum of bases, and silt percentage, due to land-use management and natural differences among the soil types. Higher alpha, beta, and gamma diversities were observed in sites with higher soil pH and fertility, such as pasture soils or fertile soils of the state of Acre. When taking litter and root layer communities into account, the beta diversity was significantly higher in the forest floor than in pasture bulk soil for all study regions. Our results show that the forest floor’s prokaryotic metacommunity performs a spatial turnover hitherto underestimated to the regional scale of diversity.

Widespread Use of Traditional Techniques by Local People for Hunting the Yellow-Footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulatus) Across the Amazon

Understanding the repertoire of hunting techniques used by traditional peoples in tropical forests is crucial for recognizing the role of traditional knowledge in hunting activities, as well as assessing the impact of harvests on game species. We describe the hunting techniques used across Amazonia by Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples for hunting yellow-footed tortoises ( Chelonoidis denticulatus), one of the most consumed species in the biome. We interviewed 178 local people in 25 communities living in seven study areas in the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon. We used a Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) and Analysis of Similarity (ANOSIM) to compare the hunting techniques between ethnic groups and the ages of the interviewees. Four different techniques were reported: (1) trapping with bait (46%; n = 122); (2) hunting with dogs (35%; n = 92); (3) active searching (14 %; n = 37); and (4) visiting fruiting trees (5%; n = 14). Trapping with bait was alleged to be the most cost-effective technique by 67% of the interviewees. Among the baits used, 93% involved the use of wild species as rotten meat. Hunting with dogs was also frequently cited and involved eight different methods of training. The hunting techniques recorded were not significantly different among ethnic groups or generations. The consonance among the technique repertoire likely reflects a shared knowledge still in use across different cultural groups. There is a potential for applying the hunting techniques to large scale community-based monitoring and management programs, but the impact on additional species affected, such as species intentionally captured to be used as bait, should be considered. Local assessments and community-based management plans that incorporate traditional ecological knowledge are recommended to guarantee the maintenance of livelihoods and ensure the species' conservation in Amazonia.

Swidden fallow management to increase landscape-level Brazil nut productivity

Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl.) is considered the cornerstone non-timber species of Amazonian conservation. Nuts (or seeds) of this massive tree are harvested by local people living in and near old growth forests, supporting local livelihoods and regional economies. Secondary forests, however, particularly plots previously used for agriculture (swidden fallows), present better B. excelsa seedling and sapling recruitment than mature forest. This study examines the extent to which forest residents could increase nut productivity by allowing their fallows to grow into Brazil nut rich forests. We conducted B. excelsa inventories in the Brazilian state of Acre in abandoned swidden fallows of different ages. We also conducted interviews to determine landowner perspectives on the fallow potential for increasing nut production. An individual-based model, based on in-situ inventories and primary and secondary datasets from prior fieldwork, simulated growth, survivorship and production from the 250 inventoried trees in 18 fallows of varying sizes (from 0.41 to 4.18 ha) and different regrowth stages (12 to 60 years old). These simulation model predictions showed that after 10 years, 2.4% of existing trees would be productive, with an average of 68.6 ± 21.5 fruits per reproductively mature tree in the four fallows that most quickly yielded productive trees. By the final projected time interval (40 years), predictions suggest all fallows will produce fruits with cumulative production averaging 1475 ± 359 fruits ha−1, suggesting an increase in landowner income of US$55.1 ± 13.4 per hectare of fallow. Our simulation model is the first to explore fruit productivity of Brazil nut in secondary forest. It likely underpredicts B. excelsa growth and nut production, considering that swidden fallows provide better resource availability than the forest-derived datasets we used to construct the model equations. In conclusion, our findings support previous research that suggests that higher B. excelsa recruitment rates observed in abandoned swidden fallows could indeed translate into greater adult densities and thus potentially, higher nut production – a conclusion mirrored by most participant landowners.

The Brazilian development agenda driving Amazon devastation

The Brazilian development agenda driving Amazon devastation

Long-term population monitoring of the threatened and endemic black-headed squirrel monkey (Saimiri vanzolinii) shows the importance of protected areas for primate conservation in Amazonia.

Population monitoring of endangered species is essential to the improvement of their management and conservation plans. The black-headed squirrel monkey (Saimiri vanzolinii) is a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List and has extreme geographical endemism, exhibiting the smallest known distribution among Neotropical primates (ca. 870 km2 ), over 90% of which occurs in white-water flooded forests within the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve (MSDR), Brazilian Amazonia. To assess the effectiveness of this protected area in conserving the species, we conducted population monitoring of black-headed squirrel monkeys across five consecutive years (2009-2013) on nine trails 2 km each. Each year samples included both low and high river water periods. We used the distance sampling method, recording the distance to each observed social group as well as counting component individuals. We also calculated annual encounter rates based on the number of individuals sighted every 10 km traveled. Densities ranged from 256 individuals/km2 (2011) to 453 individuals/km2 (2013), and no seasonal differences were detected. Population size was estimated to be 147,848 mature individuals. Encounter rates ranged from 100 individuals/10 km (2010) to 179 individuals/10 km (2013); no significant difference among years was found. We found that S. vanzolinii populations remained stable throughout the years, which indicates that the MSDR has been playing an essential role on protecting this species. Due to difficulties of fulfilling assumptions of the distance sampling method, we consider the encounter rate analysis to be more effective for monitoring this and other Saimiri species. Given the critical endemism and worrying conservation status of S. vanzolinii, we suggest that monitoring of the species population should be carried out regularly.

Science in support of Amazonian conservation in the 21st century: the case of Brazil

AbstractThis article presents a 21st Century agenda for Amazonian conservation. The agenda calls for developing a system of refugia and a scientific methodology for predicting impacts of the infrastructure development vision for the region. It also calls for a collaborative approach to conservation planning, in the interest of fruitful engagement with decision‐makers and stakeholders. The ideas explored here emerged from the collaboration of peers over a decade, which culminated in a panel presentation, Scientific Analysis, and Simulation Models to Support Conservation and Development Decision‐Making, at the Tools and Strategies Workshop held at the University of Florida in October, 2017.

Quantifying and understanding land cover changes by large and small oil palm expansion regimes in the Peruvian Amazon

With rapid increases in global food demand and production, oil palm expansion constitutes a major emerging challenge for forest conservation in Amazonia and other tropical forest regions. This threat is evident in the Peruvian Amazon, where local and national incentives for oil palm cultivation along with growing large-scale investments translate into accelerated oil palm expansion. Environmental sustainability of oil palm cultivation in the Peruvian Amazon is contingent on policy incentives for expansion onto already-cleared lands instead of biodiverse, high carbon primary rainforests. Previous research indicates that while industrial plantations use less land area than local smallholders, companies have a higher tendency to expand into primary rainforests. However, the motivations behind these differing expansion scenarios remain unclear. In this study we combine data from optical and radar satellite sensors with training information, field discussions, and review of public documents to examine the policy incentives and spatial patterns associated with oil palm expansion by smallholders and industries in one of Peru’s most rapidly changing Amazonian landscapes: the Ucayali region of the city of Pucallpa. Based on our satellite-based land cover change analysis, we found that between 2010 and 2016, smallholders utilized 21,070 ha more land area for oil palm than industries but industrial expansion occurred predominantly in old growth forests (70%) in contrast to degraded lands for smallholders (56%). Our analysis of national policies related to oil palm expansion reveal policy loopholes associated with Peru’s “best land use” classification system that allow for standing forests to undergo large-scale agricultural development with little government oversight. We conclude that both sectors will need careful, real-time monitoring and government engagement to reduce old-growth forest loss and develop successful strategies for mitigating future environmental impacts of oil palm expansion.

De la conservation en Amazonie : norme environnementale et démocratie territoriale à l’heure du « Faire mieux avec moins ». La Guyane française et l’État brésilien de l’Amapa entre tensions et normalisations

En Amazonie, la conservation de la nature s’oriente vers le gouvernement des hommes : au nom de la biodiversite, on encadre des populations marginalisees sur des territoires peripheriques. Initialement concues comme des outils d’interdiction, les aires protegees accompagnent aujourd’hui la decentralisation. Leurs nouvelles missions de democratie locale et de developpement economique participent d’une evolution globalisee de l’administration publique, depuis une logique de « souverainete » vers un registre de « gouvernementalite ».Par la comparaison franco-bresilienne des processus de reforme de l’Etat, cette these expose dans un premier temps comment la norme environnementale, conferant une force scientifique aux principes de diversite et de subsidiarite, incite la « recomposition liberale » d’Etats historiquement centralises. Actualisant un mythe de self-government, l’Environnement dessine un nouveau « contrat social » : un projet de gouvernance morale, territorialisee, contrebalancant les inegalites par la federation communautaire. Dans un second temps, l’etude historique de vastes aires protegees montre comment la conservation appuie le redeploiement etatique. En Amapa et en Guyane francaise, elle succede aux strategies regaliennes de maintien sur une Amazonie eloignee, alternant tutelle paternaliste et delegation aux elites locales. Sur ces territoires « anormaux », ou les ressources naturelles structurent de forts interets economiques, les institutions de conservation tentent de reconcilier differentes legitimites. Rassemblant communautes locales, responsables publics et acteurs economiques, leurs gestionnaires animent des espaces de gouvernance qui accompagnent l’autonomisation regionale. Ces arenes de concertation cherchent a contenir le developpement des ecarts sociaux et politiques en creant de nouvelles mobilites sur les territoires. Enfin, l’ethnographie comparee des jeux d’acteurs, des techniques d’enrolement et des conflits emergeant, montre la nature securitaire de ces dispositifs pour les Etats centraux. La protection de l’Environnement justifie un mode de gouvernement frugal, multipliant les contre-pouvoirs et l’enchâssement des surveillances entre acteurs d’un meme espace. En incitant l’emergence d’une « societe civile » dans des arriere-pays sous-administres, elle cree de nouvelles concurrences et diffuse une rationalite manageriale de responsabilisation. Si l’analyse des subjectivations revele que ces « coercitions souples » contraignent les forces politico-economiques a ajuster leurs strategies, elle montre aussi la difficulte de ces dispositifs a satisfaire la « demande d’Etat » venue des populations. La comparabilite des experiences guyanaises et amapaenses interroge alors l’evolution du « modele francais », de plus en plus dependant d’une « citoyennete proactive », que seules les portions privilegiees des territoires voient emerger.

Forest Resource-based Household Economy in the Communities of the Nanay River Basin, Peruvian Amazonia

Resource use in rural communities is an important factor affecting local livelihoods and forest conservation in Amazonia. In this paper, we estimate the income obtained from roundwood and irapay palm (Lepidocaryum tenue Mart.) fronds by 79 households living in three Amazonian rural communities where harvest and trade of forest products is the main economic activity. These communities are found in the upper, mid-upper and mid-lower Nanay River Basin (northeastern Peru). We analyze data from a survey of these households conducted in 2009–2010. Results show that both work time and forest income are the highest in the upper Basin, the area furthest from the main urban market in the region, Iquitos. The highest forest income per hour worked, however, is found in the mid-upper Basin. The estimated incomes are equivalent to a low-to-mid level salary in Iquitos, suggesting that the economic incentive is not high enough for these rural households to move to an urban area. Our findings also indicate that the most remote community may be more vulnerable to resource access regulation changes.

Geographic trends and information deficits in Amazonian conservation research

Amazonia has an iconic status in global conservation due to its enormous area and vast stores of biodiversity. Nevertheless, much of its biodiversity remains unknown, and many of the region’s forests are under threat of habitat loss due to deforestation and climatic instability. Based on the assumption that effective management and conservation of forest resources should be supported by geographically localized scientific knowledge, we mapped the spatial and temporal distribution of Amazonian conservation research and compared it to areas under threat from deforestation or with a high probability of climate change induced savannization/transition to seasonal forest. Specifically, we created a database of 4019 spatial coordinates of research sites collated from 857 conservation science research articles retrieved from Scopus. Research sites tend to cluster along major rivers and urban areas and new research sites tend to be located near existing sites. Information deficits are particularly acute in the south and southeast regions within the so called ‘arc of deforestation’. Areas at risk of ecosystem transition due to climate instability are generally well studied with the exception of a large area of southwest Amazonia that has a high risk of savannization. Our results suggest that a more systematic approach to Amazonian conservation research is required, specifically targeting those areas most under threat from anthropogenic environmental change.

Step selection techniques uncover the environmental predictors of space use patterns in flocks of Amazonian birds.

Understanding the behavioral decisions behind animal movement and space use patterns is a key challenge for behavioral ecology. Tools to quantify these patterns from movement and animal–habitat interactions are vital for transforming ecology into a predictive science. This is particularly important in environments undergoing rapid anthropogenic changes, such as the Amazon rainforest, where animals face novel landscapes. Insectivorous bird flocks are key elements of avian biodiversity in the Amazonian ecosystem. Therefore, disentangling and quantifying the drivers behind their movement and space use patterns is of great importance for Amazonian conservation. We use a step selection function (SSF) approach to uncover environmental drivers behind movement choices. This is used to construct a mechanistic model, from which we derive predicted utilization distributions (home ranges) of flocks. We show that movement decisions are significantly influenced by canopy height and topography, but depletion and renewal of resources do not appear to affect movement significantly. We quantify the magnitude of these effects and demonstrate that they are helpful for understanding various heterogeneous aspects of space use. We compare our results to recent analytic derivations of space use, demonstrating that the analytic approximation is only accurate when assuming that there is no persistence in the animals' movement. Our model can be translated into other environments or hypothetical scenarios, such as those given by proposed future anthropogenic actions, to make predictions of spatial patterns in bird flocks. Furthermore, our approach is quite general, so could potentially be used to understand the drivers of movement and spatial patterns for a wide variety of animal communities.