Transamazon Highway Research Articles

Colonist Household Decisionmaking and Land-Use Change in the Amazon Rainforest: An Agent-Based Simulation

An agent-based model was developed as a tool designed to explore our understanding of spatial, social, and environmental issues related to land-use/cover change. The model focuses on a study site in a region of the Amazon frontier, characterized by the development of family farms on 100-ha lots arranged along the Transamazon highway and a series of side roads, west of Altamira, Brazil. The model simulates the land-use behaviour of farming households on the basis of a heuristic decisionmaking strategy that utilizes burn quality, subsistence requirements, household characteristics, and soil quality as key factors in the decisionmaking process. Farming households interact through a local labour pool. The effects of the land-use decisions made by households affect the land cover of their plots and ultimately that of the region. This paper describes this model, referred to as LUCITA, and presents preliminary results showing land-cover changes that compare well with observed land-use and land-cover changes in the region.

A BEHAVIORAL MODEL OF LANDSCAPE CHANGE IN THE AMAZON BASIN: THE COLONIST CASE

This paper presents the prototype of a predictive model capable of describing both magnitudes of deforestation and its spatial articulation into patterns of forest fragmentation. In a departure from other landscape models, it establishes an explicit behavioral foundation for algorithm development, predicated on notions of the peasant economy and on household production theory. It takes a “bottom‐up” approach, generating the process of land‐cover change occurring at lot level together with the geography of a transportation system to describe regional landscape change. In other words, it translates the decentralized decisions of individual households into a collective, spatial impact. In so doing, the model unites the richness of survey research on farm households with the analytical rigor of spatial analysis enabled by geographic information systems (GIS). The paper describes earlier efforts at spatial modeling, provides a critique of the so‐called spatially explicit model, and elaborates a behavioral foundation by considering farm practices of colonists in the Amazon basin. It then uses insight from the behavioral statement to motivate a GIS‐based model architecture. The model is implemented for a long‐standing colonization frontier in the eastern sector of the basin, along the Trans‐Amazon Highway in the State of Pará, Brazil. Results are subjected to both sensitivity analysis and error assessment, and suggestions are made about how the model could be improved.

Ciclo de vida da família e desmatamento na Amazônia: combinando informações de sensoriamento remoto com dados primários

Este artigo examina as relações entre as características sociodemográficas das famílias de pequenos produtores na Amazônia e a hipótese do ciclo de vida no processo de tomada de decisão de desmatar. A análise foi conduzida combinando informações de sensoriamento remoto e de sistema de informações geográficas com dados primários de 153 pequenos produtores estabelecidos ao longo da rodovia Transamazônica. Análises de regressões foram efetuadas juntamente com testes de autocorrelação espacial. Os resultados levaram à conclusão de que as características sociodemográficas das famílias, bem como fatores institucionais e de mercado, influenciam a tomada de decisão de uso da terra. Esses resultados permitem concluir ainda que, apesar de não serem muito populares entre os cientistas sociais brasileiros, os dados obtidos através das imagens de satélite podem ser muito úteis neste tipo de estudo. Além disso, a pesquisa aqui apresentada indica que dados sociodemográficos da família, bem como os de mercado, podem resultar em problemas de má especificação do modelo. O mesmo se aplica a modelos que não incorporem análises espaciais.

Social Determinants and Land Use Correlates of Agricultural Technology Adoption in a Forest Frontier: A Case Study in the Brazilian Amazon

Despite new research on agricultural intensification, we still have limited knowledge of the determinants of technology adoption in low-density, limitedmarket regions, particularly in humid tropical forests. This lacuna has led to divergent opinions about the impacts of intensification on land use in the Brazilian Amazon, well-known for deforestation of fragile tropical ecosystems. This paper takes up the case of the Amazon to address two questions concerning the adoption of agricultural technologies: 1) what are its social determinants, and 2) what are its land use correlates. Empirical data come from a recent survey of smallholders along the Transamazon highway. The first part of the analysis, consisting of models of eight agricultural technologies, shows that households with more labor and capital are more likely to adopt technologies. The second part shows that for all technologies, adopters have more land cleared than do non-adopters. These findings raise questions for further research on intensification while also suggesting policy prescriptions to mitigate deforestation.

Land Use and Land Cover Change in Forest Frontiers: The Role of Household Life Cycles

Tropical deforestation remains a critical issue given its present rate and a widespread consensus regarding its implications for the global carbon cycle and biodiversity. Nowhere is the problem more pronounced than in the Amazon basin, home to the world’s largest intact, tropical forest. This article addresses land cover change processes at household level in the Amazon basin, and to this end adapts a concept of domestic life cycle to the current institutional environment of tropical frontiers. In particular, it poses a risk minimization model that integrates demography with market-based factors such as transportation costs and accessibility. In essence, the article merges the theory of Chayanov with the household economy framework, in which markets exist for inputs (including labor), outputs, and capital. The risk model is specified and estimated, using survey data for 261 small producers along the Transamazon Highway in the eastern sector of the Brazilian Amazon.

A dynamic model of household decision-making and parcel level landcover change in the eastern Amazon

The region around Altamira, Brazil, located in the Eastern Amazon, has experienced rapid landcover change since the initiation of government sponsored colonization projects associated with the construction of the Trans-Amazon Highway. The 30 years since colonization (1971) have been marked by a net loss of forest cover and an increase in the amount of cultivated/productive land, particularly for pasture and annual/perennial crop production. This research presents a parcel-level model of landcover change for smallholders in the Altamira study area. The utility of specific land-use activities is calculated to identify those land-uses that are most optimal at each time point, and labor is allocated to these activities based on the availability of household and wage labor. The model reports the proportion of the parcel in the following landcover classes at each time point using a 1-year interval: mature forest, secondary successional forest, perennial crops, annual crops and pasture. A graphical user interface is used for scenario testing, such as the impact of high/low (population) fertility, the increase of out-migration to urban areas, or changes in cattle and crop prices. The model shows a rapid reduction in the amount of mature forest in the 30 years following initial settlement, after which the parcel is composed of a mosaic of secondary succession, pasture and crops. The nature and rapidity of this landcover change is the function of a variety of household and external variables incorporated in the model. In particular, the model produces different landcover compositions as a function of demographic rates (fertility, mortality) and agricultural prices.

Epidemiologic study of bovine and human leptospirosis in eastern Brazilian Amazon

The seroprevalence study for leptospirosis in bovines and humans was realized in family holder farms along the Transamazon Highway. The prevalence of bovine leptospirosis was 97% [90.9 - 99.5%] of farms with at least one positive animal according to microscopic agglutination test for the leptospirosis diagnostic. In 61.2% of the tested herds, the serovar hardjo was the most common, followed by the serovar bratislava (9%) and the serovar shermani (4.5%). The serologic prevalence of leptospirosis in humans was 32.8% [23.4 - 43.5%] in family groups with at least one positive individual according to microscopic agglutination test for the leptospirosis diagnostic. In 9% of family groups, the serovar bratislava was the most common, while serovar hardjo and grippotyphosa accounted for 6% and 4.5%, respectively. The impact of these results is discussed in relation to animal production and public health. Suggestions have been proposed in order to improve the situation in the region.

From Sustainable Development to “Productive Conservation:” Forest Conservation Options and Agricultural Income and Assets in the Brazilian Amazon*

Abstract This paper assesses arguments for the “productive conservation” thesis, which contends that family farming in tropical regions such as the Amazon can generate significant income and assets while maintaining forest cover. Data come from a 1996 survey of households in Uruará, a community along the Transamazon highway in Brazil. A descriptive analysis shows that households engaged in intensification, diversification, and forestry, proposed as important methods for forest conservation, and that they earned U.S.$1,600 from agricultural production and owned properties worth U.S.$16,500. A multivariate analysis shows that components of small farm systems associated with forest conservation made significant contributions to agricultural incomes and property values. I suggest that productive conservation requires community action which fosters ties with outside institutions while educating producers.

Hydroelectric Development and Road Paving in Brazil's Transamazon Area

There are renewed signs that the Brazilian government has retaken the path of large-scale development in the Amazon and that the strategy has been defined with practically no input from society. Among many other development projects for the region, the federal government recently announced two new projects that will profoundly affect the Transamazon Highway area around the town of Altamira. One of the projects is the development of a major hydroelectric power plant on the Xingú River (Belo Monte) and the other is the paving of the Transamazon between the towns of Marabá and Altamira in eastern Amazonia. The evidence suggests that although these projects are not outright environmental disasters, they will have considerable environmental and social consequences for the area. In addition, the decision-making process that has brought about these projects was practically devoid of public participation.

Respostas do cacaueiro à aplicação de N, P e K em dois solos da Amazônia Brasileira

A cacauicultura da Amazônia está implantada em solos eutróficos, com predominância da Terra Roxa Estruturada, e em Latossolos ou Podzólicos distróficos, sendo desconhecidas as limitações nutricionais desses solos na fase produtiva do cacaueiro. As respostas do cacaueiro à aplicação de N, P e K foram determinadas em dois experimentos instalados nos municípios de Medicilândia, ao longo da Rodovia Transamazônica, e Benevides, Pará, em solos das unidades Terra Roxa Estrutura eutrófica (TR) e Latossolo Amarelo (LA), respectivamente. As lavouras de cacau do híbrido Sca 6 x Be 10 foram implantadas após o corte e queima da mata primária, utilizando-se, como esquema experimental, um fatorial NPK 2³ com tratamentos adicionais de P. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que o P foi o principal nutriente que limitou a produção, provocando incrementos de produtividade (P < 0,01) da ordem de 13,7% (110 kg ha-1) e 44,3% (214 kg ha-1) nos solos TR e LA, respectivamente, na média do período 1987 a 1993. O K também aumentou (P < 0,01) o rendimento de amêndoas secas de cacau no solo LA, verificando-se, ainda, interações significativas (P < 0,05) entre N x K e P x K neste solo. A resposta linear do cacaueiro ao P e o aumento ou diminuição da taxa de infecção de vassoura-de-bruxa ao N, P e K evidenciam a necessidade de novas pesquisas para definir a dosagem econômica de P, de K e o efeito da interação dos nutrientes com a enfermidade.

After the Trees: Living on the Transamazon Highway

After the Trees: Living on the Transamazon Highway

After the Trees: Living on the Transamazon Highway.

When construction of Transamazon Highway was proposed in 1970, Brazilian media depicted a road stretching out through a flat expanse of mature forests, its surface paved with glittering stones and precious metals - purported riches of Amazon yet to be discovered. But, as Douglas Stewart found while traveling highway in 1989, the forest deceives. The 1,000-kilometer trip from Belem to Altamira took days, six buses, three boats, and a ten-hour hitch with a truck driver named Eduardo. This lively, readable study explores why colonzation of Amazon fell, short of planners' vision. Delving into issues of land distribution, soil ecology, and colonists' adaptation to local ecosystems, Stewart uncovers forces that drive deforestation. In particular, he shows how soil quality and concentration of land among large landholders have shaped entire landscape of colonized Amazonia, encouraging spread of cattle ranching into many infertile areas and causing destruction of forest's rich diversity of plant and animal species. Recounting fascinating stories of colonists he encountered in his travels, Stewart also shows how small farmers have banded together during past decade to overcome challenges of frontier, from poor roads to low prices for agricultural goods. Their collective action, he asserts, backed by government policy, could lead to progressive land redistribution and wiser use. This broad-ranging look at why deforestation has occurred in Amazon, what its consequences are, and what can be done to halt and remedy process should be read by everyone concerned with preserving Latin American environment. AsDouglas Stewart concludes, if I'm lucky, mine may become one of those little books that makes good because it takes a simple idea and puts it into practice.

Restoration of vegetation cover in the eastern Amazon

Development activities in Altamira, Pará, Brazil began with the construction of the Transamazon Highway in 1970. In the early years land use emphasized annual crops, followed by pasture development. During the second decade of settlement, land cover in the region shifted from ‘degraded pastures’ or early stages of secondary successional vegetation to increased dominance of intermediate and late secondary succession. This finding is a result of recent research using Landsat TM satellite data and detailed field studies of vegetation stand structure. Close to 40% of the forest had been removed by 1985, but between 1985 and 1991 there is clear evidence for twice as much regrowth as there is new deforestation. Land use has a significant effect on the vegetation's total height, stem height, and basal area. The use of satellite data in combination with detailed studies of vegetation stand structure and land use histories gathered from households provide a multilevel approach that allows integration of local, regional, and global patterns of secondary succession in agricultural areas, and informs restoration strategies for Amazonia.

Book Reviews

Abstract The Colonizer's Model of the World: Geographical Diffusionism and Eurocentric History. James M. Blaut. Reviewed by André Gunder Frank Plundering Paradise: The Struggle for the Environment in the Philippines. Robin Broad with John Cavanagh Reviewed by Martin W. Lewis After the Trees: Living on the Transamazon Highway. Douglas Ian Stewart. Reviewed by Albert L. Rydant Southern Hunting in Black and White: Nature, History, and Ritual in a Carolina Community. Stuart A. Marks. Reviewed by Robert L. Janiskee Passing Strange and Wonderful: Aesthetics, Nature, and Culture. Yi-Fu Tuan. Reviewed by Peter Gould Landscapes of Fear. Perceptions of Nature and the City in the Middle Ages. Vito Fumagalli. Reviewed by David Nicholas Landscape and Power. W. J. T. Mitchell, ed. Reviewed by Jonathan M. Smith The Lost Frontier: Water Diversion in the Growth and Destruction of Owens Valley Agriculture. Robert A. Sauder. Reviewed by Marshall E. Bowen Three Frontiers: Family, Land, and Society in the American West, 1850–1900, and Utah People in the Nevada Desert: Homestead and Community on a Twentieth Century Farmers' Frontier. Dean L. May and Marshall E. Bowen. Reviewed by Robert A. Sauder Trade and Urban Development in Poland: An Economic Geography of Cracow, from Its Origins to 1795. F. W. Carter. Reviewed by Harold E. Gulley All Our People: Population Policy with a Human Face. Klaus M. Leisinger and Karin Schmitt. Reviewed by Robert P. Larkin The Environmental Impact of Railways. T. G. Carpenter. Reviewed by John T. Starr Integrated Public Lands Management: Principles and Applications to National Forests, Parks, Wildlife Refuges, and BLM Lands. John B. Loomis. Reviewed by Lary M. Dilsaver Acting on Ethics in City Planning. Elizabeth Howe. Reviewed by James M. Rubenstein Tourism in the Pacific Rim: Development, Impacts, and Markets. Colin Michael Hall. Reviewed by Judith Ann Moberg Progress in Tourism, Recreation and Hospitality Management, Volume 5. C. P. Cooper and A. Lockwood, eds. Reviewed by Klaus J. Meyer-Arendt The roots of Indian Geography: Search and Research. R. L. Singh and Rana P. B. Singh, eds. Reviewed by William A. Noble An Atlas of Vietnam. Vu Tu Lap and Christian Taillard Reviewed by Robert W. McColl Key Words: capitalismcolonialismdiffusionEurocentrismEuropean miracleenvironmental degradationgrassroots environmentalismPhilippinessustainable developmentAmazoniacollective actioncolonizationhuman-environment interactionhuntingNorth Carolinarural Southsocial classeswildlifeaestheticsculturenaturesensesenvironmentItalylandscapemedievalmentalitiesagricultureGreat Basinsettlementwater utilizationcommunity networksFar Westfrontier settlementhomesteadpioneer farmingvalue systemsCracowhistorical geographyPolandtradeurban growthdemographic transitionmodernizationpopulation growthpopulation policysustainable developmentenvironmental impacthigh speed raillandscape changerailwaystransport planningcost-benefit analysisfederal land managementpublic landsresource planningethicsplanningeconomic regionalisminbound tourismoutbound tourismsustainabilityvisitor yearshistory of geographyIndian geographyS. P. Chatterjeeatlascartographyelectronic atlasSoutheast AsiaVietnam

After the trees: living on the Transamazon Highway

After the trees: living on the Transamazon Highway

Book Review

Janet Carsten and Stephen Hugh-Jones, eds. About the House: Lévi- Strauss and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, xiv and 300 pp., biblio. and index, $64.95 (hardback), $18.95 (paperback). David C. Woodman. Strangers Among Us. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1995, xvi and 166 pp., $29.95 (clothbound). James S. Griffith. A Shared Space: Folklife in the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1995, xii and 207 pp., map, biblio. and index, $34.95 (hardback), $19.95 (paperback). Karl B. Raitz, editor. The Theater of Sport. Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press, 1995, xiv and 460 pp., references and index, $45.00 (hardbound), $19.95 (paperback). Peter J. Hugill. Upstate Arcadia: Landscape, Aesthetics, and the Triumph of Social Differentiation. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 1995, 210 pp., biblio. and index ($61.50 cloth, $24.95 paper). Douglas Ian Stewart. After the Trees: Living on the Transamazon Highway. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994, xv and 183 pp., bibliography and index, $30.00 (cloth), $12.95 (paper). Elizabeth Collins Cromley and Carter L. Hudgins, editors. Gender, Class, and Shelter: Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, V. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1995, xvi and 272 pp., biblio., $25.00 (paperbound). Richard C. Jones. Ambivalent Journey: U.S. Migration and Economic Mobility in North-Central Mexico. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1996, xiii and 164 pp., biblio. and index, $45 (clothbound). Jason Wilson. South and Central America, Including Mexico. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Passport Books, 1995, xii and 459 pp., maps and index, $17.95 (paper). Oona Strathern. Africa. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Passport Books, 1995, 524 pp., $24.95 (paper). Frank Lloyd Wright: The Phoenix Papers. Phoenix, Arizona: Herberger Center for Design Excellence, 1995, 2 vols., xii and 162 pp., appendix and index; 159 pp., appendix and index ($79.95 set). Helen Ingram, Nancy K. Laney and David M. Gillilan. Divided Waters: Bridging the U.S.-Mexico Border. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995, xiv and 262 pp., appendices, notes, biblio., index and list of authors, $35.00 (clothbound), $17.95 (paperbound). Allen G. Noble and Richard K. Cleek. The Old Barn Book: A Field Guide to North American Barns and Other Farm Structures. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1995, xii and 223 pp., biblio. and index, $29.95 (hardbound). Alice C. Andrews and James W. Fonseca. The Atlas of American Society. New York: New York University Press, 1995, ix and 301 pp., maps, graphs, tables, biblio. and index, $40.00 (cloth). Edward Patrick Hogan. The Geography of South Dakota. Sioux Falls, SD: The Center for Western Studies, Augustana College, 1995, x and 190 pp., biblio., and index, $20.00 (clothbound).

Modeling Effects of Land Management in the Brazilian Amazonian Settlement of Rondônia

The socioeconomic and ecological aspects of landuse change are interrelated, especially in the Brazilian Amazon, where immigrants are rapidly cutting the forest to establish farms. A computer simulation has been developed that projects land‐use changes, carbon release, and the time a family can remain on a farm lot as a function of initial soil and vegetation conditions, market and road infrastructure, and decision variables. The model simulates extremes of land‐use practices and typical land‐use conditions for central Rondônia, Brazil. Typical land‐use practices in Rondônia are based on published accounts of farmers’ activities. The most severe practices are defined based on extreme land management conditions along the Transamazon Highway. The best land‐use practices are innovative farming techniques that use a diversity of perennial crops. Model projections using the typical land‐use scenario produce changes in land cleared, carbon release, and farmer turnover rates representative of central Rondônia, based on interviews with 87 farmers. Results from both the model projections and the interview data show that farmers who have been on the lots a decade have cleared about half of the lot. The most striking result is the similarity in the typical and worst‐case scenarios over the 40‐year projection period in the percentage of land cleared and carbon released and in the number of families on the farm lots and abandoning the lots over time. Model results from the best‐case scenario compare well to the three farmers out of 87 interviewed who practice innovative farming. In both cases, farmers who have been on their land an average of eight years have deforested less than 20% of the lot. Spatial indices of fractal dimension and contagion are used to quantify the effects of the different land‐management practices. Changes in the fractal index over the 40 years of projected land management demonstrate the decrease in complexity as a forested region becomes dominated by agriculture for the typical and worst‐case scenarios. Low values of the contagion index indicates that a heterogeneous mix of land uses is retained with the best‐case scenario. These results suggest that crop diversity and nontraditional techniques provide both a social and environmental improvement over the other scenarios: the people are able to maintain themselves on the land, less carbon is released, and the land maintains a mix of habitat types. The model results illustrate that both social and environmental effects of land‐management practices need to be considered.

Spectral identification of successional stages following deforestation in the Amazon

Abstract Land use and land cover features of a 3,000 sq. km. area west of Altamira, State of Para, Brazil, along the Transamazon Highway was assessed using three dates of Landsat TM data acquired for late July/early August 1985, 2988, and 1991. These data, supplemented by field observations and interviews with land users conducted in 1992, permitted classification of nine features, including three of secondary succession (SS). The research emphasis focused on developing multitemporal field level information through remote sensing that could be used to help assess SS characteristics vital in understanding the area dynamics and processes. Research results indicate that multitemporal TM data can be used successfully to identify three SS land cover classes and their rates of change. Classification accuracy of the features of interest varied from 81 to 98 percent. Information developed from analysis of the classifications included delineation of several patterns of different speeds or rates of SS, rate and spa...

Forests or fields?: A response to the theory that tropical forest conservation poses a threat to the poor

A rebuttal is provided of David Wood's proposal to open up tropical forests to agricultural uses. Concern is raised that his proposal exaggerates the ability of forests to regenerate after agricultural uses, sacrifices tropical forests in the name of alleviating poverty and in support of large land owners, and prevents valuable potential resource use by local populations. There is misunderstanding by Wood of conservationists' postures and the cause of current deforestation. In Brazil, deforestation has occurred primarily for low productivity cattle pasture (62% of all private land in the Amazon region in ranches over 1000 hectares-ha). Only 11% of private Amazonian land was in farms of less than 100 ha; only 30% of this size farm area was involved in 1991 in deforestation, while 70% of deforestation took place on ranches over 100 ha. Mass migrations of Brazil's population from the northeast to the Transamazon Highway and from Parana to Rondonia were impelled by increasing concentration of land tenure in migrant areas, and not by population growth. The rate of deforestation has slowed due to the economic recession. A World Bank study indicates that redistributing unproductive large landholdings in northeastern Brazil would increase agricultural output by 80%. The agricultural productivity of tropic areas is not as assured; Wood's support is based on preliminary findings, which are being revised with more cautionary thinking. Wood also understates the maintenance of soil fertility with fertilizers. The issue of scale also affects the use of agroforestry and perennial crop plantations such as rubber and cacao, which can only absorb the production of small areas, due to marketing constraints and physical resource limitations. Conservationists have not effectively redirected World Bank efforts to protect environments and help the impoverished, as suggested by Wood. Forest recovery has been very slow in large cattle pastures, and would take thousands of years if the land is left undisturbed. Recovery even under traditional shifting cultivation schemes is slower than Wood recognizes. Wood's argument that deforestation is temporary is not sufficient to invalidate the claim for conservation now. Reallocation is really the same as land extensification; current practices in Brazil will not support large human populations. The solution is to develop environmental services and find other means to support rural populations in urban areas.

Deforestation and diversity of life zones in the Brazilian amazon: a map analysis

The diversity of Holdridge Life Zone types in the Brazilian Amazon region is studied to gain perspective on the consequences of deforestation. The study is based on a life zone map of Brazil by J.A. Tosi, Jr. at a scale of 1 : 10 000 000. The Amazon area of the map was digitized with a cell size of 50 km by 50 km. The resulting data base consists of 1789 cells from 17 life zones. Tropical moist forest covers 60% of the area followed by tropical premontane wet forest transition and tropical premontane moist forest transition at about 10% each. Each of the remaining 14 life zone types covers 3% or less of the total area. Loss of forest area in life zone types due to deforestation is simulated by removing cells from the data base. Different spatial patterns of deforestation are tested to assess their impact on life zone diversity. Deforestation along the Trans-Amazon Highway generated the least impact while deforestation along a frontier advancing from the south generated the most impact, in terms of loss life zone diversity. These results show that the relative loss rate of life zone forest types is dependent on where deforestation begins.