{"id":151214,"date":"2014-05-20T10:15:32","date_gmt":"2014-05-20T13:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=151214"},"modified":"2015-09-02T13:12:42","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T16:12:42","slug":"expensive-without-forests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/expensive-without-forests\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s more expensive without forests"},"content":{"rendered":"

of the FAPESP News Agency<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Amazon

EDUARDO CESAR<\/span>Amazon Forest: much of the carbon from the leaves, branches and sediment goes into the riversEDUARDO CESAR<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Deforestation of watershed vegetation alters the rainfall cycle, compromises the replenishment of underground aquifers and consequently reduces the water resources available to humans and is having a huge impact on the quality of the water itself, making the treatment required to turn it into potable water 100 times more expensive. The warning was delivered by researcher Jos\u00e9 Galizia Tundisi of the International Institute of Ecology (IIE) during a lecture presented at the third meeting of the 2014 Biota-FAPESP Education Conference Cycle held on April 24 in S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

In areas with well-protected riparian forest, also called gallery forest, contiguous to water flow, \u201cit is enough to add just a few drops of chlorine per liter to obtain good quality drinking water,\u201d said Tundisi. But in areas with damaged vegetation, such as the Lower Cotia system, the Cotia River watershed in the S\u00e3o Paulo metropolitan area, coagulants, pH correctors, fluorite, oxidants, disinfectants, algaecides and substances to remove taste and odor need to be added. \u201cThe entire filtration service provided by the forest needs to be replaced by an artificial system, and its cost exceeds R$2 to R$3 for every 1,000 cubic meters, for totals of R$200 to R$300. This amount needs to be added on to the costs of deforestation.\u201d<\/p>\n

When there is adequate plant cover in the watershed area that includes not only the riparian forest but also flooded areas and other areas of native vegetation, the rate of evapotranspiration, defined as the transfer of moisture from the earth to the atmosphere by evaporation of water and the transpiration of plants, is higher.\u00a0 Consequently, a larger amount of water returns to the atmosphere and encourages precipitation.\u00a0 Tundisi explained that in these cases, storm water runoff occurs more slowly, reducing the process of erosion. Some of the water is absorbed into the soil through trunks and roots that work like biofilters, replenishing the aquifers and ensuring the sustainability of the springs.<\/p>\n

The situation is just the opposite in bare soil.\u00a0 \u201cThe rainwater drainage process occurs much more quickly, and there is a considerable loss of soil surface, which ends up in the bodies of water. This suspended organic matter completely alters the chemical characteristics of the water, both on the surface and underground,\u201d Tundisi explained.\u00a0 The change in the chemical composition of the water is even more accentuated in the presence of cattle breeding or when fertilizers and pesticides are used along the banks of the rivers. There is then an increase in turbidity and in the concentration of nitrogen, phosphorous, heavy metals and other contaminants, which has a strong impact on the aquatic biota.\u00a0 Tundisi noted that in addition to ensuring water for human consumption, the aquatic ecosystems offer a series of other services of major economic significance, such as the generation of hydroelectricity, irrigation, transport (waterway), tourism, recreation and fishing.<\/p>\n

\"Jos\u00e9

Eduardo Cesar e L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>Jos\u00e9 Tundisi, Victoria Ballester e Humberto Rocha: warningsEduardo Cesar e L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Measuring the value of these ecosystem services is the goal of the project led by Tundisi, \u201cLong-term ecological research in the watershed of the Itaqueri and Lobo rivers and UHE Carlos Botelho Dame, Itirapina, SP, Brazil (PELD),\u201d with funding from FAPESP and from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).\u00a0 \u201cThey are strategic services that are essential to S\u00e3o Paulo State development. Their valuation is of fundamental importance in implementing green economy projects that emphasize the conservation of these structures of vegetation and flooded areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Carbon cycle
\n<\/b>In the Amazon, \u201cWe\u2019ve always believed that nearly all the atmosphere\u2019s carbon absorbed by the Amazon Forest remained in the soil, but we have demonstrated that a significant portion of it goes into the rivers in the form of leaves, branches and sediments,\u201d said researcher Maria Victoria Ramos Ballester of the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA) at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP) in her lecture.\u00a0 \u201cThis material is decomposed by microorganisms and returns to the atmosphere.\u201d According to her, river waters process nearly the same amount of carbon on the global level as that estimated for earth systems \u2013 approximately 2.8 petagrams (2.8 billion tons) per year.<\/p>\n

She described the FAPESP-funded studies that revealed the importance of the rivers in the carbon balance of the Amazon River basin, including the forest and soil.\u00a0 Some of the findings of these studies were published in an article that appeared in the journal Nature<\/i>.\u00a0 Studies by the group have demonstrated that the quantity of carbon in the waters of the central portion of the Amazon River basin was nearly 13 times higher than that discharged into the ocean.\u00a0 \u201cIsotopic composition analyses have shown that the carbon comes primarily from young plants, approximately 5 years old. It is quickly metabolized in the river and returns to the atmosphere. Carbon metabolism occurs even more quickly in small rivers,\u201d Ballester said.<\/p>\n

\"Cantareira,

Cantareira, northern zone of S\u00e3o Paulo: continuous battle between houses and vegetation<\/p><\/div>\n

However, the intense process of occupying the Amazon region and the resulting changes in the patterns of land use have altered nutrient cycling in the rivers, increasing the amount of carbon and reducing the dissolved oxygen, the researcher warned.\u00a0 \u201cThe increased amount of organic matter suspended in the water along with the greater penetration of light as a result of the removal of trees encourages the growth of a grass known as paspalum<\/i>, which increases oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) flow into the atmosphere,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The effects of the changes in river habitat on the biota were assessed in a study conducted under the scope of the thematic project, \u201cThe role of the Amazonian fluvial systems in regional and global carbon cycles: CO2 evasion and land-water interactions,\u201d led by researcher Reynaldo Luiz Victoria.\u00a0 The CENA group analyzed the nitrogen transfer and biodiversity of the fish from two interconnected basins in the state of Rond\u00f4nia, which both measured 800 meters and had the same physical conditions. One of the basins was surrounded by cattle pastures and the other by native forest.<\/p>\n

The researchers observed that the river whose vegetation coverage was modified had only one species of fish, whereas the river whose native forest was maintained had 35 species. There was also a significant difference in the diversity of invertebrate species observed.<\/p>\n

Imbalance
\n<\/b>The imbalance in access to abundant existing water resources in Brazil was the theme of the third and final lecture at the meeting, given by Humberto Ribeiro da Rocha from the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences (IAG\/USP).\u00a0 According to him, Brazilian rivers supply nearly 5,660 cubic kilometers of water per year (km3\/year), equivalent to 12% of the world\u2019s available water.\u00a0 Demand for water in Brazil is 74 km3\/year, less than 2% of the quantity supplied.<\/p>\n

\"Wetlands

Eduardo Cesar<\/span>Wetlands and riparian forests: essential for water supply to city residentsEduardo Cesar<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe real problem is the unequal distribution. Some regions, such as the Amazon, have a lot of water while others experience water shortages,\u201d said Rocha.\u00a0 While lack of rain is the problem in the Northeast and in northern Minas Gerais State, the researcher added that in the large urban centers of S\u00e3o Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre and Goi\u00e2nia, the problem is population density.<\/span> <\/b>\u201cThere are many problems involved in strengthening the supply systems that have to accompany population growth and the demands of industry and agriculture. Everything is already working at capacity, and when there is an extreme climate event such as the drought in S\u00e3o Paulo that occurred this past summer, there is a crisis with the supply,\u201d he said.<\/span> <\/b>The frequency of droughts and extreme climate events is expected to increase in the coming years as a result of climate change, and this will likely have a direct impact on the availability of water resources in Brazil\u2019s large urban centers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Biota Education
\n<\/b>The 2014 cycle of conferences organized by the Research Program on Characterization, Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Biodiversity of the state of S\u00e3o Paulo is focusing on ecosystem services. Two more meetings are scheduled for the first half of this year on the topics of \u201cBiodiversity and Climate Change,\u201d (related to the loss of biodiversity) and \u201cBiodiversity and Nutrient Cycling,\u201d (an example is the influence biodiversity has on pollution and the balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the atmosphere).\u00a0 The initiative aims at improving science education related to biodiversity.\u00a0 High school and university students and teachers as well as researchers are invited to participate.<\/p>\n

Scientific Article<\/em>
\n<\/span>MAYORGA, E.\u00a0et al<\/em>.\u00a0Young organic matter as a source of carbon dioxide outgassing from Amazonian rivers<\/a>.\u00a0Nature\u00a0<\/strong>n. 436, p. 538-41. 2005.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deforestation increases water treatment costs 100-fold","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[206,209,262],"coauthors":[735],"class_list":["post-151214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","tag-biodiversity","tag-biology","tag-sustainability"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151214\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151214"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=151214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}