01. February 2018 – Jörg Matschullat
From February 26 to March 11, 2018, a fourth field campaign will take place. We unexpectedly received opportunity to start renaturation (reforestation) on pasture land near Boca do Acre. Saplings have been planted in late 2017. We shall document the site (drone-based orthophotography) and take some additional samples. In addition, re-sampling Làbrea is on the agenda, since it was inaccessible (inundations) a year ago.
20. April 2017 – Jörg Matschullat
Monday, June 05, 2017. A 1-day workshop presents key results of EcoRespira-Amazon. Everyone interested is welcome. Here is the preliminary programme:
08:30: Introduction and welcome notes
09:30: Characteristics and ecosystem services of the Amazon region
10:00: Meteorology and climatology of the Amazon basin
10:30: Coffee break
11:00: EcoRespira-Amazon: Project philosophy
11:30: EcoRespira-Amazon: Project methodology
12:00: Group discussion
12:30: Lunch break
14:00: Soil physics and implications
14:20: Soil humidity and pH
14:40: Soil chemistry and dynamics
15:10: Soil and ecosystem respiration
15:40: Coffee break
16:00: Biomass dynamics
16:30: The destination is important, not the trail to get there: A new model
17:00: Final group discussion
Please indicate your interest in participation to Dr. Cintia Rodrigues de Souza
We look forward to welcoming you in Manaus.
12. April 2017 – Jörg Matschullat
Blood, sweat and tears may be a bit of an exaggeration. Yet, we did shed blood to myriads of insects, this time including mosquitos, we sure did sweat it out daily, but I do not remember tears.
The last (so far) five weeks of tough fieldwork, more than 5000 kilometres by 4W vehicle and lots of rain. We likely experienced a rainy season that was much more normal than in 2016. Again, everything looked different in comparison to the previous campaign. Yet, we felt more familiar with all locations and sites. So much indeed that we miss many places that we will likely not see so quickly again.
It was sobering to see how at some locations, forest diminished further. At one site, where we had dense forest in phase 02 still, we were now installing rings and chamber systems on barren ground with a fair view to a far away horizon. For data and results, check the project pages in more detail. We keep updating as the processed material comes in.
At this point a big Thank You to the field crew with Julia Becher, Gilvan Coimbra Martins, Roberval Monteiro Bezzera de Lima, Sophie von Fromm and Kamal Zurba. You guys are great.
26. November 2016 – Jörg Matschullat