Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Synergize Consortium

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.077

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Synergize Consortium

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

112 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%-18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3495-3504.e4
Number of pages	10
Journal	Current Biology
Volume	33
Issue number	16
Early online date	19 Jul 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.077
Publication status	Published - 21 Aug 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The Synergize Network was developed through funding from the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq) under the Brazilian Synthesis Centre on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Sinbiose) (grant CNPq/MCTIC 442354/2019-3 ). We also recognize support from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico (CNPq) for research grants in support of R.L.C. ( 151221/2021-9 ) and A.F.R. ( 150196/2020-2 ) and São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for grants in support of R.L.C. ( 2022/07381-9 ), A.F.R. ( 2019/24049-5 ), and M.R.M. ( 2021/11840-6 and 2022/12231-6 ). J.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council ARBOLES project NE/S011811/1 . F.M.F. thanks the University of Bristol (PolicyBristol, 1989427 ; Climate and Net Zero Impact Awards, 170839 ; and Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Rapid Research Funding, 2208557 ). E.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council ( NE/S01084X/1 ) for supporting her work and part of that of the data curation team. F.A.-M. acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 854248 . ForestPlots.net communication and data management support in Brazil since 2020 was made possible by ERC Starter Grant 758873 TreeMort and the Norwegian Research Council grant “Cascading consequences of hunting & fishing for ecosystem services in Amazonian Forest,” which supported O.L.P.’s contribution. Work to establish and sustain RAINFOR plots in Brazil has been supported by the European Research Council (advanced grant 291585 – T-FORCES), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation ( 1656 RAINFOR ), the European Union's Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Framework Programme ( EVK2-CT-1999-00023 – CARBONSINK-LBA , 283080 – GEOCARBON , and 282664 – AMAZALERT ), the Natural Environment Research Council ( NE/D005590/1 – TROBIT , NE/F005806/1 – AMAZONICA , and PPFOR E/M0022021/1 ), and the NERC/State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) consortium grants BIO-RED ( NE/N012542/1 and 2012/51872-5 ), ECOFOR ( NE/K016431/1 and 2012/51509-8 ), ARBOLES ( NE/S011811/1 ), and the Royal Society (Global Challenges Award FORAMA, ICA/R1/180100 ). Synergize Consortium members thank the following funders: CAPES-PROCAD 88887.200472/2018-00 , FAPESPA ICAAF 070/2020 , and FAPESP 2019/25478-7 ( BEX5528/13-5 , 383744/2015-6 , and 403811/2012-0 ). We acknowledge all the researchers and field assistants who helped with the data collection but are not within the authors. They are Ana Segalin de Andrade, Arlete Almeida, Atila Alves de Oliveira, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Carolina Toledo Garib Soriano, Charles Eugene Zartman, Cid Ferreira, Cintia Rodrigues De Souza, Claudinei Oliveira-Santos, Daniel Nepstad, David J. Mellow, Diego de Alcântara Pires, Dilce de Fátima Rossetti, Diogenes de Andrade Lima Filho, Eduardo Hase, Everton José Almeida, Flávia Rodrigues Barbosa, Francisca Dionizia de Almeida Matos, Francisco de Assis Esteves, Gabriel de Oliveira de Almeida, Gustavo Paiva Evangelista da Rocha, Haron Xaud, Iêda Leão do Amaral, Ileana A Acosta, Jennifer Balch, João Batista da Silva, Jocieli de Oliveira, Jorge Oliviera, José Ferreira Ramos, Juan Carlos Montero, Kallene Kharla Gonçalves da Silva, Kelly Liane da Silva Sampaio, Kelsy Ellen Vale da Silva, Lola da Costa, Lorena Rincón, Luana Fidelis da Silva, Lucas Lima da Silva, Luis Gustavo Canesi Ferreira, Márcia Cléia Vilela dos Santos, Márcia Patricia Nascimento Cidade, Márcio Hofmann, Margarita Maria Jaramillo, Maria Carmozina Araújo, Maria do Socorro, Mario Cohn-Haft, Mateus Junior Garcia de Oliveira, Michael Coe, Natalino Silva, Nelson Silva Pinto, Pedro Lisboa, Perseu da Silva Aparício, Priscila Madoka Ito, Raimunda Oliveira de Araújo, Ricardo Barbieri, Richard Bardgett, Richard Lucas, Rita Mesquita, Rodrigo Gravina Prates Junqueira, Rogerio Gribel, Terezinha Maria de Castro Della Lucia, Vilany Matilla Colares Carneiro, William Balee, and Wully Barreto da Silva.

Funding Information:
The Synergize Network was developed through funding from the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq) under the Brazilian Synthesis Centre on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Sinbiose) (grant CNPq/MCTIC 442354/2019-3). We also recognize support from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico (CNPq) for research grants in support of R.L.C. (151221/2021-9) and A.F.R. (150196/2020-2) and São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for grants in support of R.L.C. (2022/07381-9), A.F.R. (2019/24049-5), and M.R.M. (2021/11840-6 and 2022/12231-6). J.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council ARBOLES project NE/S011811/1. F.M.F. thanks the University of Bristol (PolicyBristol, 1989427; Climate and Net Zero Impact Awards, 170839; and Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Rapid Research Funding, 2208557). E.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/S01084X/1) for supporting her work and part of that of the data curation team. F.A.-M. acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 854248. ForestPlots.net communication and data management support in Brazil since 2020 was made possible by ERC Starter Grant 758873 TreeMort and the Norwegian Research Council grant “Cascading consequences of hunting & fishing for ecosystem services in Amazonian Forest,” which supported O.L.P.’s contribution. Work to establish and sustain RAINFOR plots in Brazil has been supported by the European Research Council (advanced grant 291585 – T-FORCES), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (1656 RAINFOR), the European Union's Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Framework Programme (EVK2-CT-1999-00023 – CARBONSINK-LBA, 283080 – GEOCARBON, and 282664 – AMAZALERT), the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/D005590/1 – TROBIT, NE/F005806/1 – AMAZONICA, and PPFOR E/M0022021/1), and the NERC/State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) consortium grants BIO-RED (NE/N012542/1 and 2012/51872-5), ECOFOR (NE/K016431/1 and 2012/51509-8), ARBOLES (NE/S011811/1), and the Royal Society (Global Challenges Award FORAMA, ICA/R1/180100). Synergize Consortium members thank the following funders: CAPES-PROCAD 88887.200472/2018-00, FAPESPA ICAAF 070/2020, and FAPESP 2019/25478-7 (BEX5528/13-5, 383744/2015-6, and 403811/2012-0). We acknowledge all the researchers and field assistants who helped with the data collection but are not within the authors. They are Ana Segalin de Andrade, Arlete Almeida, Atila Alves de Oliveira, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Carolina Toledo Garib Soriano, Charles Eugene Zartman, Cid Ferreira, Cintia Rodrigues De Souza, Claudinei Oliveira-Santos, Daniel Nepstad, David J. Mellow, Diego de Alcântara Pires, Dilce de Fátima Rossetti, Diogenes de Andrade Lima Filho, Eduardo Hase, Everton José Almeida, Flávia Rodrigues Barbosa, Francisca Dionizia de Almeida Matos, Francisco de Assis Esteves, Gabriel de Oliveira de Almeida, Gustavo Paiva Evangelista da Rocha, Haron Xaud, Iêda Leão do Amaral, Ileana A Acosta, Jennifer Balch, João Batista da Silva, Jocieli de Oliveira, Jorge Oliviera, José Ferreira Ramos, Juan Carlos Montero, Kallene Kharla Gonçalves da Silva, Kelly Liane da Silva Sampaio, Kelsy Ellen Vale da Silva, Lola da Costa, Lorena Rincón, Luana Fidelis da Silva, Lucas Lima da Silva, Luis Gustavo Canesi Ferreira, Márcia Cléia Vilela dos Santos, Márcia Patricia Nascimento Cidade, Márcio Hofmann, Margarita Maria Jaramillo, Maria Carmozina Araújo, Maria do Socorro, Mario Cohn-Haft, Mateus Junior Garcia de Oliveira, Michael Coe, Natalino Silva, Nelson Silva Pinto, Pedro Lisboa, Perseu da Silva Aparício, Priscila Madoka Ito, Raimunda Oliveira de Araújo, Ricardo Barbieri, Richard Bardgett, Richard Lucas, Rita Mesquita, Rodrigo Gravina Prates Junqueira, Rogerio Gribel, Terezinha Maria de Castro Della Lucia, Vilany Matilla Colares Carneiro, William Balee, and Wully Barreto da Silva. R.L.C. wrote the first draft; A.F.R. M.R.M. and J.B. edited the manuscript; J.B. supervised the work; R.L.C. F.M.F. F.A.-M. and L.S. performed the literature review; R.L.C. A.F.R. C.A.N. F.M.F. J.M. S. R.M. F.A.-M. and L.S. compiled the data; R.L.C. A.F.R. M.R.M. and J.B. designed the methodology; R.L.C. A.F.R. and M.R.M. performed the analysis and data visualization; R.L.C. A.F.R. J.B. F.M.F. M.R.M. R.M. F.A.-M. J. Shutt, C.A.N. F.E. J.M.S. L.S. F.B.B. L.J. J. Schietti, L.A. E.B. L.C. F.R.C.C. M.L.G. C.G.L. A.C.L. V.I. R.O.N. O.L.P. F.A.S. H.t.S. F.V.-d.-M. E.M.V. I.C.G.V. J.Z. and J.F. conceived the ideas; and J.F. F.M.F. F.V.-d.-M. A.C.L. C.G.L. E.B. J.B. L.C. F.R.C.C. I.C.G.V. O.L.P. L.A. J.Z. H.t.S. V.I. L.J. E.M.V. F.B.B. and F.A.S. obtained project funding. All authors contributed in the form of discussions, revisions, and suggestions and approved the final manuscript. The authors declare no competing interests. We support inclusive, diverse, and equitable conduct of research.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

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SDG 13 Climate Action
SDG 15 Life on Land

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Cite this

@article{7e24f669b2044335a6775cfe9ada3dfe,

title = "Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research",

abstract = "Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15\%-18\% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost.",

author = "Carvalho, \{Raquel L\} and Resende, \{Angelica F\} and Jos Barlow and Fran{\c c}a, \{Filipe M\} and Moura, \{Mario R\} and Rafaella Maciel and Fernanda Alves-Martins and Jack Shutt and Nunes, \{Cassio A\} and Fernando Elias and Silveira, \{Juliana M\} and Lis Stegmann and Baccaro, \{Fabricio B\} and Leandro Juen and Juliana Schietti and Luiz Arag{\~a}o and Erika Berenguer and Leandro Castello and Costa, \{Flavia R C\} and Guedes, \{Matheus L\} and Leal, \{Cecilia G\} and Lees, \{Alexander C\} and Victoria Isaac and Nascimento, \{Rodrigo O\} and Phillips, \{Oliver L\} and Schmidt, \{Fernando Augusto\} and \{Ter Steege\}, Hans and Fernando Vaz-de-Mello and Venticinque, \{Eduardo M\} and Vieira, \{Ima C{\'e}lia Guimar{\~a}es\} and \{Synergize Consortium\}",

note = "Funding Information: The Synergize Network was developed through funding from the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq) under the Brazilian Synthesis Centre on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Sinbiose) (grant CNPq/MCTIC 442354/2019-3 ). We also recognize support from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient{\'i}fico (CNPq) for research grants in support of R.L.C. ( 151221/2021-9 ) and A.F.R. ( 150196/2020-2 ) and S{\~a}o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for grants in support of R.L.C. ( 2022/07381-9 ), A.F.R. ( 2019/24049-5 ), and M.R.M. ( 2021/11840-6 and 2022/12231-6 ). J.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council ARBOLES project NE/S011811/1 . F.M.F. thanks the University of Bristol (PolicyBristol, 1989427 ; Climate and Net Zero Impact Awards, 170839 ; and Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Rapid Research Funding, 2208557 ). E.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council ( NE/S01084X/1 ) for supporting her work and part of that of the data curation team. F.A.-M. acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 854248 . ForestPlots.net communication and data management support in Brazil since 2020 was made possible by ERC Starter Grant 758873 TreeMort and the Norwegian Research Council grant “Cascading consequences of hunting \& fishing for ecosystem services in Amazonian Forest,” which supported O.L.P.{\textquoteright}s contribution. Work to establish and sustain RAINFOR plots in Brazil has been supported by the European Research Council (advanced grant 291585 – T-FORCES), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation ( 1656 RAINFOR ), the European Union's Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Framework Programme ( EVK2-CT-1999-00023 – CARBONSINK-LBA , 283080 – GEOCARBON , and 282664 – AMAZALERT ), the Natural Environment Research Council ( NE/D005590/1 – TROBIT , NE/F005806/1 – AMAZONICA , and PPFOR E/M0022021/1 ), and the NERC/State of S{\~a}o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) consortium grants BIO-RED ( NE/N012542/1 and 2012/51872-5 ), ECOFOR ( NE/K016431/1 and 2012/51509-8 ), ARBOLES ( NE/S011811/1 ), and the Royal Society (Global Challenges Award FORAMA, ICA/R1/180100 ). Synergize Consortium members thank the following funders: CAPES-PROCAD 88887.200472/2018-00 , FAPESPA ICAAF 070/2020 , and FAPESP 2019/25478-7 ( BEX5528/13-5 , 383744/2015-6 , and 403811/2012-0 ). We acknowledge all the researchers and field assistants who helped with the data collection but are not within the authors. They are Ana Segalin de Andrade, Arlete Almeida, Atila Alves de Oliveira, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Carolina Toledo Garib Soriano, Charles Eugene Zartman, Cid Ferreira, Cintia Rodrigues De Souza, Claudinei Oliveira-Santos, Daniel Nepstad, David J. Mellow, Diego de Alc{\^a}ntara Pires, Dilce de F{\'a}tima Rossetti, Diogenes de Andrade Lima Filho, Eduardo Hase, Everton Jos{\'e} Almeida, Fl{\'a}via Rodrigues Barbosa, Francisca Dionizia de Almeida Matos, Francisco de Assis Esteves, Gabriel de Oliveira de Almeida, Gustavo Paiva Evangelista da Rocha, Haron Xaud, I{\^e}da Le{\~a}o do Amaral, Ileana A Acosta, Jennifer Balch, Jo{\~a}o Batista da Silva, Jocieli de Oliveira, Jorge Oliviera, Jos{\'e} Ferreira Ramos, Juan Carlos Montero, Kallene Kharla Gon{\c c}alves da Silva, Kelly Liane da Silva Sampaio, Kelsy Ellen Vale da Silva, Lola da Costa, Lorena Rinc{\'o}n, Luana Fidelis da Silva, Lucas Lima da Silva, Luis Gustavo Canesi Ferreira, M{\'a}rcia Cl{\'e}ia Vilela dos Santos, M{\'a}rcia Patricia Nascimento Cidade, M{\'a}rcio Hofmann, Margarita Maria Jaramillo, Maria Carmozina Ara{\'u}jo, Maria do Socorro, Mario Cohn-Haft, Mateus Junior Garcia de Oliveira, Michael Coe, Natalino Silva, Nelson Silva Pinto, Pedro Lisboa, Perseu da Silva Apar{\'i}cio, Priscila Madoka Ito, Raimunda Oliveira de Ara{\'u}jo, Ricardo Barbieri, Richard Bardgett, Richard Lucas, Rita Mesquita, Rodrigo Gravina Prates Junqueira, Rogerio Gribel, Terezinha Maria de Castro Della Lucia, Vilany Matilla Colares Carneiro, William Balee, and Wully Barreto da Silva. Funding Information: The Synergize Network was developed through funding from the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq) under the Brazilian Synthesis Centre on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Sinbiose) (grant CNPq/MCTIC 442354/2019-3). We also recognize support from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient{\'i}fico (CNPq) for research grants in support of R.L.C. (151221/2021-9) and A.F.R. (150196/2020-2) and S{\~a}o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for grants in support of R.L.C. (2022/07381-9), A.F.R. (2019/24049-5), and M.R.M. (2021/11840-6 and 2022/12231-6). J.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council ARBOLES project NE/S011811/1. F.M.F. thanks the University of Bristol (PolicyBristol, 1989427; Climate and Net Zero Impact Awards, 170839; and Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Rapid Research Funding, 2208557). E.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/S01084X/1) for supporting her work and part of that of the data curation team. F.A.-M. acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 854248. ForestPlots.net communication and data management support in Brazil since 2020 was made possible by ERC Starter Grant 758873 TreeMort and the Norwegian Research Council grant “Cascading consequences of hunting \& fishing for ecosystem services in Amazonian Forest,” which supported O.L.P.{\textquoteright}s contribution. Work to establish and sustain RAINFOR plots in Brazil has been supported by the European Research Council (advanced grant 291585 – T-FORCES), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (1656 RAINFOR), the European Union's Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Framework Programme (EVK2-CT-1999-00023 – CARBONSINK-LBA, 283080 – GEOCARBON, and 282664 – AMAZALERT), the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/D005590/1 – TROBIT, NE/F005806/1 – AMAZONICA, and PPFOR E/M0022021/1), and the NERC/State of S{\~a}o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) consortium grants BIO-RED (NE/N012542/1 and 2012/51872-5), ECOFOR (NE/K016431/1 and 2012/51509-8), ARBOLES (NE/S011811/1), and the Royal Society (Global Challenges Award FORAMA, ICA/R1/180100). Synergize Consortium members thank the following funders: CAPES-PROCAD 88887.200472/2018-00, FAPESPA ICAAF 070/2020, and FAPESP 2019/25478-7 (BEX5528/13-5, 383744/2015-6, and 403811/2012-0). We acknowledge all the researchers and field assistants who helped with the data collection but are not within the authors. They are Ana Segalin de Andrade, Arlete Almeida, Atila Alves de Oliveira, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Carolina Toledo Garib Soriano, Charles Eugene Zartman, Cid Ferreira, Cintia Rodrigues De Souza, Claudinei Oliveira-Santos, Daniel Nepstad, David J. Mellow, Diego de Alc{\^a}ntara Pires, Dilce de F{\'a}tima Rossetti, Diogenes de Andrade Lima Filho, Eduardo Hase, Everton Jos{\'e} Almeida, Fl{\'a}via Rodrigues Barbosa, Francisca Dionizia de Almeida Matos, Francisco de Assis Esteves, Gabriel de Oliveira de Almeida, Gustavo Paiva Evangelista da Rocha, Haron Xaud, I{\^e}da Le{\~a}o do Amaral, Ileana A Acosta, Jennifer Balch, Jo{\~a}o Batista da Silva, Jocieli de Oliveira, Jorge Oliviera, Jos{\'e} Ferreira Ramos, Juan Carlos Montero, Kallene Kharla Gon{\c c}alves da Silva, Kelly Liane da Silva Sampaio, Kelsy Ellen Vale da Silva, Lola da Costa, Lorena Rinc{\'o}n, Luana Fidelis da Silva, Lucas Lima da Silva, Luis Gustavo Canesi Ferreira, M{\'a}rcia Cl{\'e}ia Vilela dos Santos, M{\'a}rcia Patricia Nascimento Cidade, M{\'a}rcio Hofmann, Margarita Maria Jaramillo, Maria Carmozina Ara{\'u}jo, Maria do Socorro, Mario Cohn-Haft, Mateus Junior Garcia de Oliveira, Michael Coe, Natalino Silva, Nelson Silva Pinto, Pedro Lisboa, Perseu da Silva Apar{\'i}cio, Priscila Madoka Ito, Raimunda Oliveira de Ara{\'u}jo, Ricardo Barbieri, Richard Bardgett, Richard Lucas, Rita Mesquita, Rodrigo Gravina Prates Junqueira, Rogerio Gribel, Terezinha Maria de Castro Della Lucia, Vilany Matilla Colares Carneiro, William Balee, and Wully Barreto da Silva. R.L.C. wrote the first draft; A.F.R. M.R.M. and J.B. edited the manuscript; J.B. supervised the work; R.L.C. F.M.F. F.A.-M. and L.S. performed the literature review; R.L.C. A.F.R. C.A.N. F.M.F. J.M. S. R.M. F.A.-M. and L.S. compiled the data; R.L.C. A.F.R. M.R.M. and J.B. designed the methodology; R.L.C. A.F.R. and M.R.M. performed the analysis and data visualization; R.L.C. A.F.R. J.B. F.M.F. M.R.M. R.M. F.A.-M. J. Shutt, C.A.N. F.E. J.M.S. L.S. F.B.B. L.J. J. Schietti, L.A. E.B. L.C. F.R.C.C. M.L.G. C.G.L. A.C.L. V.I. R.O.N. O.L.P. F.A.S. H.t.S. F.V.-d.-M. E.M.V. I.C.G.V. J.Z. and J.F. conceived the ideas; and J.F. F.M.F. F.V.-d.-M. A.C.L. C.G.L. E.B. J.B. L.C. F.R.C.C. I.C.G.V. O.L.P. L.A. J.Z. H.t.S. V.I. L.J. E.M.V. F.B.B. and F.A.S. obtained project funding. All authors contributed in the form of discussions, revisions, and suggestions and approved the final manuscript. The authors declare no competing interests. We support inclusive, diverse, and equitable conduct of research. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors",

year = "2023",

month = aug,

day = "21",

doi = "10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.077",

language = "English",

volume = "33",

pages = "3495--3504.e4",

journal = "Current Biology",

issn = "0960-9822",

publisher = "Cell Press",

number = "16",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

AU - Carvalho, Raquel L

AU - Resende, Angelica F

AU - Barlow, Jos

AU - França, Filipe M

AU - Moura, Mario R

AU - Maciel, Rafaella

AU - Alves-Martins, Fernanda

AU - Shutt, Jack

AU - Nunes, Cassio A

AU - Elias, Fernando

AU - Silveira, Juliana M

AU - Stegmann, Lis

AU - Baccaro, Fabricio B

AU - Juen, Leandro

AU - Schietti, Juliana

AU - Aragão, Luiz

AU - Berenguer, Erika

AU - Castello, Leandro

AU - Costa, Flavia R C

AU - Guedes, Matheus L

AU - Leal, Cecilia G

AU - Lees, Alexander C

AU - Isaac, Victoria

AU - Nascimento, Rodrigo O

AU - Phillips, Oliver L

AU - Schmidt, Fernando Augusto

AU - Ter Steege, Hans

AU - Vaz-de-Mello, Fernando

AU - Venticinque, Eduardo M

AU - Vieira, Ima Célia Guimarães

AU - Synergize Consortium

N1 - Funding Information: The Synergize Network was developed through funding from the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq) under the Brazilian Synthesis Centre on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Sinbiose) (grant CNPq/MCTIC 442354/2019-3 ). We also recognize support from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico (CNPq) for research grants in support of R.L.C. ( 151221/2021-9 ) and A.F.R. ( 150196/2020-2 ) and São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for grants in support of R.L.C. ( 2022/07381-9 ), A.F.R. ( 2019/24049-5 ), and M.R.M. ( 2021/11840-6 and 2022/12231-6 ). J.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council ARBOLES project NE/S011811/1 . F.M.F. thanks the University of Bristol (PolicyBristol, 1989427 ; Climate and Net Zero Impact Awards, 170839 ; and Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Rapid Research Funding, 2208557 ). E.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council ( NE/S01084X/1 ) for supporting her work and part of that of the data curation team. F.A.-M. acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 854248 . ForestPlots.net communication and data management support in Brazil since 2020 was made possible by ERC Starter Grant 758873 TreeMort and the Norwegian Research Council grant “Cascading consequences of hunting & fishing for ecosystem services in Amazonian Forest,” which supported O.L.P.’s contribution. Work to establish and sustain RAINFOR plots in Brazil has been supported by the European Research Council (advanced grant 291585 – T-FORCES), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation ( 1656 RAINFOR ), the European Union's Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Framework Programme ( EVK2-CT-1999-00023 – CARBONSINK-LBA , 283080 – GEOCARBON , and 282664 – AMAZALERT ), the Natural Environment Research Council ( NE/D005590/1 – TROBIT , NE/F005806/1 – AMAZONICA , and PPFOR E/M0022021/1 ), and the NERC/State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) consortium grants BIO-RED ( NE/N012542/1 and 2012/51872-5 ), ECOFOR ( NE/K016431/1 and 2012/51509-8 ), ARBOLES ( NE/S011811/1 ), and the Royal Society (Global Challenges Award FORAMA, ICA/R1/180100 ). Synergize Consortium members thank the following funders: CAPES-PROCAD 88887.200472/2018-00 , FAPESPA ICAAF 070/2020 , and FAPESP 2019/25478-7 ( BEX5528/13-5 , 383744/2015-6 , and 403811/2012-0 ). We acknowledge all the researchers and field assistants who helped with the data collection but are not within the authors. They are Ana Segalin de Andrade, Arlete Almeida, Atila Alves de Oliveira, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Carolina Toledo Garib Soriano, Charles Eugene Zartman, Cid Ferreira, Cintia Rodrigues De Souza, Claudinei Oliveira-Santos, Daniel Nepstad, David J. Mellow, Diego de Alcântara Pires, Dilce de Fátima Rossetti, Diogenes de Andrade Lima Filho, Eduardo Hase, Everton José Almeida, Flávia Rodrigues Barbosa, Francisca Dionizia de Almeida Matos, Francisco de Assis Esteves, Gabriel de Oliveira de Almeida, Gustavo Paiva Evangelista da Rocha, Haron Xaud, Iêda Leão do Amaral, Ileana A Acosta, Jennifer Balch, João Batista da Silva, Jocieli de Oliveira, Jorge Oliviera, José Ferreira Ramos, Juan Carlos Montero, Kallene Kharla Gonçalves da Silva, Kelly Liane da Silva Sampaio, Kelsy Ellen Vale da Silva, Lola da Costa, Lorena Rincón, Luana Fidelis da Silva, Lucas Lima da Silva, Luis Gustavo Canesi Ferreira, Márcia Cléia Vilela dos Santos, Márcia Patricia Nascimento Cidade, Márcio Hofmann, Margarita Maria Jaramillo, Maria Carmozina Araújo, Maria do Socorro, Mario Cohn-Haft, Mateus Junior Garcia de Oliveira, Michael Coe, Natalino Silva, Nelson Silva Pinto, Pedro Lisboa, Perseu da Silva Aparício, Priscila Madoka Ito, Raimunda Oliveira de Araújo, Ricardo Barbieri, Richard Bardgett, Richard Lucas, Rita Mesquita, Rodrigo Gravina Prates Junqueira, Rogerio Gribel, Terezinha Maria de Castro Della Lucia, Vilany Matilla Colares Carneiro, William Balee, and Wully Barreto da Silva. Funding Information: The Synergize Network was developed through funding from the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq) under the Brazilian Synthesis Centre on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Sinbiose) (grant CNPq/MCTIC 442354/2019-3). We also recognize support from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico (CNPq) for research grants in support of R.L.C. (151221/2021-9) and A.F.R. (150196/2020-2) and São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for grants in support of R.L.C. (2022/07381-9), A.F.R. (2019/24049-5), and M.R.M. (2021/11840-6 and 2022/12231-6). J.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council ARBOLES project NE/S011811/1. F.M.F. thanks the University of Bristol (PolicyBristol, 1989427; Climate and Net Zero Impact Awards, 170839; and Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Rapid Research Funding, 2208557). E.B. thanks the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/S01084X/1) for supporting her work and part of that of the data curation team. F.A.-M. acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 854248. ForestPlots.net communication and data management support in Brazil since 2020 was made possible by ERC Starter Grant 758873 TreeMort and the Norwegian Research Council grant “Cascading consequences of hunting & fishing for ecosystem services in Amazonian Forest,” which supported O.L.P.’s contribution. Work to establish and sustain RAINFOR plots in Brazil has been supported by the European Research Council (advanced grant 291585 – T-FORCES), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (1656 RAINFOR), the European Union's Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Framework Programme (EVK2-CT-1999-00023 – CARBONSINK-LBA, 283080 – GEOCARBON, and 282664 – AMAZALERT), the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/D005590/1 – TROBIT, NE/F005806/1 – AMAZONICA, and PPFOR E/M0022021/1), and the NERC/State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) consortium grants BIO-RED (NE/N012542/1 and 2012/51872-5), ECOFOR (NE/K016431/1 and 2012/51509-8), ARBOLES (NE/S011811/1), and the Royal Society (Global Challenges Award FORAMA, ICA/R1/180100). Synergize Consortium members thank the following funders: CAPES-PROCAD 88887.200472/2018-00, FAPESPA ICAAF 070/2020, and FAPESP 2019/25478-7 (BEX5528/13-5, 383744/2015-6, and 403811/2012-0). We acknowledge all the researchers and field assistants who helped with the data collection but are not within the authors. They are Ana Segalin de Andrade, Arlete Almeida, Atila Alves de Oliveira, Carlos Alberto Quesada, Carolina Toledo Garib Soriano, Charles Eugene Zartman, Cid Ferreira, Cintia Rodrigues De Souza, Claudinei Oliveira-Santos, Daniel Nepstad, David J. Mellow, Diego de Alcântara Pires, Dilce de Fátima Rossetti, Diogenes de Andrade Lima Filho, Eduardo Hase, Everton José Almeida, Flávia Rodrigues Barbosa, Francisca Dionizia de Almeida Matos, Francisco de Assis Esteves, Gabriel de Oliveira de Almeida, Gustavo Paiva Evangelista da Rocha, Haron Xaud, Iêda Leão do Amaral, Ileana A Acosta, Jennifer Balch, João Batista da Silva, Jocieli de Oliveira, Jorge Oliviera, José Ferreira Ramos, Juan Carlos Montero, Kallene Kharla Gonçalves da Silva, Kelly Liane da Silva Sampaio, Kelsy Ellen Vale da Silva, Lola da Costa, Lorena Rincón, Luana Fidelis da Silva, Lucas Lima da Silva, Luis Gustavo Canesi Ferreira, Márcia Cléia Vilela dos Santos, Márcia Patricia Nascimento Cidade, Márcio Hofmann, Margarita Maria Jaramillo, Maria Carmozina Araújo, Maria do Socorro, Mario Cohn-Haft, Mateus Junior Garcia de Oliveira, Michael Coe, Natalino Silva, Nelson Silva Pinto, Pedro Lisboa, Perseu da Silva Aparício, Priscila Madoka Ito, Raimunda Oliveira de Araújo, Ricardo Barbieri, Richard Bardgett, Richard Lucas, Rita Mesquita, Rodrigo Gravina Prates Junqueira, Rogerio Gribel, Terezinha Maria de Castro Della Lucia, Vilany Matilla Colares Carneiro, William Balee, and Wully Barreto da Silva. R.L.C. wrote the first draft; A.F.R. M.R.M. and J.B. edited the manuscript; J.B. supervised the work; R.L.C. F.M.F. F.A.-M. and L.S. performed the literature review; R.L.C. A.F.R. C.A.N. F.M.F. J.M. S. R.M. F.A.-M. and L.S. compiled the data; R.L.C. A.F.R. M.R.M. and J.B. designed the methodology; R.L.C. A.F.R. and M.R.M. performed the analysis and data visualization; R.L.C. A.F.R. J.B. F.M.F. M.R.M. R.M. F.A.-M. J. Shutt, C.A.N. F.E. J.M.S. L.S. F.B.B. L.J. J. Schietti, L.A. E.B. L.C. F.R.C.C. M.L.G. C.G.L. A.C.L. V.I. R.O.N. O.L.P. F.A.S. H.t.S. F.V.-d.-M. E.M.V. I.C.G.V. J.Z. and J.F. conceived the ideas; and J.F. F.M.F. F.V.-d.-M. A.C.L. C.G.L. E.B. J.B. L.C. F.R.C.C. I.C.G.V. O.L.P. L.A. J.Z. H.t.S. V.I. L.J. E.M.V. F.B.B. and F.A.S. obtained project funding. All authors contributed in the form of discussions, revisions, and suggestions and approved the final manuscript. The authors declare no competing interests. We support inclusive, diverse, and equitable conduct of research. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors

PY - 2023/8/21

Y1 - 2023/8/21

N2 - Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%-18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost.

AB - Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%-18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost.

U2 - 10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.077

DO - 10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.077

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 37473761

SN - 0960-9822

VL - 33

SP - 3495-3504.e4

JO - Current Biology

JF - Current Biology

IS - 16

ER -

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Abstract

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