January 19, 2022
Carbon dynamics in Amazon floodplains: Implications for the C cycle
João Fernandes Amaral, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, UF
Join us for the live stream Jan 19, 11:45am EST: youtu.be/r3sRVGlnSWM
(Please visit our youtube channel main page for the stream if there are any issues with the direct link.)
ABSTRACT
Aquatic habitats in the lowland Amazon emit large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). However, information on CH4 and CO2 fluxes and concentrations from these aquatic habitats, that include open water environments (lakes and river channels), seasonally flooded forests and areas dominated by emergent and floating herbaceous plants, is sparse. Seasonally flooded forests that constitute 80% of the surface area of aquatic environments in the lowland Amazon basin are particularly understudied. This presentation will cover our recent findings from a multi-year investigation, where we measured dissolved CO2 and CH4 concentrations and fluxes between the water and atmosphere, as well as ecological data within flooded forests, herbaceous plants and open water areas in a floodplain system located in the central Amazon basin. I will discuss these results pointing to some mechanisms that are associated with the variability in gas fluxes and concentrations, and will briefly discuss the implications of these results for the regional CH4 and CO2 evasion in the Amazon basin.
Bio
João Henrique Fernandes Amaral is currently a postdoctoral associate in the Morrison lab (UF-ESSIE) in collaboration with the Bianchi lab (UF-Geology), investigating the processes that drive the production and transformations of phosphorus and organic matter in South Florida treatment wetlands. Before coming to the UF, João was a postdoc at the University of California, Santa Barbara working with John Melack and Sally MacIntyre on greenhouse gas dynamics in Amazon floodplains. He has been working with carbon biogeochemistry in Amazon floodplains since 2008. João is a biologist (Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil) and received his MS in Freshwater Biology and Continental Fisheries and a Ph.D. in Biology – Ecology, at the National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA), Brazil. His research combines field measurements, observations and experiments, with GIS tools for the application of statistical models to answer questions at the ecosystem level, and at different temporal and spatial scales. His research interests are freshwater ecology, limnology, biogeochemistry, ecological processes, greenhouse gases dynamics, and organic matter characterization.
POSTCARD
