Are perceptions of climate change in Amazonian coastal communities influenced by socioeconomic and cultural factors?

Climate changes have become undisputed, as have their consequences for global ecosystems and mankind. The coastal areas are among the most affected areas on the planet due to their geographical location. The effects suffered by coastal areas can render the residing populations homeless, as well as compromise the continuity of the history and culture of these environments. The Marine Extractive Reserve of the city of Soure (coastal area of eastern Amazonia) stands out for housing populations that have developed an intimate relationship with nature and have knowledge that can explain people's perception of climate changes. In this context, this study investigated how local residents perceive climate change and its consequences considering different temporal and spatial scales. To this end, questionnaires were developed and applied using a 5-point Likert scale. Our results indicate that perception is shaped by socioeconomic and demographic factors, and that they are perceived on different time scales and geographic space. These findings reflect the awareness-raising efforts of the management body of this Conservation Unit and the local knowledge, derived from the relationship of the residents with the natural environment, which, together, provided the population with assertive information that favor a better understanding of this phenomenon.

Local perceptions do not follow rainfall trends: A case study in traditional Marajo island communities (eastern para state, BR).

The great current challenge for the conservation and use of natural resources refers to global climate change, because of its impacts felt in different intensities at global, regional, and local spatial scales. Within the system of environmental protection areas in Brazil, the extractive reserves ensure the sustainable use of natural resources by traditional populations, thus maintaining the cultural and biological aspects of a region. Such populations, being in close management of the surrounding environments, tend to perceive changes in ecological processes that many need for their livelihoods. The use of this perception of local populations in conjunction with academic research evidence has a high potential to allow a whole and systemic view of possible changes in natural phenomena. This study developed an integrated analysis of scientific evidence and local perceptions to understand the variation of precipitation in a community inserted in an extractive reserve in the eastern Amazon. We used 30 years of precipitation data from the Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology - INMET, the Southern Oscillation Index - SOI, and the Atlantic Meridional Mode Index - AMM. Furthermore, we applied a form to measure the population's perception of possible changes in rainfall cycles in the region. The meteorological data indicate that the region of the community has been presenting a rainfall reduction; however, people in the community do not perceive this trend. Although it is public knowledge that the global climate is undergoing changes, a fact noted after the integrating analysis of scientific evidence with local knowledge in Resexmar Soure is that the perceptions of traditional populations often focus on smaller temporal and spatial scale visions.

Structuring functional groups of aquatic insects along the resistance/resilience axis when facing water flow changes.

Understanding how differences in intensity and frequency of hydrological disturbances affect the resistance and resilience of aquatic organisms is key to manage aquatic systems in a fast-changing world. Some aquatic insects have strategies that improve the permanence (resistance), while others use strategies that favor recolonization (resilience). Therefore, we carried out a manipulative experiment to understand the influence of functional characteristics of aquatic insects in their permanence and recolonization against hydrological disturbances in streams in the biodiversity hotspot of the Cerrado of Brazil. We placed 200 artificial substrates in five streams and submitted them to changing water flow regimes that differed both in frequency and intensity, and we observed the response of the aquatic community for 39 days. We used a hierarchical Bayesian approach to estimate the probabilities of permanence and recolonization of each life strategy group (nine groups). We observed that the most intense changes in the water flow tended to affect the permanence of almost all groups, but the intensity of this effect reduced over time. On the other hand, less frequent disturbances, regardless of intensity, tended to reduce the permanence of most groups of aquatic insects over time. The different effects of disturbance intensity may have been related to a greater recolonization capacity of some groups. The results we present are worrisome in a scenario of reduced riparian vegetation around streams and with the expectation of precipitation becoming more concentrated in shorter periods of time due to climate change in the Cerrado hotspot, reducing the occurrence of many groups of aquatic insects in their habitat, particularly those with traits associated with resistance against hydrological disturbance.

Exotic species are perceived more than native ones in a megadiverse country as brazil.

Research on environmental perception is essential for the understanding of individuals' relations and expectations towards natural environments. Here, we evaluated the perception of high school students on exotic and native species in Brazil. We interviewed 371 students from two high schools located in the state of Goiás, one with and one without a protected area within its premises. Students needed to identify native and exotic species and to indicate species origin. We used a t-test to evaluate differences between students' scores regarding the correctness of species origin and also ANOVA to assess whether these scores varied among taxonomic groups. Students identified exotic species better than native ones. Students better identified exotic mammals, fishes, and birds than native ones. We found there were no significant relationships of students' knowledge of species' origins with socioecological factors. Students' perceptions of exotic and native species were low and focused on charismatic large-bodied species. We suggest that students are encouraged to expand their knowledge of local biodiversity. Teachers, local schools, and policymakers are essential to achieve this aim. A more diverse methodology for teaching, including new technologies and citizen-science projects, can help establish a genuine interest of local biodiversity students.

Anthropogenic litter on Brazilian beaches: Baseline, trends and recommendations for future approaches.

Beaches are fundamental habitats that regulate the functioning of several coastal processes and key areas contributing to national and local budgets. In this study we provide the first large-scale systematic survey of anthropogenic litter on Brazilian beaches, covering a total of 35 degrees of latitude, recording the litter type, its use and size. Plastic comprised the most abundant litter type, followed by cigarette butts and paper. Small pieces (<5 cm) were dominant among litter size-classes and food-related use was associated to most litter recorded types. Generalized additive models showed that proximity to estuarine run-offs was the main driver to beach litter accumulation, reinforcing river drainages as the primary route of litter coastal pollution. Also, the Clean-Coast Index evidenced there was not a pattern of beach litter pollution among regions, which denotes that actions regarding marine pollution must be taken by all state governances of the country.