Biodiversity and land use systems in the fragmented Mata Atlanta of Rio de Janeiro (PDF)

This book is a compendium of the results of an integrated inter- and transdisciplinary study of the land use systems and biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest region (Mata Atlântica) in Brazil. From 2002 – 2008 a team of 27 scientists from Europe and Latin America investigated the Biodiversity and land use systems and analysed the dynamic of the Atlantic Forest . The original research results and thematic conclusions as well as an extensive literature review will be useful for researchers, students and lecturers, applied scientists, policy-makers and decision makers in the fields of biodiversity conservation, sustainable land use planning, agriculture, agroforestry, soil science and botanic.
Chapters 1 and 2 analyze the dynamics of the Atlantic Forest, current land use systems and fragmentation processes, taking as study area the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro. In Chapters 3 to 5 the interdisciplinary demand for research into human ecological systems is analyzed, as well as the contribution of the National Park Serra dos Ôgaos towards biodiversity conservation. Chapters 6 to 11 show the environmental impacts of various agricultural production systems, including forestry and cattle-raising systems, in particular on the soil-water complex, and discuss the sustainability of such systems. Chapters 12 to 18 present studies on biodiversity, agrobiodiversity, phytosociology, floristic structure and composition, and seeddispersion. Finally Chapter 19 discusses the challenges for natural resource conservation and sustainable land use, the processes leading to landscape and soil degradation, fragmentation and connectivity and the implications for conservation.