News 2024
Three projects are approved by the FAPESC's public call
March 19, 2024
FlorestaSC researchers won the approval of three proposals submitted to the Public Call "FAPESC Nº 12/2023 - Program to support infrastructure and the use of technologies for inventory, monitoring and conservation of forests and vegetation formations at the marine-coastal interface of Santa Catarina. "
The duration of the approved projects will be 27 months and the resources obtained will make it possible to capture images with a drone, expand the sampling of coastal vegetation, modernize the FURB Herbarium and carry out scientific dissemination activities using modern technologies.
Check out the three (3) projects and their objectives:
I) FlorestaSC – new technologies at the service of knowledge generation
Coordination: Prof. Dr. Alexander Christian Vibrans
Estimate forest attributes using multispectral and LiDAR data collected with a drone at FlorestaSC Sampling Units
Deepen studies on vegetation formations at the marine-coastal interface of Santa Catarina
Assess the effect of climate change on the distribution and diversity of critically endangered tree species
Calibrate regional models to estimate total tree height in each Sampling Unit
Apply remote sensing data to increase the accuracy of forest biomass and carbon estimates in Santa Catarina forests
Evaluate the mortality of tree species in Santa Catarina
II) FlorestaSC: scientific dissemination about forests using digital technologies based on virtual, augmented and alternative reality
Coordination: Prof. Dr. Maurício Capobianco Lopes
Provide scientific dissemination material that allows interactions with explanatory leaflets about the forest through augmented reality; and that promotes immersion in Santa Catarina forest environments simulated through immersive reality
Provide an application for visiting a forest park in Santa Catarina that allows you to deepen your knowledge about the park through an alternative reality
III) Modernization of the Dr. Roberto Miguel Klein Herbarium, conserving biodiversity
Coordination: Prof. Dr. André Luís de Gasper
Ensure adequate conservation and expansion of the collection; improve and optimize the packaging of herbarium samples
Review and restore damaged samples; separate and donate duplicates
Reopening of the herbarium to the general public for consultation
Follow our website and social media to stay up to date with the project’s actions.
New field stage of the 3rd Cycle of measurements has started
February 15, 2024
From left to right: Anderson Kassner Filho, Marlon Yuri Andrade (team leader), Leander Augusto Bini and Felipe Eduardo Zimmermann.
This February, a new stage of field measurements began, continuing the 3rd cycle of measurements. This means that we have a set of plots that are being measured for the 3rd time, which makes it possible to understand different aspects of the forest's dynamics, such as changes in species composition and biomass and carbon stocks.
In addition to measuring surviving trees from the previous cycle and measuring incoming individuals (trees that reach DBH ≥ 10 cm), hemispherical photos have also been taken and heights measured with a clinometer to calibrate height estimation models.
The current team is made up of forestry engineer Marlon Yuri Andrade (team leader), biologist Anderson Kassner Filho and FURB Leander graduates Augusto Bini and Felipe Eduardo Zimmermann.
In this stage of 2024, the field team's goal is to carry out the remeasurement of 60 sampling units, distributed throughout the state, according to the map. Of these, 34 sampling units are located in the Mixed Rainforest, 21 in the Dense Rainforest and 5 in the Seasonal Deciduous Forest. The team began its activities on February 5th and has already remeasured some sampling units in the Lages region. In the coming days, they should continue working on the southern plateau, moving forward to the mid-west and northern plateau. In the last field campaigns of this stage, the sampling units of Vale do Itajaí and the coast of Santa Catarina should be included.
Follow our social media to find out where our team is and how field activities are developing.
Obtaining hemispherical photos.
Location of trees measured in the previous cycle.
Alignment of the sampling unit, crossed by a river.
Article about Mapping the Restinga in Santa Catarina is published!
February 09, 2024
An important publication came out about the mapping of Restinga carried out by FlorestaSC for our state. The article entitled Mapping of Potential (original) and Remaining Areas of Restinga: a methodological proposal for Santa Catarina, Brazil was published in the Brazilian Journal of Physical Geography. This article is the result of 3 years of work by researchers from FlorestaSC - under the coordination of prof. Alexander C. Vibrans and Forestry Engineer Adilson L. Nicoletti. Through this work, a solid mapping of the restinga was generated for application in conservation actions, territorial planning, licensing and environmental control.
The article presents the physical indicators used to delimit potential restinga areas, as well as the methodology used to identify restinga remnants.
The Restinga Potential Areas (“estimated original areas”) were delimited by crossing 5 geographic layers: 1) Topography: altitude; 2) Hydrogeology: hydrogeological subdomain; 3) Geomorphology: accumulation model; 4) Pedology: soil class; 5) Geodiversity: relief
The Restinga Remaining Areas were mapped using Landsat-8 satellite images (2017) and Random Forest classification
Among the results found, it stands out that:
The total potential restinga area is 1,733.8 km²
The remaining restinga area is equivalent to 46% of the potential area.
Pasture or natural field areas occupy 23.2% of the potential area, followed by built or urbanized areas with 18.5%.
Access the Article
The full article can be accessed via the link.
Access the Map
It is possible to download the restinga map through our mapping platform.
Study shows that 82% of tree species exclusive to the Atlantic Forest are at risk of extinction
February 01, 2024
FlorestaSC researchers, André Luís de Gasper and Alexander Vibrans, collaborated on a study published by Science magazine that points out that most tree species in the Atlantic Forest are threatened with extinction. The research, which lasted more than 2 years, was coordinated by researcher Renato Lima, professor of ecology at the Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (Esalq), at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Piracicaba (SP).
This is the first time that all populations of almost 5 thousand tree species in the Atlantic Forest, from Rio Grande do Sul to Rio Grande do Norte, have had their degree of threat assessed according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, in English), the largest global reference on threatened species.
More than 3 million herbarium records and forest inventories were considered, with rich details about the species, commercial use and degree of increase or reduction of their existing population in the Atlantic Forest. As the biome includes Santa Catarina, and consequently Blumenau, statistics from the FlorestaSC program, which involves FURB, were considered by the study. With the calculations developed by the group, it was possible to estimate how many trees of each species there are and how much there would be if there were no deforestation.
WHAT DO THE NUMBERS SHOW?
Of the total of 4,950 tree species present in the biome (including those that also occur in other domains), 65% have their populations threatened in some way. When endemic species (more than 2 thousand) are analyzed, that is, exclusive to the Atlantic Forest, the percentage of threat of extinction rises to 82%.
Another frightening fact is that only 7% of endemic species have had a population decline of less than 30% in the last three generations, indicating a worsening trend in deforestation in Brazil. The IUCN international classification already considers that, above this level, the species can already be considered “Vulnerable” (population reduction between 30% and 50%), which is the first category of threat of extinction. Above this are “Endangered” (between 50% and 80%) and “Critically Endangered” (above 80%).
Photo: Anderson Kassner Filho
Among threatened species, 75% of them are in the “Endangered” category. This is the case of araucaria, juçara palm, yerba mate and sassafras cinnamon, which have seen declines of at least 50% of their population. Brazilwood, typical of the biome, was listed as “Critically Endangered”, given the estimated 84% reduction in its population.
Five species considered extinct in nature were rediscovered in the study, but none of them occur in Santa Catarina.
Photo: Renato Lima
WHAT CAN BE DONE IN THIS SITUATION?
For Prof. André de Gasper, the information generated in the study is essential for the creation of public policies for species conservation:
“We want to know the degree of threat to make conservation policies, categorize those that are vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered, which is the most serious scale of threat, of extinction, and thus be able to better direct resources to try to conserve these species. (...)
The Prof. Renato Lima points out that it would be necessary to create action plans to conserve at least the genes of the most threatened species, planting in botanical gardens, for example.
"Sometimes it is extinct in nature, but it is in some botanical garden. Just like some animal species." he completed.
Another essential measure is to conserve the remaining fragments of endangered species. "Improve their conditions so that these species can remain in these areas in the long term," he explained.
"Yes, it is possible to reverse it, but as we generally see that the Atlantic Forest continues to be deforested, continues to be disturbed, the prognosis is not very good. We would really have to stop and take more drastic measures than are currently being taken. "
Another alternative that can bring long-term results is forest restoration. "If we plant forests and in these forests we use species that are at high risk of threat in the Atlantic forest, we can restore some of the populations that were lost to nature. Over time, we can say that the populations are being replenished."
The article can be read in full at: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq5099.