Amazon River Basin: I – Characterization And
Environmental Impacts Due To Deforestation
Author(s)
R. Barthem, M. Marques, P. Charvet-Almeida
& L. F. A. Montag
Abstract
The Amazon River basin is the largest basin of the planet and contributes about
15% of the total freshwater discharge in the world. Among the environmental
concerns, habitat modification is considered the most relevant, since the integrity
of the aquatic ecosystems and associated coastal/marine ecosystems are strongly
dependent on the preservation of the terrestrial ecosystems. In the Amazon basin,
deforestation has changed patterns during recent years; besides the \“deforestation
arc” embracing the south-eastern and eastern borders of the basin, new projects
are now dissecting the heart of the basin. At the present deforestation rate, the
main biomes - Amazon Rainforest and Cerrado - are expected to disappear in
less than 100 years, leading to regional climate changes. Effective policies to
preserve the integrity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems must focus on the root
causes for the ongoing land conversion process.
Keywords: Amazon River basin, hydrological aspects, environmental impacts.
1 Introduction
The Amazon River basin, with a total area of 6,869,000 km 2 (table 1) is the
largest basin of the planet and a major heat source in the general atmospheric
circulation system [1]. It is totally situated in the tropics, between 5 o N and 17 o S
and occupies more than one-third of the South America continent. Seven
countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Guyana)
share the basin. The main headwaters are located in the Andes Cordillera, in
Bolivian, Peruvian, Ecuadorian and Colombian territories. Headwaters of
important tributaries are located in the Guyana and Brazilian Shields, an ancient
Keywords
Amazon River basin, hydrological aspects, environmental impacts.
Related Book
Other papers in this volume
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