Providing tools for the use of indicator species in forest inventories in Amazonia
Research summary
Because of the huge species diversity of Amazonian forests, it has been difficult to obtain a general idea of their environmental and floristic variation among sites. This makes it difficult to allocate suitable land uses to areas with different productivity, to adapt the management systems to local ecological conditions, and to identify habitats of high conservation value. Understorey plants (such as pteridophytes) can be used as indicators to rapidly and at relatively low cost evaluate the ecological conditions and species composition of a given rain forest site. The present project will design a species identification tool that conveys to the users of the indicator species approach 1) the knowledge on how to identify the indicator species, and 2) the information on what kind of environment or forest each species indicates. In order to be useful for people who are not plant specialists, the identification tool will be interactive, easy to use, free of botanical jargon, richly illustrated and freely available on the internet.
Description
More information
Research info
Research title
Providing tools for the use of indicator species in forest inventories in Amazonia
Research timeline
1.1.2011 - 1.12.2015
Keywords
Amazonia biodiversity edaphic properties forest classification indicator species land use planning species identification tool
Region
Latin America
Countries
Bolivia, Plurinational State Of, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Finland, Peru
Institution
University of Turku
Department of Biology
Turku, Finland
Head of research
Hanna Tuomisto
Research team
Hanna Tuomisto, Gabriela Zuquim, Glenda Cárdenas
Partners
Instituto de Botânica (São Paulo - Brazil), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (Manaus -Brazil)
Contact information
Hanna Tuomisto
02-3335634
hanna.tuomisto@utu.fi
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Record last updated
7.6.2014