The Project
• Research Objectives
• Sampling Protocol
• Rede Beija Rio
• Researchers
• Public Data
• Restricted Data
• Current Activities
• LBA Scientific
Conference
• Field Work

The Sampling Network “Rede Beija Rio”

Our experimental plan is predicated on a systematic collection of a common set of parameters across representative environments in the Amazon. Because of the far-flung and remote nature of the Amazon, the logistics of establishing an encompassing sampling network are considerable. It is simply not feasible to send out a team from a central university or laboratory, and expect it to collect data with sufficient resolution.

Rather, our strategy has been to develop a network we call “Rede Beija-Rio” (“The Network of Kiss-the-River,” a play on words of the Portuguese word for hummingbird, Beija-Flor). The objective is to establish a set of sites across the basin, organized as transects based out of specific locations (nodes). A key element in our strategy is that each node is occupied by a researcher or a team of researchers, from that site. Typically these will be undergraduate and/or graduate students from local institutions (usually regional universities). This serves the dual purpose of being able to conduct much higher frequency (and much less expensive) sampling than sending teams from Sao Paulo or Seattle), and it provides training and capacity building. Implicit in this strategy is that each node has at least some degree of logistical support and access. Resulting of this sampling network are then integrated with modeling to produce the spatially-explicit and dynamical understanding needed to answer our lead questions.

At this point, we have established a set of sampling sites, operating out of bases (nodes) in Manaus, Belém, Palmas, Santarem, Rio Branco, Ji-Paraná, Alta Floresta, and Juruena (and we are working to establish several more). The primary nodes, or bases, that form the Rede are  shown. Each node is staffed by individuals from local institutions, and/or by colleagues from CENA, the UW, or other institutions. Each node then is responsible for a regional sampling (click on each, for detail).