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The book focuses on geological history as the critical factor in determining the present biodiversity and landscapes of Amazonia. The different driving mechanisms for landscape evolution are explored by reviewing the history of the Amazonian Craton, the associated sedimentary basins, and the role of mountain uplift and climate change. This book provdes an insight into the Meso- and Cenozoic record of Amazonia that was characterized by fluvial and long-lived lake systems and a highly diverse flora and fauna. This fauna includes giants such as the ca. 12 m long caiman Purussaurus, but also a varied fish fauna and fragile molluscs, whilst fossil pollen and spores form relics of ancestral swamps and rainforests. Finally, a review the molecular datasets of the modern Amazonian rainforest and aquatic ecosystem, discussing the possible relations between the origin of Amazonian species diversity and the palaeogeographic, palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental evolution of northern South America. The multidisciplinary approach in evaluating the history of Amazonia has resulted in a comprehensive volume that provides novel insights into the evolution of this region.

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 186. Amazonia and Global Change synthesizes results of the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA) for scientists and students of Earth system science and global environmental change. LBA, led by Brazil, asks how Amazonia currently functions in the global climate and biogeochemical systems and how the functioning of Amazonia will respond to the combined pressures of climate and land use change, such as Wet season and dry season aerosol concentrations and their effects on diffuse radiation and photosynthesis Increasing greenhouse gas concentration, deforestation, widespread biomass burning and changes in the Amazonian water cycle Drought effects and simulated drought through rainfall exclusion experiments The net flux of carbon between Amazonia and the atmosphere Floodplains as an important regulator of the basin carbon balance including serving as a major source of methane to the troposphere The impact of the likely increased profitability of cattle ranching. The book will serve a broad community of scientists and policy makers interested in global change and environmental issues with high-quality scientific syntheses accessible to nonspecialists in a wide community of social scientists, ecologists, atmospheric chemists, climatologists, and hydrologists.

The Amazon Basin contains the largest and most diverse tropical rainforest in the world. Besides the Andes and the Atlantic Ocean, the rainforest is bounded to the north by the Guiana crystalline shield and to the south by the Brazilian crystalline shield, marked at their edges by cataracts in the rivers and often dominated by grasslands. This book is motivated not just by the Amazon's scientific interest but also by its role in many ecosystem functions critical to life on Earth. These ecosystems are characterized both by their complexity and their interactive, higher-order linkages among both abiotic and biotic components. Within Amazonia, the Western Amazon (west of 65° latitude) is the most pristine and, perhaps, the most complex within the Amazon Basin. This Western Amazon may be broadly divided into non-flooded forests (e.g. terra firme, white sand, palm) and forests flooded with white water (generally referred to as varzea) and with black water (generally referred to as igapo). Here, for the first time, is a book devoted entirely to Western Amazonia, containing chapters by scientists at the forefront of their own areas of expertise. It should be a valuable resource for all future researchers and scholars who venture into Western Amazonia, as it continues to be one of the most beautiful, mysterious, remote and important ecosystems on Earth.