Amazonia From Pre history to Future (Environmental Sciences)

Six chapters of this book describe recent findings on past and present wildlife and flora in the Amazonia. The significance of chemical prospecting in Amazonian biodiversity and biomass dynamics, as well as its impact on land uses, is presented in two chapters. Indigenous and modern perspectives on the use of medicinal plants are also well covered, and it is concluded that the protection of forest ecosystems is a major challenge in preserving knowledge about traditional healing methods. The potential discovery of new active medicinal molecules explains the broad interest in tropical ethnomedicine. Aquaculture development in Brazil has significant potential to reduce rainforest loss by providing a sustainable alternative to traditional livestock farming, which is a major driver of deforestation.