We are interested in joining or co-developing a transnational consortium investigating the effects of climate change, drought, heat and wildfire smoke exposure on multipurpose forest trees. Our proposed Brazilian contribution would focus on the Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) and its associated forest ecosystems, connecting tree growth, ecophysiological responses, biomass, carbon and fruit production.

We seek to understand how climate variability and compound disturbances affect tree resistance and recovery, and which tree characteristics, site conditions and management practices explain differences in vulnerability. A particular interest is distinguishing the effects of water deficit and heat from those potentially associated with smoke exposure, including changes in radiation and atmospheric conditions.

Building on NEWCast and our experience in Amazonian forest research, potential contributions include:

Dendrochronology and growth assessment: tree-ring analysis, subject to chronology validation, and integration with forest inventories and climate records.

Biomass and carbon: field-based estimation and analysis of relationships between tree growth, forest structure and carbon dynamics, with explicit uncertainty.

Production and ecological context: examining relationships among climate, growth, fruit production and regeneration where compatible datasets are available.

Field research and monitoring: developing coordinated observations across selected Amazonian sites, subject to feasibility, agreements and community authorisation.

Comparative analysis and modelling: jointly developing models of vulnerability, resistance and recovery, linking field observations to climate and Earth-observation data.

Management applications: translating findings into monitoring indicators and adaptation recommendations for multifunctional forests and forest-dependent communities.

We particularly welcome partners with expertise in tree ecophysiology, plant hydraulics, gas exchange, dendroecology, atmospheric chemistry, smoke and aerosol exposure, remote sensing, and statistical or process-based modelling. Joint work could investigate water-use regulation, photosynthetic responses and growth–production relationships, with measurements selected according to the hypotheses and available infrastructure.

We are interested in comparisons between tropical and European forest systems using shared research questions and harmonised methods. We could coordinate the Brazilian component and lead or co-lead a work package integrating growth, biomass/carbon and the ecological context of multipurpose forest trees.

Embrapa is the Brazilian public agricultural research corporation. The prospective contribution would be coordinated by Embrapa Environment, drawing on complementary expertise from Embrapa research units and collaborators.

Patricia da Costa is a researcher in natural resource management and conservation and leads NEWCast, a project developing technological solutions to strengthen the Brazil nut value chain. The proposed collaboration would build on research involving Brazil nut forests, dendrochronological sampling, biomass and carbon, and the connections between forest conservation and sustainable production.

Specific sites, datasets, experimental infrastructure and team responsibilities would be agreed during consortium development, subject to funding eligibility and applicable authorisations.