Museum of the Amazons and Botanical Garden Museum discuss the impacts of reduced rainfall in the Amazon rainforest
Biodiversity Forum presents unprecedented results from the Dry Forest Project, which has been investigating climate changes in the Amazon for over 20 years
How is the reduction of rainfall transforming the Amazon rainforest? This is the question that will guide the Biodiversity Forum, promoted by the Museum of the Amazons, in Belém, this Friday (24), at 2:30 PM. The event is held in partnership with the Botanical Garden Museum of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and will be aimed at researchers, students, activists, and the public interested in climate change and environmental conservation.
With the theme "Rain reductions in the Amazon are already transforming the forest into another type of vegetation: results from over two decades of the Dry Forest Project," the forum will feature a lecture by researcher Leandro Valle Ferreira from the Emílio Goeldi Paraense Museum; and the participation of Marinez Siqueira, director of the National School of Tropical Botany. "It is urgent to bring this debate to the public so that we can collectively think about mitigation and conservation strategies," emphasizes Leandro Ferreira.
The Biodiversity Forum is a regular initiative of the Botanical Garden Museum, aimed at discussing central themes of science and biodiversity. In this edition, the event joins forces with the Museum of the Amazons and the Goeldi Museum to strengthen scientific cooperation between institutions in the Amazon and Rio de Janeiro, with free entry, issuance of participation certificates, and registrations made on-site (in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Museum of the Amazons, in Belém).
The forest and the rain at the center of discussions
For Grazielle Giacomo, technical manager of the Museum of the Amazons, "the space is born with the commitment to place the forest at the center of discussions about sustainability and the future. Strengthening this partnership with the Botanical Garden Museum and the Goeldi Museum around such a decisive theme demonstrates the strength we want to give to this network of exchanges."
Meanwhile, the director of the Botanical Garden Museum, Daniela Alfonsi, emphasizes that "it is a great satisfaction to inaugurate this partnership with the Museum of the Amazons. It is a fundamental step to expand scientific and cultural cooperation between different regions of the country and reinforce the role of institutions in the production and dissemination of knowledge."
Studies will present recent data from research initiated in 2001
During the Forum, the most recent results of the Dry Forest Project, initiated in 2001, will be presented, which is one of the longest experiences of artificial rain exclusion in tropical forests. Conducted in the Caxiuanã National Forest (PA), the study simulates conditions similar to those caused by El Niño, revealing effects such as increased mortality of large trees, a reduction of up to 30% in sap flow, transpiration, and photosynthesis, and the disappearance of species dependent on mycorrhizal fungi.
The current results indicate that prolonged rainfall reduction can cause abrupt and irreversible transformations in the tropical forest, converting it into more open and dry vegetation, with lower biomass and biodiversity.
Service
Biodiversity Forum – Museum of the Amazons
Date: October 24, 2025 (Friday)
Time: 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Location: Multi-Purpose Room of the Museum of the Amazons, Porto Futuro II, Reduto neighborhood (Belém, PA).
Text by Fabrício Lopes / Press Office Museum of the Amazons
