Groundwater chemistry is highly variable and dependent on environmental conditions, and it is not entirely understood how all these factors contribute to groundwater chemistry. This study aims to examine some of the factors that contribute to groundwater heterogeneity in the Amazon Rainforest. This was done by collecting groundwater samples from piezometers in three different regions of the Amazon Basin in Brazil, and then analyzing them in the lab for cations and anions, as well as dissolved inorganic and organic carbon. Environmental conditions were measured in the field using portable probes. The results were analyzed and compared with previously established figures for tropical forests. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS and R in order to establish correlations and linear relationships between the studied variables.Understanding how groundwater supplies are affected is important for being able to predict and manage environmental change that can degrade groundwater sources. This knowledge could also help in developing strategies for groundwater remediation efforts in areas where supplies are contaminated.

Throughout Amazonia, earthworks are found in areas of diverse linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. The distribution of these earthworks within various linguistic and ethnic areas suggests a multiethnic or multilinguistic network, in which interaction between these diverse groups occurred, creating diverse communities. Movement and communication within Amazonia along river networks allowed for this interaction. Interaction between groups in Amazonia may have also influenced the different methods of landscape modification. This thesis presents a GIS-based spatial analysis of raised fields, a type of agricultural earthwork found throughout the Llanos de Mojos (Mojos), located in the Beni Department of Bolivia. The distribution of fields, forest islands, and rivers was analyzed to distinguish the relationship between these features in the study area. The spatial analysis distinguished patterns between raised fields found along two sets of rivers, the Iruyañez and Omi Rivers, and the Yacuma and Rapulo Rivers. Spatial patterns found within these distributions were also compared to the distribution of linguistic groups in the area. Among these patterns, it is seen that one kind of agricultural earthwork is found in areas associated with different linguistic groups. The spatial patterns found among the raised fields and forest islands in relation to the linguistic groups in the area demonstrate the fluidity between groups in the region. Insight to movement and communication in Mojos can be understood through the interaction between linguistic groups and the distribution of archaeological features in the region.

The Quinato wetland, a remnant of a Pleistocene river course through northeastern Bolivia, has undoubtedly been the site of human landscape modification and domestication by pre-Columbian peoples. A 2021 study suggests that these modification practices, which have been tied to seasonal adaptation, were quite different between areas of the wetland. In response to these findings, the present study uses unsupervised classifications from the 50-year span of existent Landsat satellite imagery data, dating from 1972 to 2022, to create a chronological profile of the wetland. This record allows for the assessment of how yearly, seasonal changes to wetland growth and shrinkage contribute to longer-term trends. No significant increase or decrease in wetland size overall is suggested by the data, although a distinct, common seasonal pattern is detectable. This data, narrowed to the two sites investigated in the previously mentioned study, shows a similar seasonal patterning as that of the larger wetland at these two sites, but also detects a greater stability in wetland area for the region that was first modified by pre-Columbian peoples.

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Women's organizations in informal settlements located in peri-urban areas of Peruvian Amazon cities have been carrying out programs for solving nutrition, food, health, and income generation problems in their communities. This is a way of women's local action of self-help and self-reliance to transform their marginalized ways of living. This study focuses on two factors in the scope of women's organizations: (1) to examine what causes household participation in women's organizations. (2) To explore what type of women's empowerment leads to social development, assuming that women go through a process of empowerment as a result of their participation in women's organizations. The study data consists of a case study in one informal settlement in Pucallpa, 9 de Octubre, and key-informant interviews of women participating in women's organizations, and life histories of four women leaders. The quantitative analysis focuses on three hypotheses: (1) Single women-headed households participate more frequently in women's organizations than men-headed households. (2) Households with children under six years old are more likely to participate in women's organizations than households without. (3) Households in remote locations of the informal settlement are more likely to participate in women's organizations. The qualitative analysis focuses in three areas: (1) women's roles as community managers, (2) women's organizations as agents to produce structural change and (3) the relationship between women's organizations and women's empowerment. Findings cast doubt upon the first hypothesis by showing that single women-headed households were not economically vulnerable as it was expected and that their participation in women's organizations was not as frequent as the participation of men-headed households. Furthermore, men-headed households seem to benefit more from women's organizations than single women-headed households. The presence of children does not predict participation in women's organizations. Also, it is interesting that households in more remote and inaccessible locations seem to participate more in women's organizations. The study develops the argument that women's organizations, which bring in knowledge and more than partial problem-solving solutions, contribute to women's empowerment and household change that lead to social development. The study concludes that the types of empowerment that lead to social development are the cultural, and social because they are the ones that are more effective in bringing changes at the household and community levels. However, the economic empowerment should not be disregarded and should be considered in the formula because it provides one of the prime needs of urban poor women: income in their household. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

The annual hydrological cycle of floodplains supports fishes that are uniquely adapted to optimize resources throughout the year. Such adaptations to changing environments include air-breathing for seasonally hypoxic waters and directed movements to best utilize habitats as they become available. This study examined the environmental, temporal and body-size influences on air-breathing behavior and movement ecology of Arapaima sp., one of the most economically and ecologically significant species in the Amazon. Acoustic (n=15) and radio (n=12) telemetry was used to study the influences on air-breathing and movement ecology of arapaima in the Central Amazon. Generalized additive mixed models showed that temperature was the most influential predictor of air-breathing intervals, followed by body size. The shortest breathing intervals were associated with consecutive "aggressive" breaths while the longest breathing intervals had consecutive "calm" breaths. Generalized linear mixed models showed that flood stage was the most important predictor of residency time, directional movement, and rate of movement. Fish moved faster in the flood and dry stages than the rising and falling stages, and spent longer in one place in the rising and falling stages than the flood and dry stages. Findings of this study may be used to inform management decisions for arapaima conservation, such as protected habitat and population counts, with applications to fishes across river-floodplain ecosystems globally. / Master of Science