A Worm's Trail: Implementing a collaborative network for the study of Historical and Recent Land Use and Soil Management in Neotropical Rainforests

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'Learning from the past to inform the present and inspire the future' - Atkins GroupDespite the absence of written historical records, pre-Columbian people of the Amazon Basin developed remarkable soils referred to as Amazonian 'dark earths' (ADEs), used to promote sustainable agriculture. With increasing global demand for food, energy and carbon, it is crucial to understand and learn from past land use systems in order to appropriately manage the current and plan the future land uses. The current project will contribute to the knowledge of how soil animals and their biodiversity are related with soil fertility, ADE formation and land use changes in a mega-diverse biome. Furthermore, it will strengthen the 'ADE Network', and provide capacity building to Brazilian researchers and students interested in Amazonian biodiversity and sustainable agriculture. The results will promote better understanding of how to sustainably use and manage Amazonian soils, while simultaneously preserving their rich biodiversity.Therefore, the proposed project will establish a collaborative network composed by a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional team of researchers in different areas of Brazil (and the world), therefore solidifying the connection between the UK and Brazil, in particular between Cardiff University and Embrapa Forestry.