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Part 1: Historical and biogeographical aspects -- The Atlantic Forest: an introduction to the megadiverse forest of Southern America -- The Atlantic Forest Ecological History: from pre-history to the Anthropocene -- The North-eastern Atlantic Forest: biogeographical, historical and current aspects in the Sugarcane Zone -- The Hileia Baiana - an assessment of natural and historical aspects of the land use and degradation of the central corridor of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest -- The southern Atlantic Forest: Use, degradation, and perspectives for conservation -- Part II – Biodiversity -- Tree diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: biases and general patterns using different sources of information -- Vascular Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest: diversity and community ecology -- Social Insects of the Atlantic Forest -- Tetrapod diversity in the Atlantic Forest: maps and gaps -- Freshwater Studies in Atlantic Forest: general overview and prospects -- Part III – Threats -- Land-cover changes and an uncertain future: will the Brazilian Atlantic Forest lose the chance to become a hopespot? -- Climate change and biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest: best climatic models, predicted changes and impacts, and adaptation options -- Non-native species introductions, invasions, and biotic homogenization in the Atlantic Forest -- Causes and consequences of large-scale defaunation in the Atlantic forest -- Pollination systems in the Atlantic Forest: characterization, threats, and opportunities -- IV - Opportunities -- Atlantic Forest: ecosystem services linking people and biodiversity -- Changing the agriculture paradigm in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: the importance of agroforestry -- Engaging people for large-scale forest restoration: Governance lessons from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil -- The Atlantic Forest Trail: connecting people, biodiversity and protected areas -- Conservation initiatives in the Brazilian Atlantic forest -- Financing conservation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest -- Integrating researchers for understanding the biodiversity in Atlantic Forest -- The future of the Atlantic Forest.

AbstractBatch tests were carried out with sawdust obtained from oak (Quercus robur), maple (Acer platanoides), pine (Pinus sylvestris), beech (Fagus sylvatica) and wood chips from oak and pine. Leaching of organic compounds expressed as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in mg/kg of dry mass took place during the first 24 h. The following additional variables were analysed: pH, conductivity, colour, phenols, tannins and lignin, and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD7). When leachates obtained with oak wood chips and pine wood chips were compared, no significant difference was observed. However, in batch tests with sawdust, DOC released by oak (90 000 mg/kg) was significantly higher (P = 0.0001) than DOC released by pine (30 000 mg/kg). The results suggest that particle size is not the only variable affecting the leaching of organic compounds from wood. Regarding BOD, colour [platinum‐cobalt (Pt‐Co)], phenols, tannins and lignin, the leaching patterns differed among species, and oak was the species with the highest released values.

Stormwater from urban, industrial and rural areas is very often discharged into recipient water bodies without any treatment. This is now changing in many parts of the word, especially in Europe due to The EU Water Framework Directive (European Union, 2000). According to the new policy, will probably stormwater that has often small concentrations but complex mix of different organic and inorganic pollutants has to be treated. Many different systems have been used, such as wetlands and soil infiltration trenches, among others. Sawdust has many times been reported as a good sorbent used for removing mostly toxic metals from wastewaters. However, in most cases, studies have been carried out with distilled water spiked with, for instance, 1-2 different toxic metals. Very few studies have used real wastewater and even less have studied removal of metals from stormwater using sorbent such as sawdust. Sawdust has also drawbacks, since it may release potentially hazardous substances as tannins: lignin, phenolic compounds, resin acids and overall high COD concentrations which results in oxygen depletion in the recipient water bodies. In this paper, the results of using sawdust as sorbent for removal of heavy metal from stormwater with different pollutants are presented. ; Stormwater from urban, industrial and rural areas is very often discharged into recipient water bodies without any treatment. This is now changing in many parts of the word, especially in Europe due to The EU Water Framework Directive (European Union, 2000). According to the new policy, will probably stormwater that has often small concentrations but complex mix of different organic and inorganic pollutants has to be treated. Many different systems have been used, such as wetlands and soil infiltration trenches, among others. Sawdust has many times been reported as a good sorbent used for removing mostly toxic metals from wastewaters. However, in most cases, studies have been carried out with distilled water spiked with, for instance, 1-2 different toxic metals. Very few studies have used real wastewater and even less have studied removal of metals from stormwater using sorbent such as sawdust. Sawdust has also drawbacks, since it may release potentially hazardous substances as tannins: lignin, phenolic compounds, resin acids and overall high COD concentrations which results in oxygen depletion in the recipient water bodies. In this paper, the results of using sawdust as sorbent for removal of heavy metal from stormwater with different pollutants are presented.

In different regions of the world as well as in many parts of Brazil, high percentage of thepopulation and sometimes, entire isolated communities do not have access to seweragesystem or sewage treatment. The common scenario is the use of septic tanks and, in manycases, direct discharge into water bodies. The objective of this study was to develop and test alow-cost sewage treatment system, appropriate for isolated or poor communities at the sametime, meeting the discharge threshold limits established by the Brazilian regulation. For that, acompact engineering ecosystem for decentralized treatment of domestic sewage wasconstructed and tested in a research unit installed in an environmental protected area inGrande Island, south coast of Rio de Janeiro State. The system is formed by septic tank,submersed aerated filter, secondary decanter, and for polishing, vegetated tanks containingaquatic macrophytes (wetland) and one tank with algae. The results of a 200 day monitoringperiod, covering two different flows rates (200 L.h-1 and 52 L.h-1) are presented. With thelower flow (52 L.h-1), the following removal efficiency was achieved: 87.8% (nitrite); 71%(nitrate); 47% (Ammoniacal nitrogen); 89% (COD); 40.2% (total phosphorus). After the flowreduction, most of parameters analysed, met the threshold limits established by the BrazilianFederal Legislation, which demonstrated that the system fulfilled its purpose. ; In different regions of the world as well as in many parts of Brazil, high percentage of thepopulation and sometimes, entire isolated communities do not have access to seweragesystem or sewage treatment. The common scenario is the use of septic tanks and, in manycases, direct discharge into water bodies. The objective of this study was to develop and test alow-cost sewage treatment system, appropriate for isolated or poor communities at the sametime, meeting the discharge threshold limits established by the Brazilian regulation. For that, acompact engineering ecosystem for decentralized treatment of domestic sewage wasconstructed and tested in a research unit installed in an environmental protected area inGrande Island, south coast of Rio de Janeiro State. The system is formed by septic tank,submersed aerated filter, secondary decanter, and for polishing, vegetated tanks containingaquatic macrophytes (wetland) and one tank with algae. The results of a 200 day monitoringperiod, covering two different flows rates (200 L.h-1 and 52 L.h-1) are presented. With thelower flow (52 L.h-1), the following removal efficiency was achieved: 87.8% (nitrite); 71%(nitrate); 47% (Ammoniacal nitrogen); 89% (COD); 40.2% (total phosphorus). After the flowreduction, most of parameters analysed, met the threshold limits established by the BrazilianFederal Legislation, which demonstrated that the system fulfilled its purpose.

Constructed wetlands (CW) and engineered ecosystems are efficient to treat wastewater and stormwater runoff. However, CW require large areas to achieve a good performance and besides, several investigations have reported insufficient phosphorus (P) removal by these systems, according to the discharge threshold limits established by most environmental legislations. The performance of natural and locally available materials as adsorbents for P removal from wastewater is therefore, an important research subject. Currently, two exotic species known as sun coral currently spread along 2,000 km of the Brazilian coast pose a severe threat to the marine biodiversity and to oil platform structures, which have motivated the Brazilian authorities to establish enforcement measures aiming at sun coral control. These species have exoskeletons with high concentrations of calcium carbonate and our previous lab-scale experiments have proved that exoskeleton-based adsorbent effectively removes P from wastewater, being a suitable material to be tested as a polishing step in full-scale treatment plants. In the present investigation, a sun coral-based filter (SCbF) constructed with fiberglass was installed as final treatment unit in a decentralized wastewater treatment plant named "engineered ecosystem", constructed to treat sewage generated by an university campus of Rio de Janeiro State University-UERJ located in Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil. The SCbF improved the P removal capacity of the system from 44% to 96%. The SCbF proved to be potentially an excellent strategy for P removal from sewage, particularly for decentralized systems and an attractive use of the sun coral exoskeleton extracted from the Brazilian coast and from other coastal areas where this invasive species requires control. ; Constructed wetlands (CW) and engineered ecosystems are efficient to treat wastewater and stormwater runoff. However, CW require large areas to achieve a good performance and besides, several investigations have reported insufficient phosphorus (P) removal by these systems, according to the discharge threshold limits established by most environmental legislations. The performance of natural and locally available materials as adsorbents for P removal from wastewater is therefore, an important research subject. Currently, two exotic species known as sun coral currently spread along 2,000 km of the Brazilian coast pose a severe threat to the marine biodiversity and to oil platform structures, which have motivated the Brazilian authorities to establish enforcement measures aiming at sun coral control. These species have exoskeletons with high concentrations of calcium carbonate and our previous lab-scale experiments have proved that exoskeleton-based adsorbent effectively removes P from wastewater, being a suitable material to be tested as a polishing step in full-scale treatment plants. In the present investigation, a sun coral-based filter (SCbF) constructed with fiberglass was installed as final treatment unit in a decentralized wastewater treatment plant named "engineered ecosystem", constructed to treat sewage generated by an university campus of Rio de Janeiro State University-UERJ located in Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil. The SCbF improved the P removal capacity of the system from 44% to 96%. The SCbF proved to be potentially an excellent strategy for P removal from sewage, particularly for decentralized systems and an attractive use of the sun coral exoskeleton extracted from the Brazilian coast and from other coastal areas where this invasive species requires control.